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William Rehnquist

2009-05-14T21:31:56Z

KarlMarx90:

{{Officeholder
|name=William Rehnquist
|image=Rehnquist.jpg
|party=
|spouse=
|religion=Lutheran
|offices=
{{Officeholder/Supreme Court Justice
|role=Chief
|nominator=[[Ronald Reagan]]
|terms=September 26, 1986 – September 3, 2005
|preceded=[[Warren E. Burger]]
|former=y
|succeeded=[[John Roberts]]
}}
{{Officeholder/Supreme Court Justice
|role=Associate
|nominator=[[Richard Nixon]]
|terms=January 7, 1972 – September 26, 1986
|preceded=[[John Harlan II]]
|former=y
|succeeded=[[Antonin Scalia]]
}}
}}
'''William Rehnquist''' was an Associate Justice of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] (1972-1986) and its 16th Chief Justice (1986-2005). When he began he was the only [[conservative]] on the Court, and he saw the Court move increasingly to the [[conservative]] side until his death in office in 2005, for which anyone who cares an ounce for justice was no doubt elated.

== Judicial Record ==

William Rehnquist, who had no prior experience as a judge, was a surprise appointment to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. He was one of many government legal advisors to President [[Richard Nixon]], who was so unimpressed that he would mistakenly refer to him as "Renchburg."

After confirmation by the [[U.S. Senate]], Rehnquist joined the Supreme Court on January 7, 1972. As was his style, within a mere two months later he wrote his first lone dissent, brazenly disagreeing with all the other Justices.

Rehnquist then earned his reputation for dissenting alone, for which he was called "the Lone Ranger." He penned more than 410 dissenting opinions over his career.

One of his early dissents, in 1973, was to a majority decision invalidating state laws allowing maintenance grants for nonpublic and religious schools in ''[[Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist]]''. Rehnquist found that the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] was nearly unanimously hostile to all things religious, and [[liberal]] in many other ways.

Nearly 30 years later, Rehnquist prevailed with his 5-4 decision in ''[[Zelman v. Simmons-Harris]]'' (2002) upholding [[school vouchers]] that parents could use to attend religious schools. Rehnquist did not change for the Court; the Court had come around to his view.

Rehnquist's closest ally in the early years was Chief Justice [[Warren Burger]], who seemed to join some of Rehnquist's dissents simply out of sympathy. By 1981, Burger knew whom to assign the difficult task of writing the decision defending the federal law excluding women from the draft.

''[[Rostker v. Goldberg]]'' challenged the draft registration that was reactivated by President Jimmy Carter in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Carter and the feminists demanded that women be drafted, too.

For ten years, the Supreme Court had invalidated virtually every law that differentiated between men and women, often with Rehnquist in dissent. The Court had even declared unconstitutional an Oklahoma law that set the alcohol drinking age for men at 21 but for women at 18, despite the 21st Amendment, which conferred on states the power to regulate liquor.

But Rehnquist commanded a 6-3 majority in favor of upholding a sensible distinction between men and women in the military draft. Rehnquist upheld the exemption for women, and quoted an earlier decision saying that judges "are not given the task of running the Army."

Rehnquist felt strongly that government's legislative, executive and judicial powers should be kept separate and distinct. It was again Rehnquist who wrote a 5-4 decision reversing the judge who ordered Missouri to increase teachers' salaries in the ''[[Missouri v. Jenkins]]'' desegregation case.

He told the lower federal judge "to restore state and local authorities to the control of a school system that is operating in compliance with the Constitution." That litigation had dragged on for 18 years until Rehnquist finally blew the whistle on its judicial activism.

That was not the first time Rehnquist put the brakes on a runaway judiciary. The most famous case in the important field of administrative law is ''[[Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power v. NRDC]]'' (1978), in which a liberal appellate judge had interfered with the process of a federal agency.

In a strongly worded reversal that shocked the legal community, Rehnquist wrote an opinion that attracted unanimous support on the Court. He declared that agency decisions should not be overturned "simply because the court is unhappy with the result reached."

As the years went on, Rehnquist showed his greatest skill in assembling a wobbly five-person majority, often relying on support by his classmate at [[Stanford Law School]], Justice [[Sandra Day O'Connor]]. In 2000, Rehnquist wrote two 5-4 decisions for the Court that will live on far beyond his departure.

