Word: australia
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...foreign policy, Rudd is expected to stick largely to Howard's way. Australia will remain a "rock solid" friend of the U.S. but reserve the right to act "independently." It will be more deferential to the U.N., and may also be more alert to the sensitivities of China. Rudd has criticized Beijing's human-rights record, but when the Howard government advocated an alliance between Australia, the U.S., Japan and India, he rejected the idea, saying it would make China feel encircled...
...nerves were palpable. While the exit polls were encouraging and the swing to Labor was on, not enough seats were changing hands in the country's populous southeast. On the monitors, former leader Kim Beazley looms, warning that the result had better not hinge on the late-voting Western Australia, where rude prosperity was helping the government. In the flesh, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh sounds grim about her own state, where only two seats are classed as Coalition marginals. "It's a huge ask of Queensland," she says. "We're still in nailbiting territory...
...There's a hush to hear Howard concede, replaced by boos as he boasts how the Coalition has made Australia "stronger, prouder and more prosperous than it was 11 and a half years ago." A chant of "Bulls__" greets his claim that Australia's economy has made it "the envy of the world." This is a crowd sick of economic blather and thirsty for talk of higher values. Howard goes on a bit. "Now he's going to talk for 11 and a half years," someone quips...
...Simon, a good 40 years Baume's junior, echoed that view. Wearing a bright yellow T shirt advertising himself as a supporter of Ken Ticehurst (an early Liberal casualty), he was bewildered by the rejection of Howard's robust economy. "If you want a job in Australia, you can get one. How many countries can say that?" A pretty brunette, leaning over just enough to drip champagne on the carpet, added, "It's a really odd time to throw out a government...
...hour later he was still circling the room, smiling and chatting. A Sydney businessman, Order of Australia button in his lapel, watched admiringly. "He was the real thing," he said, raising his glass in Howard's direction. "I'll miss him. Australia will miss...