Battling cynicism inflation and the expectation deficit

The wave of enthusiasm that swept Kevin Rudd to power creates a unique set of problems. There is an enormous sense of energy and movement about the government, with major milestones such as Australia's induction into the Kyoto Protocol's membership and the apology to the stolen generations already complete within the first hundred days. Such symbolic touchstones of policy formed one part of Rudd's appeal. The other was the promise to address those microeconomic 'kitchen table' issues such as interest rates, rent and grocery prices. The very issues accentuated by the Howard Government's blind pursuit of macroeconomic success.

The ruckus over the membership of the 2020 steering committee demonstrates one part of the danger for Rudd. As a progressive vehicle for facilitating the development of a future vision, the bald announcement of nine male (mostly balding) chairs and one solitary female chair was not 'a good look'. It later turned out that numerous women had declined posts, which Rudd swiftly remedied by appointing six female ministers as deputy chairs. The assorted complaints from Eva Cox and Susan Ryan, among others, that the committee membership was a hoary throwback to men-only decision making, meant that the somewhat oddly-maligned summit was overshadowed by more controversy. Rudd does however, need to be careful that in areas such as indigenous and foreign policy he is not seen to adopt the same posture as his predecessor. The controversy over the self-congratulatory 'First 100 Days' pamphlet, led more than the odd voter to say this behaviour reminded him of Howard's prolifigate use of government adveristing.

In an interview in his capacity as chair of the social inclusion committee, Tim Costello referred to the summit as an exercise in 'expectation management'. The danger created by high expectations is an equally high risk they will be disappointed. The great risk for Rudd that his gestures towards price insulation for his new constitutency will be seen as mere window dressing. It is very hard to be free market and cut red tape on one hand and use regulatory measures on the other. It is especially hard to maintain fair prices for items such as groceries and petrol, particularly in a climate with rising fuel costs. Rudd needs to be seen to maintain his empathy with struggling voters and they need to see his efforts to improve their position.