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For followers of Australian Politics the last few days about the proposed carbon tax and the opinion polls really had me thinking about how different things could've been if Beazley won the 2007 election. Irrespective of whether the mining tax or the carbon tax are good policies, they have not been communicated well at all.

Under Beazley how different could things be? He was an experienced minister and experienced parliamentarian, I concede not a inspiring leader but one would think he would have implemented his policies far better then the current Labor leadership.

I think it would be a close election in 2007, but ultimately I think he would win. Howard was just there too long and work choices basically confirmed his defeat. The tragedy for Labor is that after spending 11 years in opposition they finally came to government and basically botched it. They can claim some small victories, but there can be no denying they fall far short of the hopes and aspiration the public had when changing the government.

It's very easy to blame it all on Kevin (or Julia), but I'm interested in any thoughts as to what a Beazley led Labor Government would look like.

Not sure what the POD would be to get him there as he was essentially on borrowed time at the end. At a stretch I thought about Crean going the distance and facing a disastrous result in the 2004 election. Latham and Beazley would be the front runners in the aftermath and perhaps the party would decide a safe pair of hands is preferable to the untested Latham. Latham remaining active in the party would likely veto Rudd or Gillard's ambition.
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