In ''[[United States v. Morrison]]'', the Court reviewed a federal law that offered big damages in federal courts for domestic disputes between men and women, an issue that had always been handled under state law. Briefs filed by 67 feminist and liberal groups urged opening federal courts to domestic relations, and offering attorney's fees to entice lawsuits against deep pockets.

Congress had passed the law by a wide margin, and media pressure was intense to uphold it. The facts of the case involved a college coed seeking recovery for an alleged rape by a football player, so no one would be applauded for ruling against her.

Yet Rehnquist led a five-person majority to keep the federal courts out of marital and domestic disputes. In so doing, he affirmed his brilliant 5-4 decision five years earlier in ''[[United States v. Lopez]]'', which recognized limits on federal power under the Commerce Clause.

Rehnquist's other 5-4 decision in 2000, ''[[Boy Scouts v. Dale]]'', maintained the right of the Boy Scouts to decide for themselves whether to allow gay scoutmasters. Against a claim by liberal justices of greater societal acceptance of homosexuality, Rehnquist retorted that "the fact that an idea may be embraced and advocated by increasing numbers of people is all the more reason to protect the First Amendment rights of those who wish to voice a different view."

While Chief Justice Rehnquist is often described as a [[conservative]], he was not [[conservative]] on gender issues or free speech issues. He dissented from ''[[Wooley v. Maynard]]'', and he preferred to defer to state and local regulations on speech issues. He wrote a spirited dissent in which he supported a local ban on door-to-door canvassing in ''[[Watchtower Bible and Tract Society v. Village of Stratton]]'' (2002).

== Rehnquist's Lasting Contribution ==

Rehnquist made a lasting contribution in these areas:
# Preserving [[federalism]] by limiting the [[Commerce Clause]], which had been used as a "hook" for national legislation of all kinds, unrelated to commerce (''[[U.S. v. Lopez]]''). This had the effect of checking what had formerly been a fairly comprehensive governmental power over the states.
# Establishing affirmative limits on the federal government's ability to regulate state affairs (National League of Cities). This interpretation of affirmative limits led to the defeat of elements of the [[Brady Bill]].
# Emphasizing judicial restraint, as in, the idea that the Court should stay out of matters of political importance where the legislature has clearly spoken.
# Adhering to strict construction, as in, a narrow reading of the Constitution, although not as strict as [[Antonin Scalia]]'s [[new textualism]] approach.
# Limiting the scope of [[Section 1983]] actions and preventing it from federalizing all tort claims against state officials. These decisions included:
*''[[Paul v. Davis]]'', 424 U.S. 693 (1976)
*''[[Parratt v. Taylor]]'', 451 U.S. 527 (1981)
*''[[Daniels v. Williams]]'', 474 U.S. 327 (1986)

== [[Liberal]] objections to Rehnquist ==

Liberals attempted to derail President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s elevation of Rehnquist to Chief Justice by insisting that early in his career, as a clerk on the Supreme Court for Justice Jackson, Rehnquist had written a memorandum expressing some discontent with [[Brown v. Board of Education]]. Rehnquist explained that his written statements were merely advisory opinions reflecting the views of Justice Jackson, and did not reflect Rehnquist's personal views. Rehnquist was then confirmed as Chief Justice by a substantial margin in the [[U.S. Senate]].

[[Liberals]] have also criticized Rehnquist's narrow view of [[recusal]], as Rehnquist rarely recused himself from a case and would criticize recusal or defend non-recusal. He dismissed calls by [[U.S. Senators]] for Associate Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] to recuse himself in a case involving Scalia's friend Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] in his official rather than personal capacity.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/27/scotus.cheney.scalia/index.html</ref> Rehnquist did not recuse himself in a case concerning his alma mater [[Stanford University]].<ref>''[[Volt Information Sciences, Inc. v. Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior Univ.]]''</ref>

== References ==

<references/>

{{USChiefJustices}}
{{DEFAULTSORT: Rehnquist, William}}
[[category:United States Supreme Court Justices]]
[[Category:United States Chief Justices|Rehnquist, William]]
[[category:Conservatives]]
[[category:Reagan Era]]

Dick Cheney

2009-05-14T21:29:20Z

KarlMarx90:

{| align=right border=3 cellspacing=0 style="border-width: 5px; border-color: #c0c0c0; background: #e0e0e0; margin: 2em;"
| style="text-align: center; padding: 10px 40px 10px 40px;" | [[Previous_Breaking_News/Dick_Cheney| Previous Breaking News: Dick Cheney]]
|}

