Yes, he did actually say that!!

" There is no doubt that Kevin's knowledge and capacity as a leader makes him the right person to be the Prime Minister of this country... Julie Gillard is an excellent leader and a very popular politician. But, this is about who is the right person to lead us and and that person is Kevin Rudd."

Western Australian Labor MP Garry Gray, right wing Labor powerbroker, friend of the mining industry and former corporate lobbyist for Woodside throwing his support behind Kevin Rudd just 4 days before he was a key public player in the Prime Minister's political "execution".

Julie Gillard, Kevin Rudd and ugly truths about the Australian corporatocracy

So Australia has a new Prime Minister and a woman at that. That's the only good news from the political "execution" of Kevin Rudd.

An elected Prime Minister has been swiftly dispensed by corporate and political power- the corporatocracy. I was no fan of Kevin Rudd, but he challenged both the mining industry and the factional power brokers who run the Labor Party. So there was blowback.

A powerful corporate industry- the mining industry- and its corporate media allies has taken the scalp of an elected Prime Minister with whom it disagreed violently. While it was right wing factional power brokers and union heavyweights in the Labor Party who engineered the demise of a Prime Minister, let's not forget that it was the mining industry who had been working to bring down the Rudd Government. And they have succeeded.

A longer piece on these issues will appear soon.

David Marr 's essay on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Much has been written and spoken about David Marr's new Quarterly Essay on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. David Marr is one of Australia's finest journalists and biographers and this essay confirms his skill as one of the country's finest writers and journalists. It is a beautifully written and engaging essay. As a challenging and intelligent piece of political journalism it works.

But at a deeper level I found the essay ultimately disappointing. I don't really "get" this interest, even obsession, with understanding and explaining the inner workings of the personality and character of politicians. For me the real test is their political rhetoric and their policies and political achievements.

More important is the action they take to advance the wellbeing of all citizens of this country and the action they take to protect and advance the common good. On that front Kevin Rudd and his government have largely failed. He promised much and has delivered little. The reasons for that policy failure are many and complex. However, therein, lies a major explanation for the collapse in his support.

It also seems to be forgotten by the political commentariat that the Rudd Government was elected in 2007 because the majority of people had wanted to get rid of John Howard and his government for some considerable time. They voted to get rid of Howard first, and in doing so they elected Kevin Rudd.

Despite my misgivings I would recommend all Australians read David Marr's essay. I for one will always read anything he writes.

The living dead: The Australian Labor Party

Geoff Davies has written a challenging and important piece on his blog Better Nature in which he reflects on the current state of the Federal Labor Party and the troubles dogging the Rudd Government. The article also appears here in the online journal Online Opinion where it has generated considerable debate.

This is one of the most important and insightful articles I have read on the appalling state of the Labor Party. Davies writes about the Federal Labor Party, but his arguments are as relevant to State based Labor parties.

Davies argues that we should declare the Labor Party dead. He writes:

'Isn’t it time we declared the Labor Party officially dead?

The party has become a façade, an empty shell, a Faux-Labor Party. It lost its vision long since. It has forgotten why it exists. It has no purpose, other than to gain power for the egos that inhabit it.

Lacking a vision, Faux-Labor is purely reactive. Lacking a vision, it cannot frame issues to its advantage. It cannot seize the initiative. Caught awkwardly in its opponents’ framing, it is forever on the back foot, only ever able to be less bad, never able to proclaim a noble goal and pursue it. Its collapse in the polls is surprising only for its speed".

David Marr on Australia's refugee policy: the more things change the more they stay the same

(image courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald)

The Howard Government is long gone but the consequences of its inhumane refugee policies continue. The rhetoric of the Rudd Government might have softened and some of the worst excesses of Howard's border protection and refugee policies are gone, but in reality little has really changed for people seeking asylum as David Marr's piece in Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald shows. All Australians should read this story.

David Marr's piece is a moving and affecting story of the devastating affects of Australia's policies on an Afghani family whose mother died in Perth's Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital whilst she and her family were held in detention. It is a devastating indictment of a cruel and inhumane system that continues to inflict suffering on people, despite claims to the contrary by the Rudd Government.

David Marr's earlier piece on Christmas Island showed that despite the Rudd Government's rhetoric, it continues to hold more children in detention on Christmas Island for longer periods, despite claiming otherwise.