Karen Smythe's Blog

The Smear Campaign

2007-09-26T02:11:00.000-07:00

A smear on a Liberal figure has been traced to his own party. It is claimed that the married federal minister, who has children, visits gay bathhouses and sexually harasses other men. The dirt sheet suggested he was sleeping with one of his staff and that his wife was known in Liberal circles as "a beard". The Government blamed Labor for the smear. However, Laurie Oakes said he was fed the story by a Liberal as part of an internal power struggle. Oakes said there was no proof, only allegations and that "you hear that sort of thing all the time."

On Thursday 20 September 2007, Parliament sat for what is likely to be the last time before the election. Opposition MPs alledged the government had dug up Rudd's private medical records revealing he had a heart valve transplant 14 years ago. Rudd and his front bench accused the government of hiring private investigators to dig the dirt on Rudd's private life and to probe his finances.

Julia Gillard claimed that a journalist, Jason Koutsoukis, was invited into a ministerial office to look at a dirt file on her. Koutsoukis looked at it and decided there was nothing newsworthy to it.

During the rowdy debate, Howard asked the Opposition to produce evidence to back up their claims.

Question time was abandoned amid the worst uproar in years as the Speaker struggled to maintain order and the Government made a "put up or shut up" motion against the Opposition.

As Labor continued on Friday 21 September 2007 to accuse the government of using a dirt squad to run a smear campaign about Rudd's health, the PM said Rudd had been given an opportunity to produce evidence during the Parliamentary debate on Thursday and had failed. "Having not been able to put up, it should-in the words of an old adage-shut up about it." "Let's go back to debating the health that people are interested in, and that is the health of the nation."

Bob Hawke predicted the Coalition would run one of the worst smear campaigns in years as it faced defeat. "Now I'm not saying...every Liberal is going to play hard ball and dirty ball but I think there is going to be more of it this time, because they are more worried than they've been before."

The Age, 24 September 2007, http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=11BDA805CD3B3118&p_queryname=2&p_product=AUNB&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=T60B4FNFMTESMDc5MDUWOS44MTMXNjU6MjU

The Age http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu/iw-search/we/Infoweb?p_action=doc&p_docid=11BDOIF302027BO8&p_docnum=21&p_queryname=3&p_product=AUNB&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=T60B4FNFMTE5MDc5MDUWOS44MTMxNjV6MToxMjoxMzguMjUuNzguMjU

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/iw-search/we/Infoweb?p_action=doc&p_docid=11BCA5FED8DA32A8&p_queryname=3&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=T60B4FNFMTE5MDc5MDUWOS44MTMxNjU6MjU

The Canberra Times, 24 September 2007, http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/we_search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=11BE143586D35C38&p_docnum=8&p_queryname=2&p_product=AUN&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=S6FN5ELLUMTESMDc5NTcxNi34NjY5Mz16MToxMjoxMzguMjUunzgMju

The Weekend Australian, 22 September 2007, http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=11BCFF004F7A4F908p_docnum=33&p_queryname=2&p_product=AUNB&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=S6FN5ELUMTE5MDc5NTcxNi43NjY5Mz16MToxMjoxMzguMjUuNeguMjU

All photos are from The Daily Telegraph website.

The Online Election Campaign

2007-09-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

Both John Howard and Kevin Rudd are utilising the internet in their election campaigns.

The Liberal Party website displays prominently on the home page "The Howard Government's 5 Goals for Australia's Future". Clicking on this link brings up the transcript of a speech made by Howard on 20 August 2007. On the right hand side of the home page you can click on links to the Howard government's achievements, donate or subscibe to the Liberal Party's email newsletter.

There is also a Prime Minister of Australia website. Clicking on the "contact your PM" link brings up his postal address. The Ministry are also profiled.

Howard has made announcements on YouTube. He is targeting youth culture and trying to counter political attacks that he is old and out of touch.

Dr Peter Chan of Monash University is an expert in the use of the internet by political parties. He says,"What it shows is that political leaders of Australia are beginning to really understand how they can use technologies like the web to segment their audience".

In a poll conducted by The Age on 1 August 2007, 90% of the 1334 voters said Howard was not a hit on YouTube. 10% said he was.

Kevin'07 is the official website of the ALP and Rudd's federal election campaign. It was launched 6 August 2007. On the home page "Have Your Say" appears prominently. Site visitors are asked to email the ALP with their thoughts and a selection are published on the blog. The home page identifies the hot topics with picture buttons. These topics are regularly updated. Some examples include Climate Change and the US Alliance.

On the right hand side of the homepage are a number of links. The first is to sign up for Kmail, the ALP's email newsletter. Donations can be made and there is provision to enrol to vote. Kevin'07 t-shirts and stickers can be bought for $7 and $2 respectively.

There is a link to YouTube with about 33 videos promoting ALP policies and attacking the Howard government. Opposition frontbenchers present their policies in brief video statements. There is also a link to MySpace where Rudd has 15,000 friends.3.6 million Australians are members of MySpace, many of them young people. The shadow ministry have their photos in Kevin's Friend Space.