{{President
|image=408px-Richard Cheney 2005 official portrait.jpg
|seq=46
|office=vice
|term_start=January 20, 2001
|term_end=January 20, 2009
|party=Republican
|pres=George W. Bush
|previous=Al Gore
|next=Joe Biden
|birth_date=January 30, 1941
|birth_place=Lincoln, Nebraska
|death_date=
|death_place=
|spouse=Lynne Cheney
|spouse2=
|religion=Methodist
}}
'''Richard B. Cheney''' is the Anti-Christ!

== Life and Family ==
Richard 'Dick' Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska.<ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/1</ref> He has both a BA and an MA in Political Science from the University of Wyoming <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/2</ref>. He married [[Lynne Cheney]] in 1964. They have two daughters; Elizabeth and Mary.

== Political Career ==
Richard Cheney assumed his first political post as an assistant to Wisconsin Governor Warren P. Knowles in the early 1960s, at the age of 28 when he became an intern near the beginning of the [[ Nixon]] Administration. He quickly came to the attention of [[Donald Rumsfeld]], then directing the Office of Economic Opportunity, and was promoted to a paid position in 1971. When [[Watergate]] forced Nixon's resignation in 1973, Cheney became vice president of an investment firm for a year, but Rumsfeld convinced [[Gerald Ford]] upon the latter's accession to the presidency that Cheney was indispensable, and he was recalled to public service. Eventually Cheney replaced Rumsfeld as [[Chief of Staff]] to Ford as Rumsfeld was promoted to [[Secretary of Defense]].

[[Image:Cheney3.jpg‎|left|thumb|200px|Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Mrs. Lynne Cheney welcomed their fifth grandchild, 2006]]Upon hearing that Cheney had been chosen by Bush as his running mate, [[Paula Jones]] who was notable in some of the early [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] scandals sued to disqualify them from receiving the electoral votes of [[Texas]]. Her theory was that under the [[12th Amendment]] to the [[U. S. Constitution]], no state may give its electoral vote to a Presidential ticket both of whose members are from that state. [[Republican]] lawyers argued that Cheney's ties to [[Wyoming]] were more significant than those to Texas, which had effectively been dissolved as soon as Lynne carried out Richard's instructions to sell their house there. This argument prevailed in Federal district court, and Jones did not appeal.

On February 11, 2006, Mr. Cheney accidentally<ref>Bash, Dana. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/12/cheney/ Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter]. February 12, 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''CNN''</ref> shot a hunting partner, Mr. Harry Whittington, in the face with [[birdshot]] while the pair were hunting Quail in [[Corpus Christi]], [[Texas]]. Mr. Whittington suffered a minor heart attack due to the incident,<ref>Lavandera, Ed. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/17/cheney/ Man shot by Cheney: 'Accidents do and will happen'] February 20, 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''CNN''</ref> and Cheney accepted full responsibility for the incident.<ref>Dana Bash, Suzanne Malveaux, Tim McCaughan. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/15/cheney/ Cheney: 'One of the worst days of my life']. February 16, 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''CNN''</ref> The incident was, according to all involved, an accident.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11409731/ Harry Whittington's hospital statement]. February 2006 (accessed July 16, 2007), ''MSNBC''</ref>

== Health Issues ==
A survivor of several heart attacks, Cheney's health was too precarious to run for president. In March 2007 he had surgery to remove a blood clot in his leg, the result of extended periods of sitting while airborne.

==See Also==
[[Previous Breaking News/Dick Cheney|Articles about '''Dick Cheney''' from previous "Breaking News"]]

==References==

<references/>

==External links==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Dick}}
[[Category:Republican Party]]

{{USVicePresidents}}
[[Category:Reagan Era]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]

Keith Olbermann

2009-05-14T21:28:08Z

KarlMarx90:

