A place to discuss Australia Politics.
This community is run under the rules of aussie.zone.
Be sure to check out and subscribe to our related communities on aussie.zone:
https://aussie.zone/communities
Probably Gillard within my lifetime. Frankly, there haven't been any impressive PMs so she wins by being least worst. Albanese could overtake her, though he is far from exciting me.
Howard was by far the worst and most destructive, although it feels like we're constantly discovering new information about how fucked Morrison was so maybe he'll end up being worse for me.
Abbott is most tolerable as a human being, if you put aside politics. But his politics was by far the most toxic in my lifetime. Turnbull probably had the best personal politics but was a complete pushover and allowed the right of his party to rule. Morrison had no personal politics, except that he saw personal success as literally godly. So he's the worst as a person.
They're all awful in their own way, but I gotta give it to Abbott as most-hated, because he's the guy who cemented the toxic obstructionist approach to Opposition. He tripled down on the racist politics started by Howard. He set us back a decade in climate, by turning it into such a highly polarised issue. His was a politics of hate, and we're still feeling the consequences. His genuine support for rural fireys and his involvement in triathlon just don't change his terrible behaviour in and around Parliament.
For best, Whitlam is pretty obvious, but within my lifetime, Gillard for sure. She was the only PM who actually believed that a politician's job is to do the right thing by the Australian people, by respecting their wishes and working with the Parliament that they elected. Where Labor has a long history, both before (with Rudd) and after (with Albanese), of being obstinate and playing a "my way or the highway" game, Gillard was an excellent negotiator who worked meaningfully with the cross-bench to get through numerous policies, including climate policy that was far better than anything Albanese has shown signs of doing even with his massive comfortable majority.
Also Holt gets a plus, for drowning or whatever. I may not like politicians that much.
If its only while i've been alive, then i think its going to be Albanese. I know its early, but they're delivering in meaningful and long term ways. Something i can't claim to have experienced.
Turnbull was rat-fucked by his own party from the beginning, but given clear air could have put the nation on the right track earlier, and was instrumental in diversifying Australia's media landscape, and proving that the Liberals can't ignore climate change, or authoritarianism some things that Party is still trying to figure out.
I's too young for Keating and Hawke, they seemed good, but my lifes challenges are fundamentally different to the challenges of their leadership tenures.
If i had my choice overall, then maybe,
John Curtin
Set Australia on the path of rational balancing between great powers to enact an independent path. Ostensibly for WW2 but it might've been for more.
He hated Keith Murdoch, and his dictatorial practices over media. Fuck the Murdochs. I actually know a different Murdoch family, lovely people. #notallmurdochs
He's the only WA PM. West coast best coast baby!!
And did a fair number of things like follow a Keynesian full employment goal, exapansion of social state type stuff.
WA has a decent claim to Hawke. He went to school and university here, his uncle was WA premier. He wasn't born in WA and didn't represent WA in parliament. But he was a good WA boy.
Yeah true! Fuck, how did i forget that! Theres even that new school over Subi way.
In my lifetime? Or in my voting lifetime?
If the former, Whitlam. He's not a popular choice according to history, and he was blocked so frequently in what he was trying to do. But if you look at the actual policies he killed conscription, introduced free health care, free university, legal aid, equal rights and animal rights. Lots of these policies were unpopular with politicians at the time, but are a given in society today. He's mostly remembered for "The Dismissal", which is a crying shame.
If the latter, it's a little nuanced. PMs have been more stymied by their parties in the past 20 years than I remember happening in before the Hawke-Howard years.
Rudd's an interesting one: By all accounts, he's a raging arsehole to work with. But, he was really trying to spread the wealth and break up the monopolies. He was just getting going when the mining companies fired him for having the audacity to suggest that was all our dirt they were digging up and the profits should be shared with all Australians. I'm still mad that his party didn't stand with him on that one.
I think Turnbull could have been one of the greatest PMs of all time. A total technocrat who wanted to put experts in their fields into assorted roles. That was unpopular in his party and he spent his whole prime-ministership trying to manage his party instead of the nation. He also stood by his word - if he agreed that he'd support a bill if conditions were met - he did so. Even crossing the floor to support climate legislation. I'd love to see what he could have achieved if he had his party behind him.
Gillard is another one who would have been great, but she spent her whole tenure with a cloud over her head - either from the way she wrested leadership from her predecessor, alienating the electorate, or from being in a minority government most of the time, needing to do deals for everything. For all that though, wow she got shit done!
In terms of popular/least hated prime minister in my voting life, I have to give it to Hawke. He cared. You really felt like the guy was in your living room talking to you over a beer and working on your behalf. I know and acknowledge that my childhood politics was shaped a lot by my parents, and those days were very much "Labor good, Libs evil". But for all of that, Australians really felt like the guy was there batting for us. He wasn't all roses: He took away free university but he re-introduced free health care (Menzies privatised Medibank after Whitlam). He was deeply in the USA camp, which is weird as he was a polar opposite to Regan. He cried on TV, showing that he was human.
I really want to see how Gillard, Rudd and Turnbull went in their respective alternative universes where they had their parties were behind them. I think they all could have done great things.
Kevin 07 4 Lyfe
Favourite (voting lifetime): Albanese (slim pickings for me lol)
Favourite (lifetime): Gillard
Favourite (all time): Whitlam
Most hated: Morrison (honourable mentions to Abbott and Howard)