Well, we've had close to two days of Kevin Rudd as opposition leader. So far he's not doing too badly, although I guess we'll see how things are going in a few month's time. I feel sorry for Kim Beazley, particularly with the death of his younger brother, but he always seemed a bit too nice for politics or something like that and generally conducted himself with dignity. Maybe that's a bit of an inditement on the way politics is conducted in Australia, I'm not sure.

But I'm hoping the new leadership of the ALP will provide the alternative that I think more and more people are looking for with next year's election starting to make an appearance on the horizon. "An alternative voice, not an echo" is what Rudd has been saying (along with things about forks in roads and bridges too far). An alternative would be nice.

No, better than nice.

I'm gagging for a party (read: ALP) to present policies in a clear, consistent and emphatic manner that are for the long-term benefit to the nation and those around it, particularly in relation to education, health care, the environment and so on. Admittedly, I would be voting Labor anyways, so all of this is probably redundant. But even people I know who are Liberal voters are starting to comment more and more often about how the current government has been failing us on so many of those fronts, as well as things like the Iraq invasion, workplace reforms, the Australian Wheat Board (who in their right mind actually believes the government knew nothing?) ("Nozzink! I see nozzink!!"), etc.

But for those who might only be thinking about voting Labor or are getting tired of the current government's policies or who just want to see something done for the future of Australia rather than a knee-jerk here-and-now Australia, this is probably the best opportunity the opposition's going to get. Here's hoping they get it right in the coming months.

In the mean time, I'll brace myself for more amusingly puerile L-plater-style ads... 'Twas good for a giggle in an at-not-with way. Although on that thought, I really hope the ALP plays the ball, not the man (to use a cliche that reminds me delightfully of the second Test win yesterday) when it comes to their advertising campaigns. So sick and tired of the smear campaign things. Much better to look to the future and what you could do than keep returning to the past to rehash what someone else apparently couldn't.