Aussie PM dumped by own party

[Mark Stapleton]

This is interesting, Rudd speaks Chinese and stepped on Chinese and Indian interests with the mining tax, apparently:

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4106703

Oz Rudderless as 'Sheila' takes lead

June 24, 2010 Edition 4

CANBERRA: Australia's ruling party ousted its leader today in a sudden revolt that also delivered the country its first female leader and stunned the public.

Kevin Rudd's deputy, Julia Gillard, was elected leader in an uncontested vote about 12 hours after she surprised many colleagues by challenging a prime minister who until recently was one of the most popular in modern Australian history.

The removal of Rudd - best known as one of the West's few Chinese-speaking leaders and for helping to broker the Copenhagen climate change agreement - showed that his party had lost faith that he could win a second term at the upcoming national elections.

The leadership change immediately eased hostilities between the government and big mining companies over a proposed tax on so-called "super profits" from burgeoning mineral and energy sales to China and India.


Gillard halted an advertising campaign that is promoting the tax, keeping a Labour promise that Rudd broke to never use taxpayers' money for political advertising.

She said her government was willing to negotiate with mining companies on the proposed tax. Opinion polls show the tax debate is doing increasing harm to the government's re-election chances.

Rudd had ridden high in opinion polls until he made major policy backflips, including a decision in April to shelve plans to make Australia's worst polluters pay for their greenhouse gas emissions.

But Gillard has not committed to pressing ahead with the government's emission trading scheme, in which polluters would buy and trade permits for every ton of carbon dioxide they produce. She said that as prime minister she would seek consensus on how carbon pollution should be priced. - Sapa-AP

Uh, from the content of your article, how do you read that Rudd stepped on Chinese and Indian interests? The mining tax is levied on the mining companies in Australia, not the customers in China and India.

In any case, the Chinese and the Indians don't have the power to bring down an Australian PM. Why? Because they don't own the media. We know who does, don't we?

My sayanim alarm is ringing.