The Liberals' Voice in the Wilderness  

Oleh:

Kissel, Mary

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Far Eastern Economic Review vol. 172 no. 9 (Nov. 2009), page 54.
Topik: Australia; Liberal Party; Popularity

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Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: FF21.22 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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In his last speech as Prime Minister of Australia, facing a crushing defeat, John Howard took the podium at the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney, endorsed his treasurer, Peter Costello, as the next Liberal Party leader, and said the party "will have a process of rebuilding to undertake." That was an understatement. Almost two years and two leaders on, one of the world's greatest conservative parties finds itself adrift. Popular support for the Liberal-led coalition has merely marginally improved since the election to 48% from 47%, according to The Australian's latest Newspoll. Current opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull, a hard-charging former lawyer and investment banker, trails Prime Minister Kevin Rudd by a whopping 44 percentage points—this in a country that usually splits fairly evenly between the two major parties. Australia's famously left-leaning press is having a daily field day harpooning the hapless Libs. What went so wrong? The first answer lies in the basic character of the electorate itself. Since the mid-1970s, Australians have generally granted their prime ministers at least two three-year terms in office—a "fair go," so to speak. The Liberals' Malcolm Fraser had a little over a seven-year run; Labor's Bob Hawke and Paul Keating had a combined 13 years at the helm. Mr. Howard himself had 11½ years to enact his conservative program, and was gunning for a fourth straight term in a bid to become the country's longest-serving premier.

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