Rudd's HYPOCRISY

1. Kevin says Kevin does
  "The Australian people are sick and tired of Mr Howard abusing the office of Prime Minister to run a personal smear campaign against his opponent, rather than debating the policy options for Australia's future."

- Kevin Rudd, Daily Telegraph, March 6, 2007.

"The documents demonstrate that we have an Australian prime minister who is a liar and I use the term precisely and intentionally."

- Kevin Rudd, Concerning AWB scandal, March 16, 2006.

And yet:

"There is no evidence that any of the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Trade or the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry were ever informed about, or otherwise acquired knowledge of, the relevant activities of AWB."

- Cole Report, para 30.241.
2. Kevin says Kevin does
  "Well, let me be very clear about what Labor's policy is. It's got three parts to it. Firstly, we support the UN Security Council exhausting all diplomatic means to bring about a peaceful resolution through containment of the type referred to in the Franco-German proposal earlier last week, or variations of it.

Secondly, if that doesn't work, then military action through the UN Security Council if the council so agrees to enforce its resolutions to bring about Saddam's disarmament. And, thirdly, what we've said is that if it comes to a separate United States action outside the framework of the UN Security Council, then such a case would have to be made. We say that as of today no such case has been made. That's our policy and I think it's fairly clear."

- Kevin Rudd, Interview with Laurie Oakes, Sunday, February 16, 2003.

"There is no debate or dispute as to whether Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. He does."

- Kevin Rudd, Lateline, September 24, 2002.

"[Mr Downer] said it was a case for war, we said it was not."

- Kevin Rudd, Lateline, September 30, 2004.

So Kevin is CERTAIN Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, but doesn't think that this is valid grounds for military intervention? What would have convinced him then? A nuke exploding in Tel Aviv?

Kevin Rudd's reasoning is absurd! This is not just hypocrisy--it's pure lunacy!

 
3. Kevin says Kevin does
  Kevin Rudd says he is pro-family. Kevin Rudd voted against the Marriage Amendment Act 2004 (Cth).
4. Kevin says Kevin does
  Kevin Rudd says he is pro-family, and, as an Anglo-Catholic Christian, he would oppose abortion. Kevin Rudd voted to allow RU486 to be made available in Australia for non-surgical  abortions:

"Well having just voted for RU 486..."

- Kevin Rudd, Interview with Julia Baird, ABC, March 5, 2006.

5. Kevin says Kevin does
  Kevin Rudd says Labor would be economically responsible in government by implementing policies aimed at keeping interest rates low and inflation within the Reserve Bank's target of two to three per cent:

"What you can do when it comes to interest rates is run a responsible fiscal policy, which means making sure your budget is in balance across the economic cycle...When it comes to budget outlays, the percentage of tax to GDP should not increase beyond that which currently exists under the Howard government."

- Kevin Rudd, Interview on Network Ten, February 11, 2007.

 Kevin Rudd has voted against every economic reform policy the Howard government has implemented--not just in regard to industrial relations, but in regard to tax reform as well.

For Kevin Rudd to now claim that there is bi-partisan support for John Howard's responsible fiscal policy and tax reforms is just plain dishonest and hypocritical.
6. Kevin says Kevin does
  Kevin Rudd said he was determined to fix the state hospital system when he became chief of staff to Queensland opposition leader Wayne Goss in 1988.

He said: "If I can contribute to the development of a rebuilding program for public hospitals across the state, and I am talking about 1992 here, then that's probably going to help others in those circumstances in the future."

- Kevin Rudd, Sydney Morning Herald, March 4, 2007.

 When Kevin Rudd was chief of staff under premier Wayne Goss, he closed 2200 hospital beds!

This earned him the nickname 'Dr Death'.

In 2005, a Commission of Inquiry into Queensland hospitals was conducted, and numerous problems were identified.

The Queensland hospital system is still in disarray and plagued by management problems.
7. Kevin says Kevin does
  �When it comes to roads, when it comes to rail and when it comes to water, Mr Howard's approach is: blame the states. My approach is: let's work with the states to fix infrastructure problems.�

- Kevin Rudd, The Australian, December 19, 2006.

 "In December 1989 the first act of Kevin Rudd, the new chief of staff to Queensland's incoming Labor premier, was to cancel plans for the Wolfdene dam. This was despite expert advice that such a dam would be needed for southeast Queensland in the early 21st century...Brisbane is paying the price for one of the worst infrastructure decisions in modern Australian history. Wolfdene dam would not have changed rainfall patterns but it would have allowed for perhaps 15 years of accumulated water storage, which in turn would have dramatically altered Queensland's capacity to deal with the inevitable ebb and flow of rainfall."

- Greg Hunt, The Australian, January 3, 2007.
8. Kevin says Kevin does
  "Howard's culture wars are in large part an electoral strategy drawn straight from the political alchemy of the US Republican Party campaign manual. Its central organising principle is fear and it is deployed in two parts. The first is the conscious exacerbation of fear, anxiety and uncertainty, all of which are powerful (in fact, disempowering) emotions capable of overriding all else in the human mind. The second part, once anxiety has been heightened, is to offer the anxious the healing balm of certainty in the midst of all this anxiety-inducing uncertainty."

- Kevin Rudd, The Australian, October 28, 2006.

 Kevin Rudd runs a fear campaign on industrial relations:

Rudd says some people cannot help their children play sport because they do not know when they will be rostered to work. In question time, he asked:

"Prime Minister, isn't it a fact that the Government's laws are a further fundamental assault on Australian families?"

- ABC Online, December 5, 2006.

"Well, I�ve said before that these laws need to be removed. We have to get rid of these laws because they are unfair and unjust to working families � lock, stock and barrel."

- Kevin Rudd, Doorstep interview, February 2, 2007.

Kevin Rudd runs a fear campaign on climate change:

"Climate change requires immediate action now. We need a national emissions trading scheme now. Mr Howard refuses to have one. We need a real, significant mandatory renewable energy target now. We also need to see Australia ratify the Kyoto Protocol and engage in real global cooperation in dealing with climate change including with China and India, with what comes after the current round of Kyoto. On top of that, we also need a national strategy on demand-side management for electricity. These four measures would bring about results, very real results, in a mere term frame of time and that�s what�s required. I�ll say it again. When it comes to climate change, Mr Howard doesn�t get it and we therefore need urgently a change of government."

- Kevin Rudd, Doorstep interview, February 2, 2007.
9. Kevin says Kevin does
  "But we will not for one moment stand idly by while either the Liberals, the Nationals or the Family First assert that God has somehow become some wholly-owned subsidiary of political conservatism in this country."

- Kevin Rudd, Sydney Morning Herald, November 7, 2004.

 In fact, Rudd himself is the only senior politician who has tried to commandeer God for political purposes. As The Australian's editor-at-large Paul Kelly pointed out in his Acton Lecture: 

"Howard does not project as a leader implementing God's will...Howard is a secularist who believes governments should reflect values but not embrace any religion.
:
"Rudd presents himself as a leader to restore ethical balance in Australia . He appeals to the churches for support in this cause. His template is Bonhoeffer�s repudiation of the Two Kingdoms doctrine � the view that the concern of the gospel is the inner person as opposed to the realm of state affairs which is beyond the gospel�s message...By this endorsement Rudd embraces a dynamic and assertive view of the Christian role in politics. This goes beyond anything Howard has propounded. As far as I am aware it goes beyond any Christian vision advanced by any other federal political leader of a major party for many decades. Bob Menzies during the more Christian age of the 1950s did not talk like this."

- Paul Kelly, Action Lecture, December 11, 2006.
  And there's plenty more to come...