A birthday, and a change of government

What a week it has been. This weekend I've been exhausted after cleaning and packing stuff up all week ready for the open days this weekend. A few interesting people have come through the house which is good.

Yesterday was Mum's birthday (hi Mum), so at her preference, we went out to a local lake and had fish and chips. It's always risky, trying a new fish-and-chip shop, but we were impressed. The lady even remembered to add chicken salt!

What else happened yesterday? Oh yes, we got a new prime minister. Kevin Rudd won the election this time, most probably due to fallout from the Work Choices legislation introduced by the previous PM John Howard, as well as the war in Iraq and a few other things that Australians just aren't happy about.

Watching the election coverage on TV is just like watching footy. I was at a friend's house for dinner with some other friends, and we weren't able to watch the entire 'match', but we did check the scores often. Needless to say, we did watch the last quarter (when it was clear who had won), as well as the speeches afterwards.

It was, in the end, kind of sad to see Mr. Howard leave on such a bad note (he lost the election terribly, and has probably lost his own seat, which would make him the second prime minister to do so). Although I haven't agreed with many of his decisions, he still has led our country out of debt, and has held fast to some of the great values that we had when this nation was formed.

Perhaps the reason for the downfall of the coalition can be illustrated by an interview I saw with one candidate who was predicted to lose his seat. When asked why he thought there had been such a swing against him, he simply refused to accept defeat, and then later admitted "I don't know". Any politician who does not listen to his people, and who takes their loyalty for granted, will eventually find himself unseated.

Well, here's to a "new page" in Australia's history - I'll look forward to seeing some of Mr. Rudd's promises fulfilled (and let's hold him to it), such as throwing out WorkChoices and sorting out this mess in Iraq.