They treated NSW like a personal slush fund, corrupting public processes, particularly in the area of development, for the personal gain of themselves and their mates. From Bob Carr on, education, health, roads, and transport were allowed to slowly rot - the very areas that should be the springboard for Labor policies - while Sussex Street had their noses firmly in the trough. And now they're trying to take over Federal Labor in the same way, and I believe the assassination of Kevin Rudd had more to do with that than anything else. As one of the Crikey writers said "Kevin Rudd needed a clip round the ears, not a knife in the back". Whatever his personal failings, Rudd has the ability to communicate to the public, and that's vitally important when it comes to being elected.
I also watch Question Time daily, and I think Gillard is an excellent parliamentary performer. Although her delivery style still annoys me, she can think on her feet, and reel off reams of facts without once looking at notes. But when she gets before a camera or a live audience, she freezes and is replaced by a robot. She simply isn't a good enough actress to deliver the lines that are written for her with any conviction. I suspect her advisers have told her just to keep on message, but perhaps if they let her loose and allowed her to speak off the cuff a bit more often, she might win a few more friends. It could be good for the polling figures if we could perhaps see Julia deliver a few direct kicks to the balls of Tony Abbott, but I get the feeling that she's been warned to remain "feminine" no matter what. I certainly think she's capable of it, but there's always the feeling that she's being held on a tight leash by invisible minders and doesn't dare be herself. Whether people would like her any better is anyone's guess, but from her performances in parliament, I think they might.
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