Where’s Kevin?

You may have noticed that as his popularity plummets, Kevin Rudd seems to have disappeared from the 24 hour news cycle.

The reason for this is simple. Kevin Rudd has been exposed as the P.T. Barnum of Australian politics. He has worked on the premise that you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time.

Like Barnum, who was the first true showman and circus master, Rudd has mastered the art of promoting the political hoax. That’s where you shuffle paper furiously, speak in a confusing manner and throw money at silly schemes to appear active and hope no one notices the poor results.

However, Rudd’s problem is that people are starting to notice the results just when they are being asked to buy another ticket. Billions of dollars wasted, dumped policies, deaths and destruction. All of this is a result of slipshod management and poorly conceived schemes.

Of course, Barnum had a certain charismatic presence that Rudd does not. Kevin Rudd is more the bureaucrat who always aspired to climb higher up the pecking order simply because it was there. However, since reaching the top, it has become apparent that he has no idea why he craved the leadership so badly. He is a man without an agenda for our nation, save that which keeps him in the job he has coveted for so long.

None of this should be surprising though. Rudd’s track record in the Queensland bureaucracy gave every indication that his management and personal skills were poor. His relationship with his colleagues and his department was no better.

In short, this is a man who fooled a majority of people to become Prime Minister but who is now the man that threatens the survival of the government.

His latest desperate money grab targets the mining industry. Amid misleading claims, Rudd is trying to convince the public that picking on the ‘big, bad miners’ is in Australia’s interests. I guess it is, if you don’t care about thousands of jobs, reduced development and infrastructure and billions of dollars in taxation receipts.

This big, new tax is designed to prop-up the budget figures because too much borrowed money has been spent pursuing poor projects. Kevin Rudd is hoping the public debate will prove to be a distraction from the real problems Rudd and his team have created.

It’s an old showman’s trick; create a distraction while you try to fool your audience some more. Of course you’ll never hear Kevin Rudd admit that. In fact, you’ll find it hard for him to admit anything these days as he seems to have disappeared from our television screens. His vanishing act might make television viewing a lot more pleasant but it does little for our Prime Minister’s character and credibility.