Reflection on Kevin Rudd's Betrayal & Australian Politics

By Allan Weatherall
 
I am ashamed to say that spent much of my adult life in mild political apathy. But the invasion of Iraq and what we were being told about it jolted me in a way that I never expected. I realised that I didn't want to live in a world where our leaders could tell us lies and then send our sons and daughters to some far off land to serve as canon fodder for an unjust cause. I didn't want to be part of a country where our armed services would use high-tech weapons to drop bombs from high altitude on defenceless civilians below while our TVs showed us carefully selected footage of laser guided bombs blowing up "strategic" targets. Something was happening to me. I was beginning to care about politics.
 
I was beginning to care about the political processes that guided Australia and shaped our national character and compromised our national integrity. I was disturbed by it. I was unsettled by my own lack of understanding of those political processes. So I took more interest in the news. I assessed the character and words and actions of our political leaders, I took mental notes and then I prayed through the issues that moved me. I found myself ashamed of my political naivety and indifference and I began embracing a broader social responsibility that included caring about what our country did politically, economically and militarily on the international stage.
 
As I did all this I did not intentionally gravitate to the right or the left of politics, but nevertheless one political figure stood out to me as impressive. At the time John Howard was Prime Minister and the man that impressed me so much was the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs - Kevin Rudd. As he spoke about the things that mattered he was precise, articulate, intelligent, balanced, rational and... to my inexpressible relief... also a Christian. I was so tired and grieved from hearing the war-mongering rhetoric of the American 'Religious Right' and their equivalent counterparts here in Australia. So I began praying for Kevin Rudd and as I did God revealed something to me. God planted the conviction in me that this man was going to be the next Prime Minister of Australia. As I reflected on this I found myself also hoping for it. Then I prayed for it. I even wrote to Kevin and told him so. I didn't get a reply from Kevin and I don't even know if he ever received or read my letter. But when the Labor leadership changed and Kevin Rudd became leader of the opposition, something in my spirit revived and leapt with hope. At last, I felt, we would have a Prime Minister that would be a man of social responsibility and true faith - a Christian socialist with a conscience who would lead our country with a truly grounded set of values and beliefs based on the social and moral imperatives of the gospel - Justice, Mercy and Faithfulness. When the next election finally came around I was in Egypt and I was so compelled by a sense of urgency for a change in government that I took a train from Alexandria down to Cairo just to cast my vote at the Australian Embassy. For perhaps the first time, voting felt good. It felt very good. I felt it was all that I could do to try and correct some of the lies and injustices that had stained my country and left us all with blood on our hands.
 
As you must realise by now, everything that God showed me actually came to pass. I am sure that many felt relief with me when Prime Minister Rudd ordered our troops out of Iraq, apologised to the Stolen Generation, and proceeded to govern the country with an open and humble dependence on God, guided by social responsibility informed by his faith in Christ.
 
So what now?
 
Today's rejection of Kevin Rudd's leadership by the ALP reminds us that there are stark realities in politics that periodically jolt our senses. Since I heard the news I have the persisting conviction that something very, very wrong happened in our nation. To my natural mind it was a politically stupid move by the ALP. I may yet be proved wrong on that point. But it was brutal, disloyal, and arguably even a betrayal of the Australian people who had elected Kevin Rudd to lead the nation as Prime Minister. The fact that the party did not even allow him to complete one full term makes it very difficult to respect - especially since this was the first time in history that a Prime Minister has been dumped by his own party during his first term. But naked political ambition and political backstabbing aside, nothing takes God by surprise. It is God who appoints Kings (and Prime Ministers) and God who removes them. I am thankful for all that Kevin has achieved and that he has also responded to this betrayal with an appropriate measure of grace and composure. Lesser men would be bitter and then with just cause. Kevin has already said that he is not going anywhere. As we have been so starkly reminded, anything can happen in politics and maybe we have not seen the last of Kevin yet.
 
But at the time of writing this I am feeling bruised and betrayed by the Australian Labor Party and I am personally a little apprehensive about what comes next. The ALP has undermined my faith in the political process and I don't see any party or person that I feel that I can currently trust. It's a good thing that our faith is not in man, but in God who always is in control and who always has a plan.
I resolve not to retreat back into political apathy. Plato famously said, "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
 
So I will continue to participate in politics. If I can figure out who to vote for I will vote. If I have something worthwhile to say I will comment and write and have discussions with my friends. But most of all I will pray and I invite you to join me in that - but not to back any particular party. I invite you to pray with me that God will continue to raise up good men and women in all of the political parties to be salt and light, to promote faith, truth and justice throughout the entire political spectrum. God is so much bigger than party politics.
 
 
POST-ELECTION UPDATE: Now that its looks increasingly likely that we will have a hung-parliament, with both the major parties needing the co-operation of independents to form a government, hopefully all sides of politics will have a little more respect for the people of Australia. The ALP spurned the electorate by deposing an elected PM and suffered the consequences at the ballot box. They have been constantly downplaying the voter backlash over the way Kevin Rudd was deposed because to acknowledge that would be to admit their mistake and make them look foolish and internally divided. The Opposition, whilst sympathising with the way Rudd was deposed, have also been seizing the opportunity to discredit Kevin Rudd because they do not wish to him return. In my opinion a hung-parliament is a just outcome. Neither party deserved to win. This is exactly what the major parties need to make them have a good long introspective look at themselves and ask why the people of Australia could not be decisive about who they want to form government.
Thursday, June 24, 2010   login to post comments | printer friendly version | 2069 reads