Rudd hears but will he learn?

June 29, 2008, 5:00pm,  170 views

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the voters in Gippsland have sent his government a message.

“The people of Gippsland have said loud and clear their concerns about impacts on household budgets,” the PM told reporters.

“The government has taken tough decisions including cutting government expenditure but that’s been necessary to put downward pressure on inflation and downward pressure on interest rates.

“Interest rates hit family budgets, household budgets hard.”

Rudd though said the government was committed to long-term decision making rather than politically convenient short-term policies.

“The government was elected to take tough decisions for the long-term future,” he said.

“That means there will be political setbacks on the way through.”

For someone who is supposedly obsessed with the 24-hour media cycle it’s a strange admission to concede bad news will be delivered if it’s good medicine.

A lot of Rudd’s problem is to do with his inaction on petrol prices. Brendan Nelson’s policy to cut the excise is starting to look like a political master stroke.