Politicians and others who support Julia Gillard must be surprised that she is so unpopular with the electorate if her policies and achievements have been so positive, as they claim.
I would suggest that a major reason for this is that they have underestimated the importance of integrity, trustworthiness, and moral behaviour of a national leader to a majority of Australians.
Ms Gillard’s statement prior to her election, that a government she led would never introduce a carbon tax, was untrue, for which she has shown no remorse nor apologised. When the Liberals lost Peter Slipper to the Speaker’s chair, she was able to break her promise to Tasmanian MP, Andrew Wilkie, to support his anti-poker machine proposal.
It’s interesting that for many months after his election to Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was the most popular Labor politician to hold this position. Like many others, I was impressed by his demonstrated abilities and personal qualities which set him apart from his successor and many of his colleagues. Vilification of Kevin Rudd by some Gillard supporters reflects badly on their own characters, and demonstrates their own shortcomings in being so supportive of her. They praise her for her leadership qualities and criticise Rudd for his. It’s worth noting that two of the greatest British political leaders of the 20th century, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, were autocratic in their leadership style, and had many enemies as a result. But this didn’t prevent them from achieving great things for their nation.
Australians have a right to have a Prime Minister whom they can respect for his or her moral qualities as well as leadership qualities. Many Australians, and particularly our ethnic communities, are offended by Ms. Gillard’s living in a de facto relationship. Most Australians still believe in the importance of stable marriage and family in which our children can be nurtured and raised, but Ms Gillard’s lifestyle does not enhance this supremely important institution. For these reasons I believe Ms Gillard is a liability to Australia’s reputation abroad, and does not deserve to hold the highest position in our land.
I. C. R. Holford