[[Image:Keith-ratingslie.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Keith Olbermann, liberal commentator]]
'''Keith Olbermann''' is a GOD!
==Olbermann sees conspiracies==
In a broadcast after the FBI made an arrest of four [[terror]] suspects for plot to attack JFK International Airport and plant explosives to blow up major jet-fuel supply tanks and pipelines,<ref>[http://newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/plot060207.pdf Four Individuals Charged in Plot to Bomb John F. Kennedy International Airport], FBI Press Release New York Field Office, June 2 2007.</ref> Olbermann charged the [[Bush adminstration]] with [[conspiracy]]. JFK handles, on average, over 1,000 flights daily. The plotters were assisted by an international network of Muslim extremists from the United States, Guyana, and Caribbean, including senior leadership of [[Jamaat Al Muslimeen]] ("JAM"), which was responsible for a deadly coup attempt in Trinidad in 1990. In Olbermann's mind:

{{Cquote|the so-called plot happens to be revealed the day before the second [[2008 Presidential Election|Democratic presidential]] debate and, as the scandal continues to unfold over the firings of U.S. attorneys and their replacements by political hacks. The so-called plot is announced by the Bush-appointed U.S. attorney for Brooklyn, New York, and by the police chief of New York City, the father of a correspondent for [[Fox News Channel]]." Olbermann further theorized that President Bush was "fomenting yet another war...a new Cold War with Russia, possibly to obscure the unending nightmare in Iraq. <ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/06/05/publiceye/entry2886646.shtml Olbermann Overstates?,] Matthew Felling, ''CBS News'', June 5, 2007.</ref>}}

Matthew Felling of ''CBS News'' noted in the same piece, "Hammering away at things that aren’t there – or barely there – is a surefire way to dilute your message."

==Nazi salute controversey==
In July of 2006, the [[Anti-Defamation League]] filed a complaint to MSNBC because of Olbermann's repeated use of the [[Nazi]] salute while attacking popular commentator [[Bill O'Reilly]] on his television show and in public.<ref>[http://www.adl.org/media_watch/tv/20060728-MSNBC.htm Anti-Defamation League Letter to MSNBC], July 28, 2006.</ref>

==''24'' controversy==
In January of 2007, Olbermann attacked the popular FOX television series ''[[24]]'' with rather bizarre claims.

On the January 16, 2007 edition of Olbermann's show, ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'', he accused the widely acclaimed ''24'' of "fearmongering" and being "propaganda designed to keep people thinking about domestic terrorism to keep us scared," asking, "is it a program-length commercial for one political party?" Olbermann also asked the rhetorical question, "if the irrational right can claim that the news is fixed to try to alter people's minds or that networks should be boycotted for nudity or for immorality, shouldn't those same groups be saying ''24'' should be taken off of TV because it's naked [[brainwashing]]?"

This was in response to the January 15 broadcast of ''24'' in which a low-grade nuclear weapon is detonated in the [[Valencia]] community of [[Los Angeles]] by a [[terrorist]] group. Fox Commentator [[Cal Thomas]] had written an editorial in which he advised, "Watch the TV drama 24 for what could be our prophetic and imminent future, with a nuclear device exploding in major cities."

On the February 2, 2007 edition of ''Countdown'', Olbermann gave the show the "bronze" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment.

==See Also==
*[http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2IwYTc1MTVlMTU0ZDZlN2ViZGI0YzJmZWJiZjBhZTE= Keith Olbermann: "24" is a Right-Wing Plot]

*[http://newsbusters.org/node/10206 Olbermann Denounces '24' as Part of Pro-Bush 'Fearmongering' and 'Brainwashing']

*[http://newsbusters.org/node/10224 Olbermann Hates '24', NewsBusters, and All References to Terrorism]

*[http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/syuhas_20070118.html MSNBC's Very Own Conspiracy Nut: Keith Olbermann & Fox's fictional TV show '24']

==References==
<references/>

==See Also==
:[[Olbermann Watch]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olbermann, Keith}}

[[Category:Broadcasters|Olbermann, Keith]]
[[Category:Liberal Activists|Olbermann, Keith]]
{{Liberalism}}

Australia

2009-05-14T21:22:41Z

KarlMarx90:

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="300" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Australia rel 1999.jpg|300px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|''Commonwealth of Australia''
|-
!align ="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|Flag
!align ="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|50px|]]
|-
!align ="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|Arms
!align ="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: white no-repeat scroll top left;"|[[Image:Australia coat-of-arms.jpg|48px|]]
|-
|-
|Capital
|[[Canberra]]
|-
|Government
|[[Constitutional monarchy]]
|-
|Monarch
|[[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]]
|-
|Official Language
|[[English]](De Facto)
|-
|Governor General
|[[Quentin Bryce]]
|-
|Prime Minister
|[[Kevin Rudd]]
|-
|Area
|2,988,888 sq miles
|-
|Population (2007 estimate)
|21,100,000
|-
|GDP (2007 estimate)
|US$718.4 billion
|-
|GDP per capita (2007 estimate)
|US$34,359
|-
|}

