Rudd-spin over substance

Rudd has made no headway with important issues of foreign policy. He is chasing the illusion of a seat on the Security Council, at a time when relations with India and China have never been so bad. Rudd allowed himself to be bullied by China over the Stern Hu affair. One can only guess at the sweet talking that went on behind the scenes in the negotiations over the Rio-Tinto/Chinalco deal. Rudd’s chief business adviser is Rod Eddington who is also a director of Rio-Tinto. Whatever transpired it appears to have had the effect of muting Rudd’s response. No one with any knowledge of the intricacies of diplomacy would advocate megaphone diplomacy, whatever that means, however there is no substitute for firmness. Rudd blinked, in fact he shut his eyes, and went into denial for the best part of a week after the detention of Hu.

Rudd has ignored India. He did little to assuage the Indian Government, people and media over Haneef, preferring to see the bungle as that of his predecessor and therefore nothing to do with him: relations between countries does not work like that. Now due to the ineptitude of officials and policy he inherited from the last government he has a major foreign policy crisis on his hands over the mistreatment of Indian students in Australia. If Rudd and members of his government think they can beat the Indian media they are mistaken. Rudd says he will visit India with Education Minister, Julia Gillard, later in the year. He should be there next week. If not he should stop spending money on pursuing the ego trip of a seat on the Security Council.

Rudd, in my opinion, improperly deployed the services of the AFP to help him out over his difficulties with an alleged forged email in relation to the farcical ute affair. Whatever the AFP is doing could have been done through the Senate hearings process. When do we get the results of this highly political investigation? His employees, members of the public service, do not particularly like the treatment handed out to Godwin Grech, the public servant fingered in the affair. If Rudd wants to maintain waning loyalty he should not only be seen to be acting properly he should also rein in the AFP. The feeling is that in the name of the war on terror the AFP has a watching brief on every key government department, including Treasury.

Poor Malcolm Turnbull, fighting the Troglodytes in his party and the perceptions of a majority of the voting population in believing Rudd spin over substance.