Kevin Rudd and the labour tradition: Economy, technology and social diversity

Abstract

These are very early days in the Rudd Government’s term of office to be commenting on its relationship to Labor tradition (understood here very broadly not as an essentialist list of Labor principles but in terms of the evolving ideology and policies of previous Labor governments and leaderships). That relationship is likely to become much clearer in subsequent years (as will the influence of international, including British, social democracy).1 Consequently, this paper merely aims to make some initial comments regarding current continuities between the Rudd government and its Labor predecessors, as well as identifying some possible points of difference. It begins with an analysis of the Rudd government’s underlying position on economic policy, then teases out some of the implications of issues ranging from new information technology to climate change before proceeding to a discussion of the Rudd government’s position on social equity.