The [[Commonwealth]] of Australia is an independent nation that occupies the continent of Australia, with its west coast on the [[Indian Ocean]], east coast on the [[Pacific Ocean]] facing [[New Zealand]], southern coast on the [[Southern Ocean]] facing [[Antarctica]], and northern coast bordering [[Indonesia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]]. Australia is considered geographically as part of [[Oceania]], but has been establishing its place politically and commercially in [[South East Asia]].

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent<ref>This refers just to the Australian mainland. Some authorities now include [[Papua New Guinea]], [[New Zealand]], and various other [[Pacific Ocean]] islands in the continent of "Oceania". See [http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/au.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>, the smallest of the planet's seven continents.<ref>Some people count six, combining North and South America or Europe and Asia. See [http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm WorldAtlas.com].</ref>
It is 2,400 miles, (3,860 km) from east to west and 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from north to south.
It covers an area of 2,967,877 sq miles (7,686,810 sq km). The Australian coastline is 22,812 miles long (36,735 kilometers).
The mainland of Australia is about the same size as the mainland 48 states of the USA.

Australia has six states and two internal territories. The states are [[New South Wales]], [[Victoria]], [[Queensland]], [[Western Australia]], [[South Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. The internal territories are the [[Northern Territory]] (responsible government since 1978) and the [[Australian Capital Territory]] (responsible government since 1988) which is the location of Australia's capital city, [[Canberra]]. External territories include [[Christmas Island]] and the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]].

== History==
=== Pre European Contact ===
[[Image:Aboriginal art Australia.jpg|thumb|left|Aboriginal art, Adelaide Museum, South Australia]]
Prior to European settlement, Australia was inhabited by people who are commonly known as [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]] although they come from over 700 smaller nations each with their own tribal name and language. Over time, many of these nations and tribes lost their identity or were decimated by disease, poor nutrition, massacres by white settlers and the forced removal of children from their parents into white families or mission stations. Nevertheless, many Aboriginal languages and traditions have survived the more than 200 years of white settlement. Under recent legislation recognising native title, Aboriginal communities now have the right to claim back land dispossessed from them where they can prove that lasting cultural links still persist and where the native title has not been extinguished by freehold or leasehold title.

The original inhabitants of the [[Torres Strait Islands]] and far northern Queensland are different and are known as [[Torres Strait Islander]]s. These people are more closely related to [[Melanesian]]s than to Aborigines. The term usually used to include all indigenous Australians is "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders".

=== Post European Contact ===
European discovery of the mainland of Australia was by [[Holland|Dutch]] sailors heading to the spice isles of what is now [[Indonesia]], in the 16th Century. Most of their descriptions of Australia are based on the exploration of the North West coast which is very rugged and inhospitable.

In [[1770]] the [[England|English]] navigator, Lieutenant [[James Cook]], Captain of the [[Royal Navy]] bark, [[HMS Endeavour]], discovered the east coast of Australia which is much more capable of maintaining life and settlers. In [[1788]] the [[First Fleet]] arrived at [[Sydney]] Cove, [[New South Wales]] - comprising officers, Marines, convicts and a very few free settlers. Later fleets brought more convicts who were dispersed also to Tasmania and other remote settlements. Over time, when freed, the former convicts settled areas beyond [[Sydney Harbour]].

As the 18th century came to a close convicts were given land packages and more free settlers came to the land in the hope of setting up farms and businesses. A number of colonies started to be formed - the most populated being New South Wales (whose capital city is Sydney). These colonies later became the states.

The 1850s saw the discovery of [[gold]] and large number of people moved to Australia to find new wealth. Most of these people were British, although there were also many dispossessed by the "land clearings" in [[Scotland]] and the [[Ireland|Irish]] [[potato]] [[famine]], and there was a significant number of [[China|Chinese]] immigrants during this rush. "Americans were drawn to Australia to participate in various enterprises such as the gold fields" <ref>[http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/textversion/usa.htm| Australian Dept of Immigration and Citizenship]</ref>

== System of Government ==
Australia became a federated country on [[1 January]] [[1901]] under the [[Constitution of Australia]], and all former British colonies became states. The declaration of federation was made in [[Sydney]]. The parliament met in [[Melbourne]], Victoria, until the infrastructure was built for the capital city, [[Canberra]].

