He is the lesser of two evils - but that is not good enough.

The victory of the Autralian Labor Party in last months federal election has already created some improvements in Australia's democratic health and our standing amongst other nation's opinions of us in the world.

First of all, the Kyoto Protocol was signed and ratified by our government, led by Kevin Rudd, on his first day in office. This is something that would never have been accomplished by Howard's administration. The US is still yet to sign the deal that looks to cut carbon emissions in order to alleviate global warming and other environmental changes.

The second move was a policy put forward by Kevin Rudd that will disallow federal ministers to engage in corporate trading or shares and other commodities. All shares currently owned by ministers will have to be sold. This is a great step in maintaining Australia's democratic constitution as it prevents ministers from making decisions that would benefit themselves rather than the electorate and, to in effect, the wider Australian population.

The third sign of improvement in Australia is the Prime Minister's promise to apologise to the Aboriginal people for the atrocities of the stolen generation. This is something that previous Labor governments and even Coalition leaders have apologised for in the past, yet Howard refused to do so. Howard's reasoning for not saying 'sorry' was that it would give Aboriginal people an excuse for the poor living conditions, criminal activities and non-existant work ethic that a percentage of their population are criticised for, and essentially, their entire race is stereotyped.

However, Howard failed to realise that as an individual with no responsibility, he would have had no obligation at all to say sorry. As PM, however, he is very much obliged to apologise on behalf of his administration and former Australian governments, including those directly responsible for the the white crimes of the past.

These are the three decrees that have comd down from Kevin Rudd and his cabinet so far. However, it is not all sweet smelling roses.

Rudd is a very passionate and dedicated Christian. Now although I believe that it is each individuals choice to believe what they like and to worship in any way and deity, it is not appropriate for that individual to impose their beliefs and values upon the wider masses (no pun intended).

Kevin Rudd has already outwardly stated that he is not in favour of same sex marriage. This is a major disappointment to us lefties who believe that any loving relationship should be allowed to enter that institution. I personally also believe that gay couples should be given every right to adopt a child if they are capable of raising them and looking after them, just the same as any other heterosexual couple.

This is going to be a large preventative to any legislation being passed in the future that would alter current laws in some states and territories. It is disappointing and very concerning to those in favour of a change to the current legislation and the building of a strictly secular government.

A nation can only truly be democratic and call itself 'free' if it has a secular government in office. That is to say, no legislation put forward, or bills passed, that are created directly from the values and beliefs of a religious order. I have always been an advocate of the separation of church and state, and Kevin Rudd's views, although he is allowed to have them, are no doubt going to get in the way of politics and the running of this country.

Howard was very similar, making it known that his Christian faith was driving his and his party's policies and opinions. Rudd, in this respect, will be no different.

Right now I just have to take solace on the fact that at least an ALP government will be a little more progressive than the conservative regime of terror we have been through for the past 11 and a half years.

Victory!

For many of us, Saturday the 24th of November, 2007 will seem like a positive stepping stone in the journey of this country. For others, it will seem like a bitter step backwards and even a heavy fall. Whatever the future holds though, Australians, the majority of them, have grown tired of the tired rhetoric and conservative agenda of the coalition government that has remained in power for more than 10 years.

Moments after the election was unoficially announced as a landslide win for the ALP, late in the afternoon of that very day, Media commentators on Australian radio stations claimed that it was not really an election. It was a referendum on who people wanted to be their Prime Minister. This is true to some extent, however many of us who voted for Labor, Liberal or any other party as our first preference, voted for that party, not for the party leader.

This election was run in a US style presidential campaign. We had Howard and Rudd at the forefront of the campaigning. Of course, either one was going to be PM based on their respective party's victory. We soon seem to forget however, that most of the work is done by the candidates going up for election in each electorate. We also seem to forget just how important the seats in the senate are and just how crucial it is that minor parties such as the Greens and Democrats hold a balance of power within the Upper House.

Although I am personally happy that John Howard has lost office and Kevin Rudd's ALP is now in government, it is vital, extremely vital that not all the power belong to one party, especially one that has tended to swing increasingly towards the centre point of politics over the years. Nothing against the ALP, I rate them over the Liberals/Nationals based on their policies, however minor parties still need to keep unfair and biased legislation at bay over the next three years. Although, there are many progressive left-wing policies that will be put into place as bills (and more than likely passed) over the first term of Rudd's ALP government (the first of many, I hope) which is a good sign, there can also be legislation that proves itself to go against what the people want, which is a political reality even in a democratic nation.

Now to get on to the topic of this article: The victory for the ALP on Saturday.

This victory was not only a great step taken by the Australian people, it is a sign that there is some progressive thought and concept of social justice in this country. When all hope for people seems to be lost, it turns out that people are a lot more intelligent than I thought they were.

We are not all just money hungry, greedy, xenophobic and, dare I say it, fascist individuals. We do have some independent thought and love for humanity.

The one disappointment that I have is that amongst the key policies campaigned for in the election, the environment and health care were again mentioned first, then thrown into the background in the final weeks. The economy, including interest rates and unemployment were the main topics on everyones lips. Rudd proved himself a better economic manager and someone who will lead the country through the final few years of the boom that we are experiencing now. However, if that was the sole reason why his party came into power, then that is quite scary.

However, this is just an exaggeration. I know full well that this was not the only reason that the ALP is now government. Kevin Rudd has many dynamic and intelligent people on staff and in his parliament. There are many other key policies, including the environment, education and healthcare that may not have been the main arguments, yet they were still on the minds of those voters who care about these sort of things. Those of us with a social conscience, who want this country to change for the better and to prove itself a progressive and democratic nation in the world.

Back Again: And back with a vengeance, righties and fundies!

Seeing the opinion polls show the ALP up and Rudd as the preferred PM for the past few months has made me feel pretty good. Good for starters because it goes against the fear I had this time last year that most people had shifted towards a right-wing conservative way of thinking. There was a great fear within me that Australians in general were apathetic when it came to problems with the environment or social justice. That the only thing that concerned most people was their financial situation or how much they could screw their employees.

This isn't necessarily the case. Although at one time, after seeing Howard unfairly and unjustly win election after election (I say unjustly not because he rigged it or that he forced people to undemocratically vote for him, but because of his ruthless last ditch efforts to evoke nationalism within people and get them to vote for him through guilt and national pride), after seeing him retain office time after time after time, I gave up hope for this country.

I still have little hope, because at the moment the argument at the forefront of the election campaign by both parties is who is the better manager of the economy.

The answer to that question is irrellevent. The question that should be posed should be about who will manage the natural environment better. Who will be the party to finally sign the Kyoto Protocol and stop mining uranium for exportation or for use in nuclear reactors.

I believe that these are not at the forefront because most Australians do not really see these as important. However, they actually are. They are an investment in the future, not a financial one, but one to preserve our very lifestyle and even our lives.

The election is on this Saturday: For those of you who used to read 'Super Simmo' that blog closed down about two months ago. The reason for that will be released later on, however I won't get into it today. I can just say that at this present time, I need to get my voice back out there. There are far too many people who want to retain a Coalition government run by Howard. This is a bad choice for all concerned. For families, for education, for children, for the environment.

I only hope that come Saturday, Howard is voted out and the ALP is restored to government after 11 years.