There is also a link to FaceBook where Rudd has 5,000 friends.

Rudd is deploying all the paraphernalia of the internet.

Online is the big campaigning innovation of 2007. In 2004 it had only a minor role.Rudd has been said to be grabbing hold of the internet in a more ambitious fashion than Howard. Labor has a team of a dozen working full time on the sites-designers, technicians, writers and film crew.

Dr Nick Economou, senior lecturer in politics at Monash University, said of Rudd,"In the great Australian tradition, he's copying from the US. It looks like (the internet) is a platform that is going to be increasingly important. We're seeing now that the major parties in Australia are using the internet to launch their political ads. It's much cheaper than doing it on television."

Prime Minister of Australia website, http://www.pm.gov.au/
Liberal Party of Australia website, http://www.liberal.org.au/
Kevin'07 website, http://www.kevin07.com.au/
iTnews http://www.itnews.com.au/News/56499,pm-takes-election-campaign-to-youtube.aspx
ABC PM transcript, 17 July 2007, http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1981103.htm
The Age http://www.theage.com.au/polls/form.html
News.com.au, 7 August 2007, www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22201740-29277,00.html

Photos are from the Kevin'07 website and Liberal party website.

Rudd's Health Policy

2007-08-24T00:25:00.000-07:00

Kevin Rudd has pledged a federal takeover of public hospitals if states don't improve the standard of health care by mid-2009. He said he was "sick and tired" of blame shifting between the government and states. He will inject $2 billion into Australia's health care system.

If hospitals failed to reach the benchmark, Rudd said he would order a referendum with the 2010 federal election proposing a federal takeover. Rudd said,"When it comes to improving Australia's health and hospital system, as prime minister, if elected, the buck will stop with me." He also said, "It's time for someone to put up their hand and take responsibility. I am prepared to do it."

Aims include:

Reducing avoidable hospital admissions and readmissions.

Decreasing the use of hospital emergency rooms by patients who could be treated by GPs.

Decreasing waiting times for operations.

The federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott, said the policy was a case of "fools rushing in.If Mr Rudd was serious about taking over our public hospitals, he would have announced that a Labor government would just do it, instead, the first thing they would do is set up a new bureaucracy, yet another commission and talkfest." Abbott claimed, "He's saying 'elect me, then I'll establish a commission and that will make recommendations and then I'll decide what I'm really going to do.' It's a trust-me policy and I don't think the public would be inclined to trust Mr Rudd on this."

The health policy debate appeared in The SMH, The Australian and the Daily Telegraph. It also appeared on the online versions of these papers.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August 2007, http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/fix-hospitals-or-i-move-in-warns-rudd/2007/08/23/1187462441681.html

The Daily Telegraph, 23 August 2007, http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22295621-5005941,00.html

The Australian, 24 August 2007, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22298527-601,00.html

All photos are from The Daily Telegraph website.

Rudd's Strip Club Night

2007-08-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

The date for the Federal election has not been announced yet, but the smear campaign has begun. On 19 August 2007 The Sunday Telegraph carried the front page headlines; "RUDD'S STRIP CLUB NIGHT".In September 2003 Rudd visited a New York strip club, Scores. He was allegedly warned against inappropriate behaviour (touching the dancers). At the time, Rudd was representing Australia at the United Nations and was the Shadow foreign affairs minister.

Rudd confirmed he went to the club but could not recall what happened there because he "had too much to drink". Labor MP Warren Snowden visited Scores with Rudd. He said Rudd had not been warned for touching dancers. He continued,"We stayed for a reasonably short length of time. Nothing untoward happened and we left."

Rudd said; "If my behaviour caused any offence to anybody whatsoever that evening, I of course whole heartedly apologise." He said he had made an "error of judgment" and that he'll "take a belting in the opinion polls."In damage control mode, Rudd claimed he had only visited a strip club once before, in his 20's, while at university. He also said he had only been badly drunk once before at his 35th birthday party at his home.

Asked if this was the Liberals trying to smear him, Rudd replied;"It's a question you should put to Mr Downer and his staff, but, my responsibility is simply to be upfront and accountable for my own actions." Downer had allegedly used it as a private taunt in Parliament. A spokesman for Downer quoted the minister as saying; "I will not dignify that with a response."

The scandal has been reported in all news mediums: online, print, television and radio. Martin O'Shannessy, chief executive of Newspoll, said;"This is one of those issues that will take people's attention off policy for a while but...unless there are continuing and deeper mysteries coming out of this... it will probably have a fairly short life in the media and a fairly short life in the polls."

The Daily Telegraph, http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22274210-5001028,00.html

The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 August 2007, http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/kiss-and-makeup-for-rudd/2007/08/19/1187462091914.html

The Sunday Telegraph, http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,22270501-5001021,00.html

The Sunday Telegraph, http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,22049,22270830-5001028.html

All photos are from The Daily Telegraph website.

My First Posting

2007-08-05T22:30:00.001-07:00

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