Australia has a [[Parliament|parliamentary system]] of government based on the British system with a [[bicameral]] system meeting as the [[Parliament of Australia]], consisting of the [[Australian House of Representatives]] and the [[Australian Senate]]. Each state and territory also has its own parliament.

The two other branches of government under the Constitution are the Executive ([[Governor-General of Australia]] taking advice from the Ministers) and the [[High Court of Australia]].

Australia is a [[democracy]] which has allowed men of [[European]] descent to vote since federation, with non-Aboriginal women gaining the vote in 1902 and Aboriginal men and women gaining suffrage in 1962. Voting is compulsory for all citizens who are 18 years old and over (with a few exceptions.)

Australia's Head of Government is the [[Prime Minister of Australia]]. The current Prime Minister is [[Kevin Rudd]], the leader of the parliamentary wing of the [[Australian Labor Party]] which won the federal election on 24 November 2007. The Deputy Prime Minister is [[Julia Gillard]], the first woman to hold the position, and the first woman to be Acting Prime Minister (during the temporary absence of Rudd on his first overseas trip.)

The Head of State is [[Queen Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Australia (who is the same person, but a different title, as the Queen of Great Britain.) Under the Constitution, and in practice, the authority of the Head of State is vested in the [[Governor-General of Australia]], currently Quentin Bryce AC, Previously Governor of [[Queensland]], who assents to acts of parliament, is the Commander in Chief of the military forces, and appoints all Ministers of the Government; all these various powers are normally exercised on advice from the Prime Minister.

The Government of Australia is exercised, day-to-day, by the Ministers through their various Departments of State.

=== Voting ===
{{main|Voting in Australia}}

Australia has [[preferential voting]], and voting is compulsory for most people. Preferential voting encourages a multiplicity of parties and independent candidates, and counting the votes and allocating preferences can take some time where the results are close.

=== Terms ===
There is no limit on the time a person can be a Member of Parliament (MP) (elected, notionally, for 3 years, but the timing of elections is decided by the Prime Minister) or a Senator (elected for two cycles of the House of representatives.) The Prime Minister is normally a member of the House of Representatives, and the tenure is not limited by statute. Ministers may continue to serve for up to three months when not a Member or Senator, but must in that time be elected in order to continue. ([[John Gorton]] was a Senator when appointed leader of his party after the death of his predecessor. He immediately resigned from the Senate and stood for election to the House of Representatives, while remaining Prime Minister throughout.)

===Parliamentary political parties===
Currently, the main political parties in Australia are:
* [[Australian Greens]]
* [[Australian Labor Party]]
* [[Family First Party]]
* [[Liberal Party of Australia]]
* [[National Party of Australia]]

Despite the US connotation associated with the name, the Liberal Party is conservative in political stance. Robert Menzies helped found the Liberal Party in 1944 and was the Prime Minister from 1939 until 1941 and then again from 1949 until 1966.<ref> [http://www.liberals.net/liberalpartyhistory.htm History of the Liberal Party in Australia]</ref> The term "liberal" refers to the party's predominantly-[[free market|free-market]] approach to [[economics|economic management]].

The party currently in power is the [[Australian Labor Party]]. The Labor Party is also in government in all of the states and territories. The Prime Minister is Kevin Rudd.

Though the Labor party is "social democratic" and the Liberals are "liberal conservatives", some of the smaller parties are more left leaning or more conservative than Labor and Liberal respectively.

''See also a [[list of Prime Ministers of Australia]].''

The Prime Minister of Australia is the most senior elected person in the country. The role is normally filled by the parliamentary leader of the party which forms the government.

== Geography ==
[[Image:Sidney opera house.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Sydney opera house]]
Australia relies a great deal on industry, agriculture and tourism to foster its economy. It has a thriving film industry and very advanced technology. Most tourists visit places such as Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Other favourite destinations are the wine making areas of South Australia and northern Victoria, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, the natural wonders of Tasmania and the huge outback expanses of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Some cattle stations in Australia rival [[Texas]] in size and the distance between towns in some areas is enormous.

