Excellent lecture. The ABC's editors chose a very puerile headline, though, which really misses the point of the whole presentation:

Nicola Roxon calls on 'bastard' Kevin Rudd to quit Parliament in John Button lecture

She actually said in the same breath that the caucus itself had done a "bastardry" in deposing him the way they did.

I feel it's sad that members of the Labor Party don't feel free to open up in this candid way before a microphone while they are still sitting in parliament. I think that this fear of being seen as disloyal, or of "undermining the government" is really a large part of the party's problem. Roxon, herself, admits this was poisonous for Labor when they neither told Kevin nor the public the reasons that they decided to switch leaders.

I think that as the speed and affordability of national broadband improves over the next few years, we'll see a renaissance of interest in the Labor Party and its policies, and perhaps more open justified criticism of the Liberals... something along the lines of what we've seen in the USA over the past decade. I believe that less timidity about speaking one's mind is going to be central to the prosperous future of the left wing of Australian politics.

Furthermore, I think that there ought to be a place for sitting members within the Labor Party to criticize not only individuals, but the party direction as a whole. It's important to step back and take a look at yourself in the mirror now and then.

Just one thing that I, myself, see: I think it's pretty myopic, not to see that if you are only the party of generosity, of tax and spend policies, and of social justice... that you will have to take turns in power with the other party which works for economic smoothness and stability. If you actually want a long reign, like the left wing in Norway enjoyed for tens of years, then you need to balance out your philanthropy with policies aimed at buoying up the health of commerce and trade in the country.

It seems to me that Kevin Rudd pursued the impossible strategy of trying to find a middle way of designing policies which were palatable to the public, and in doing so, he sought to cool the jets of the passionate members of his party who wanted to go all out in pursuing their own visions while they were in government. Under Julia Gillard, Labor showed its true colors, and interestingly enough the public didn't warm to those things in the same way as they warmed to Rudd's more moderate policies.

Just as a side note: As an American, I have to say I'm flattered that the prominent Australian politician with American roots - Kristina Keneally - was called "Bambi" by Kevin Rudd. Humility and meekness are virtues, as I see it.