Australia has its first female Prime Minister as Labor’s Julia Gillard assumes the leadership position following the resignation of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in the wake of withering support.
While it’s uncertain how Gillard’s ascension will affect the R18+ movement, a Kotaku Australia reader submitted the attached image depicting Gillard on the cover of adult-rated videogames under the banner “Red Head Redemption.”
Following the government upheaval, Gizmodo is attempting to start a movement to oust the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy in favor of Senator Kate Lundy. Conroy is the chief backer of a controversial country-wide Internet filter, while Lundy, according to the tech blog, has “a lot of respect” within the tech community.
About Conroy, Gizmodo wrote:
Aside from trying to force a puritanical Internet filter down our throats, he has repeatedly embarrassed the Labor party in the eyes of the tech-savvy by making shit up to help his arguments about how scary technology and the Internet can be if we don’t apply greater measures of control. Statements like iiNet supporting the proposed filter, that Google hoovered up banking details with their streetview cars.
Statements of a man who doesn’t truly understand what he’s talking about, or worse, understands but flagrantly denies the truth to run with an agenda. He has lost all respect in the technology community, regularly acting like a petulant child when someone who does understand the space criticises his actions.
Thanks Ryan!
Comments
Re: A Ginger Takes Over as PM in Australia
This is the way it works (particularly for our international friends ; )
Labor is a left wing socialist party (union based).
Liberal (the other major party) is right wing conservative. (yes, the name is ironic), roughly analogous to the Republican party in the US.
Within Labor, you also have a left wing and right wing and as demonstrated recently, the factions are very powerful and need to be kept onside.
Conroy + the party power brokers that installed Gillard are right wing. Conroy is a very strong right wing factional member. Kevin Rudd was right wing.
Julia Gillard is left.
So right wing power brokers dropped a right wing PM. The left wing PM could be as easily dropped (although it would look really terrible just months before an election to change the prime minister twice so she does have a bit of period of immunity). She might be able to reshuffle him (unlikely) or give the NBN to him as a portfolio and install Lundy as Comms minister for the rest of the policy. I doubt she could drop him to the backbench without facing some serious factional repercussions.
Incidentally, Labor under Rudd has become 'Liberal-lite'. They have all of the religious conservatism but much less of the financial responsibility. As such, Australian politics is even more retarded. Compulsory vote (so not so much a 'right') and a choice of two major conservative parties (one pretending to be left wing and the other renaming itself 'liberal'), no enshrined right of free speech etc.
Re: A Ginger Takes Over as PM in Australia
When are we going to find a cure for Gingervitis?
Re: A Ginger Takes Over as PM in Australia
how dare you talk about my people as though we're a disease grrr heheh but seriously I am ginger
Re: A Ginger Takes Over as PM in Australia
That's nice and all but I'd rather Conroy drop the clean feed than Labour drop Conroy. I have no faith in Lundy to continue to push the NBN which, while necessary, will be expensive to complete and is therefore unpopular with the Liberal Party, who would much rather give away the whole lot in useless tax breaks.