80% of Australia's population, of just over 20,000,000 people, live on the coast line. It is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries (2.7 people per square kilometre)<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au ABS]</ref>. Water is scarce and some cities have some form of water restrictions in place.

Weather extremes are common in Australia with temperatures sometimes measured into the high 40s Celsius (45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit). The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and bush fires often ravage the southern states - one of the worst occurring on Ash Wednesday in 1983 when over 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 70 people lost their lives in Victoria and South Australia.

Australia is noted for its unique biodiversity. Many animals are found only in Australia, the most well known examples are the group of marsupials ([[kangaroo]]s, [[wombat]]s, [[wallaby|wallabies]] and [[koala]]s), and the only two [[monotremes]], the [[platypus]] and the [[echidna]]. Examples of plants that are native to Australia are the [[banksia]], [[yellow wattle]] and [[gum tree]].

Studies indicate that Australia's unique wildlife is the result of Australia becoming an island, being cut off from the Asian land bridge between 40,000–250,000 years ago on the uniformitarian timescale.

== Sport ==

Australia is often known as a sporting nation with success worldwide in [[swimming]], [[tennis]], [[rugby union]], [[cricket]], [[netball]],and [[basketball]]. Australians are very keen horse racers with the Melbourne Cup <ref>[http://www.melbournecup.com.au| Melbourne Cup]</ref> attracting up to 120,000 spectators at Flemington Race Course on the first Tuesday in November. There is a public holiday for the cup race in Melbourne, while the remainder of the country virtually pauses during the running of the cup race. Because the mandated US Election Day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, the Melbourne Cup also coincides (mostly) every second year with the [[United States of America|American]] [[Congress|Congressional]] [[election]]s and every four years with the [[President|Presidential]] election.

Unique to Australia is a game known as [[Australian rules football]] or Aussie Rules, which is played on a [[cricket]] oval in winter. Australian rules football is the sport most attended in the states of [[Victoria]], [[South Australia]] and [[Western Australia]], and most attended overall in Australia; in 2006 2.5 million people had attended at least one Aussie Rules game in the preceding 12 months.[http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyCatalogue/1F8FAC9C2C7B1623CA2568A900139417?OpenDocument] Australian Rules Football was written by persons educated at the [[Rugby School]] in England and [[Cambridge University]] before the organisation of uniform football codes. It is not as popular in [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]] although premiership teams are based in these two states.

The other national football code is [[rugby league]]. Rugby league football is the most attended sport in New South Wales and Queensland with its premier club competition being the [[National Rugby League]].

==Religion==
Australia is a [[secular]] nation, in that it has no established religion associated with the Government. Of Australia's population of around 21 million, approximately 1.5 million attend weekly religious services <ref>[http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?docid=2250&track=82083| National Church Life Survey 2004]</ref>. The Australian public school system is described as "free, secular and compulsory" with the secular meaning without favour to any particular religion - most primary schools, however, do offer some form of non-compulsory religious education according to the parents' wishes. The state systems of a number of states offer studies in religion at the senior level.

There is a large Catholic school system in Australia with most parishes having their own primary school and many hundreds of Catholic High Schools across the country. There are also a large number of independent schools founded by various religions or denominations of the Christian faith - some hold that religious background to be more important than others.

==Comparing Australian and U.S. Economic and Health statistics==
Whilst the Australian society is similar in many aspects to those of the U.S., a comparison of key economic (in $U.S.) and health indicators highlights some interesting fundamental differences:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !!Australia!!U.S.
|-
| '''GDP Per Capita'''
| $32,900.00
| $43,500.00
|-
| '''Budget Deficit/Surplus''' Per capita
| $444.00 surplus. Australia has had budget surpluses every year since 2001
| $841.00 deficit
|-
| '''Public Debt'''
| 14.1% of GDP
| 64.7% of GDP
|-
| '''Military Expenditure'''
| 2.5 % of GDP
| 4.06% of GDP
|-
| '''Life Expectancy at Birth''' (combined male and female)
| 80.5 years
| 77.85 years
|-
| '''Infant Mortality Rates''' deaths/1,000 live births
| 4.63
| 6.43
|-
| '''HIV/AIDS Prevalence Rates'''
| 0.1% of population
| 0.6% of population
|}
Australia has a universal health scheme and significant subsidies on most prescription medications.

