OPINION:
Tony Abbott was sacked by his party as the prime minister of Australia this week. He was not the first such leader and he’ll not be the last to be dismissed by impatient constituencies that demand immediate gratification of their wants and wishes.
Mr. Abbott’s ouster, following an earlier attempt only a few months ago, was the 72nd overthrow of leadership without an election at the state and federal level in Australia since 1970. He left a valedictory that presidents and prime ministers of diverse politics and in other capitals might well have given. Mr. Abbott speaks to the angry politics of our times.
“The nature of politics has changed in the past decade,” he said. “We have more polls and more commentary than ever before — mostly sour, bitter, character assassination. Poll-driven panic has produced a revolving-door prime ministership which can’t be good for our country and a febrile media culture has developed that rewards treachery.
“Leadership changes are never easy. My pledge today is to make this change as easy as I can. There will be no wrecking, no undermining, and no sniping. I have never leaked or ’backgrounded’ against anyone and I certainly won’t start now. Our country deserves better than that . Yes, this is a tough day, but when you join the game, you accept the rules.”
Politicians sometimes lose their reputations, rarely to be heard from again, but one former prime minister, Kevin Rudd, a robust liberal, retains a following in international circles and he has been spoken of as a prospective secretary-general of the United Nations. There is no opening there at the moment, but as the philosopher Fats Waller once observed, “One never knows, do one?”
In this most recent Australian coup, the country got a taste of eloquence and humility from Mr. Abbott, who seems to have had a knack for antagonizing supporters even in a shift of a popular if difficult policy. His devout Christian faith seemed out of sync with the growing secularist mood. He adamantly opposes same-sex marriage. He undid some of the Labor government’s attempts to thwart climate-change schemes. But his tough line on blocking smuggling rings that move illegal immigrants in Southeast Asia toward Australia succeeded, and some Europeans suggest it could be a model for Europe. His free-trade agreements may be helpful, too.
He has promised not to get in the way of his flamboyant successor, millionaire “renaissance man” Malcolm Turnbull — a Rhodes Scholar, journalist, lawyer, banker and venture capitalist. Mr. Turnbull, in turn, indicates he will tread slowly on certain things on which he opposed the more conservative Mr. Abbott. The new man wants to calm the waters Down Under. Washington wishes him well because Australia has been important to the allied goal of maintaining peace and stability in the world.
“Australia,” the departing Tony Abbott says, “has a role to play in the struggles of the wider world: the cauldron of the Middle East, and security in the South China Sea and elsewhere. I fear that none of this will be helped if the leadership instability that’s plagued other countries continues to taint us.” He might have been speaking for others with impatient constituencies.
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