Victory on all fronts – ?

I'd been reluctant to make this claim up till now.  John Howard's defeat in his own electorate of Bennelong at the hands of charming ex-telejournalist Maxine McKew has not quite been officially confirmed yet.  More importantly,  his party looks like it will retain control of the upper house of Parliament until July 2008,  with an uncomfortable trio of minor parties holding the balance of power after that.

However:  since their defeat,  power within Howard's  (right-of-centre)  Liberal party has shifted dramatically towards the party's progressive,  truly liberal wing  (or as Australians say,  the  "small-l liberal"  wing),  and away from Howard's own far-right wing of the party  (appropriately known as  "the uglies").  Senior Liberal figures have been jettisoning core Howard policies with almost unseemly haste.  Suddenly we're hearing statements like this:  "you can see that Kyoto and the apology to indigenous people are obstacles that were peculiar to Howard.  He's gone,  story over."  Senior Liberals are even in favour of getting rid of Howard's cherished  (and deeply unpopular)  industrial relations reforms.  Could this be the fastest political revolution this country has ever seen??  It looks like the numbers in the upper house will be no hindrance to Labor's programme at all.

Ironically,  new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spent much of the past year moving the Labor party to the right,  trying to project an image of dependable stability to match Howard's own.  Now some Liberals are adopting positions more progressive than those of the new Blairite-style Labor.  For example,  Malcolm Turnbull,  now the second most powerful Liberal politician,  is an ardent republican.  Rudd,  on the other hand,  has ruled out a referendum on the republic issue any time soon.

Hopefully the Rudd camp will redress the situation soon.  Otherwise right will be left,  left will be right,  and the result will be embarrassment,  confusion,  and chaos on the nation's roads.