Australia wakes up to a new leader and yet…

Australia has a new Prime Minister today, Julia Gillard, the country’s first female leader, a woman of the Left (supposedly) who has came into power thanks to the power of the Right.

Already the commentariat are telling Gillard how to “avoid the same fate as Kevin Rudd“, as if they’re players in the game, wise men and women, and yet they prefer to play the adviser game. So much independent thought and analysis.

Here’s Crikey’s thoughts:

Here’s a reality check: many of the general public haven’t tuned into politics for months.

Suddenly, they wake up to a new prime minister. A prime minister they didn’t vote for.

That’s democracy, you could say. Or Labor party democracy, at least. Let’s see what the punters make of that.

But will the government’s policies change? A harsher policy towards refugees? An open discussion towards following every policy coming from Washington, such as Afghanistan and Israel/Palestine?

Don’t expect many differences.

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