PM proves an Australian winner in a defining year

Mr Rudd rose to the challenge of the financial crisis.IT is not the first time The Weekend Australian has chosen a serving prime minister as its Australian of the Year. Kevin Rudd -- named today as the 2009 winner -- joins predecessors John Howard, selected in 2001, and Malcolm Fraser (1977). Nor is it the first time a prime minister has been chosen early in his leadership. Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam was named within a month of his December 1972 election and Bob Hawke within a year of Labor's 1983 victory.But Mr Rudd's selection -- as the person who had the most significant impact on the nation in the past 12 months -- stands out because of the extraordinary challenges that confronted Australia last year and helped define his prime ministership. As Australia moves ahead with excellent growth prospects, great confidence and relatively low unemployment, it is hard to recall the dark days of September 2008 when Lehman Brothers fell and the world contemplated a collapse of its global banking and financial systems. The Rudd government, elected less than a year earlier, was faced with a huge economic crisis, one that threatened to demolish not just its policy promises in areas such as health and education but also its prospects of re-election this year, and with it the opportunity to extend Labor's power beyond a single term.Mr Rudd and his colleagues correctly saw it as a make-or-break moment for Labor -- and for the country. Their response -- to do whatever it took to ensure the economy did not go into a technical recession -- led to unprecedented levels of public spending. This paper has at times been critical of the scope and allocation of that stimulus and has urged the government to recalibrate its program where possible so money could be applied to more productive infrastructure. But we acknowledge the success of Mr Rudd's strategy of pumping in money to maintain consumer spending, protect employment and -- perhaps just as importantly -- to preserve domestic and international confidence in the economy. The strategy was risky, but the proof is in Australia's success on a range of economic indices. With Wayne Swan, Finance Minster Lindsay Tanner and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard at his side, the Prime Minister oversaw a recovery that amazed the world. Far from being mugged by the global financial crisis, Mr Rudd rose to the occasion and displayed the leadership qualities that have defined Australians of the Year since the award was launched almost 40 years ago. Combined with the underlying strength of the Australian economy and its banks, Mr Rudd's single-minded approach ensured that, unlike his contemporaries Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, his reputation has been enhanced rather than diminished by the GFC. The crisis served to define the government after a first year in power when it struggled to carve out a clear direction. Mr Rudd was an economic neophyte, having never held such a portfolio in opposition. Yet his management of the crisis cemented Labor's economic credentials. By October last year, Newspoll found him rating 58 per cent as preferred economic manager to the 25 per cent of then opposition leader, Malcolm Turnbull.Mr Rudd's popularity remains solid, even if, as Cameron Stewart reports today, he is respected, rather than loved. His stewardship has ensured Labor goes into an election year with an eight-point lead that would deliver it a comfortable victory. Just as importantly, the nation enters 2010 with every sign of strong growth in jobs and the economy generally, and optimism about its long-term prosperity. After the worrying early months of last year, the country has proved resilient and is well placed to exploit its natural resources, its educated workforce and its efficient financial system. That is not to minimise the challenges. But this past week, Mr Rudd has made a series of speeches on productivity, fiscal restraint and infrastructure that suggest his government is well aware of what must be done as we move from damage control to growth.Thirty-seven years ago, when Mr Whitlam was named our Australian of the Year, we said he had created ``the feeling that from now on, the country's affairs -- at home and abroad -- will be conducted with a new sense of purposeful direction and independence''.Thirty-two years ago, we said Mr Fraser (jointly named with judge Elizabeth Evatt) had ``put his personal stamp on the government and the direction of the country in a way that had hardly been equalled by any other prime minister since Menzies''.Twenty-six years ago, we chose Mr Hawke ``not just for his stunning election victory but for the high expectations that the Australian people hold for him in 1984''.Eight years ago we noted Mr Howard's ``admirable fighting qualities of tenacity, persistence and clever, disciplined aggression''.Today, we recognise Mr Rudd shares many of the qualities of his predecessors. Most noteworthy is that, like Mr Hawke in 1984, he starts the year carrying the hopes and aspirations of the nation. Those expectations are based in no small part on his record in a year that threw him big challenges. Mr Rudd proved equal to the task and his determination to navigate the GFC makes him an obvious choice as our Australian of the Year.Originally published: The Weekend Australian, 23 January 2010