Essay by Luke Foster
“The very best Labor governments in our nation’s history distinguished themselves by thinking big and, wherever possible, resisting the temptation to overemphasise short-term political considerations.”
Anthony Albanese
I love this photo of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jacinda Ardern and today I am sort of Anthony’s loving puppy Toto
I don’t watch the news or read the papers but I have heard on the grapevine that Anthony has been looking after me from a distance since he has been Australia’s prime minister and I also platonically love Jacinda Arden who was New Zealand’s PM and I hope she didn’t think I was fruity sending her an installation several years back while I was in New York, I think.
I really liked Australian PM Bob Hawke when I was young and he was a casual genius as a former Rhodes scholar.
“The greatest stain upon this great Australian nation’s character, without any question, is the great gaps that exist between our Aboriginal brothers and sisters in terms of their health, their education, their living conditions, their incarceration rates and life expectancy. It’s a great stain.”
Bob Hawke
Bob also worked tirelessly to overcome homelessness in Australia particularly amongst children and teenagers.
I think it was amazing that Julia Gillard became the first Australian female PM and she made amazing reform particularly when it came to education.
“Getting more girls a good education requires an approach that harnesses the collective efforts of developing nations, donor nations, multilateral organizations, NGOs, private-sector institutions.”
Julia Gillard
My favourite thing former PM Kevin Rudd did was the Sorry Day speech apologizing to the Australian Aboriginal people particularly for the stolen generation.
My favourite opposition minister in Australian history was Kim Beazley who I praised profusely with an essay in my Mothers Love book.
“Gaining visibility is just the process of being SEEN so that you can connect with others.”
Kim Beasely
In conclusion I try not to play favourites but these are definitely my favourite Aussie PM’s past and present. I am Jacinda and Anthony’s loving puppy today Toto but I am K Rudd, Julia, Kim and the late Bob’s loving cat today and I want to metaphorically roll on my back so they can lovingly rub my tummy.