Reading this article about a recent speech by British PM Tony Blair, I am again struck by the difference between leadership and simply governing. Blair may not be the best politician in the world, but he is, at least, committed to certain ideals and principals, of which equality is one.
John Howard may possess many characteristics - rat cunning, for example, and the ability to divide and conquer the Australian population by promoting intolerance and suspicion - but one thing he definitely lacks is vision.
Howard lacks a vision of what Australian society could be. Instead, he has tried to drag us back to what Australia was.
Blair, to his credit, had a vision of a fairer, more equal Britain, and his strong support for queer rights and same-sex relationships is a key platform of such policies. We've lived so long under Howard that it's almost hard to remember when politicians had visions for the future, instead of black-and-white dreams of the White Australia Policy past...
"If you allow discrimination to fester, that is a complete rejection of that modernising and civilising notion." - Tony Blair.
Bring the election on, I say. And thanks, Tony. (You can read his speech in full here.)
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