== See also ==
* [[Australian dollar]]
* [[Currency#Australia|Currency: Australia]]

==Bibliography==

===References===
* Bambrick, Susan ed. ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Australia'' (1994)
* Davison, Graeme, John Hirst, and Stuart Macintyre, eds. ''The Oxford Companion to Australian History'' (2001) online at many academic libraries; also [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Australian-History/dp/019551503X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209696680&sr=8-6 excerpt and text search]
* O'Shane, Pat et al. ''Australia: The Complete Encyclopedia'' (2001)
* Shaw, John, ed. ''Collins Australian Encyclopedia'' (1984)
* Serle. Percival, ed. ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'' (1949) [http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/00-dict-biogIndex.html online edition]
* Vaisutis, Justine et al. ''Lonely Planet Sydney & New South Wales'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Sydney-South-Wales/dp/174104541X/ref=sr_1_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193540037&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

===Economics===
* Kelly, Paul. ''The End of Certainty: Power, Politics and Business in Australia,'' Allen & Unwin, 1994,
* McLean, Ian W. "Consumer Prices and Expenditure Patterns in Australia 1850-1914." ''Australian Economic History Review''(1999) 39(1): 1-28; includes a consumer price index (CPI) for the period 1850 to 1914. Issn: 0004-8992 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Moran, Anthony. ''Australia: Nation, Belonging, and Globalization'' Routledge, 2004 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108858937 online edition]

===Environment and Geography===
* Appleton, Richard, and Barbara Appleton. ''The Cambridge Dictionary of Australian Places'' (1993)
* Dovers, Stephen. ''Australian Environmental History: Essays & Cases'' (1995) [http://www.amazon.com/Australian-Environmental-History-Essays-Cases/dp/0195534824/ref=sr_1_8/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193540375&sr=1-8 excerpt and text search]
* Garden, Don. ''Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific: An Environmental Hisory.'' ABC-CLIO, 2005. 398 pp.
* Hutton, Drew, and Libby Connors. ''History of the Australian Environment Movement'' (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Australian-Environment-Movement-Hutton/dp/052145686X/ref=sr_1_4/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193540375&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
* Lines, William. ''Taming the Great South Land: A History of the Conquest of Nature in Australia'' (1992)

===History===
* Alomes, Stephen. ''A Nation at Last? The Changing Character of Australian Nationalism'' (1988)
* Atkinson, Alan. ''The Europeans in Australia: A History. Vol. 2: Democracy.'' Oxford U. Pr., 2005. 440 pp.
* Barker, Anthony. ''What Happened When: A Chronology of Australia from 1788.'' Allen & Unwin. 2000. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108433410 online edition]
* Basset, Jan. ''The Oxford Illustrated Dictionary of Australian History'' (1998)
* Bolton, Geoffrey. ''The Oxford History of Australia: Volume 5: 1942-1995. The Middle Way'' (2005)
* Clark, Manning. ''A History of Australia'' 6 vol (Melbourne University Press, 1962, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1981, and 1987)
* Clarke, Frank G. ''The History of Australia'' 2002. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101344125 online edition]
* Crowley; F. K. ''Australia's Western Third: A History of Western Australia from the First Settlements to Modern Times'' 1960 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27914066 online edition]
* Davison, Graeme, John Hirst, and Stuart Macintyre, eds. ''The Oxford Companion to Australian History'' (2001) online at many academic libraries; also [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Australian-History/dp/019551503X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209696680&sr=8-6 excerpt and text search]
* Day, Alan. ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia.'' Scarecrow, 2003. 321 pp.
* Day, David. ''Claiming a Continent: A New History of Australia'' (2001);
* Day, David. ''Reluctant Nation: Australia and the Allied Defeat of Japan 1942-45'' (1992),
* Goodall, Heather. ''Invasion to Embassy: Land in Aboriginal Politics in New South Wales, 1770–1972'' (Allen&Unwin, 1996)
* Davison, Graeme, John Hirst, and Stuart Macintyre, eds. ''The Oxford Companion to Australian History,'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Australian-History/dp/019551503X/ref=sr_1_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193539631&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Edwards, John. ''Curtin's Gift: Reinterpreting Australia's Greatest Prime Minister,'' (2005) [http://www.questia.com/read/108661368 online edition]
* Hearn, Mark, Harry Knowles, and Ian Cambridge. ''One Big Union: A History of the Australian Workers Union 1886-1994'' (1998)
* Hughes, Robert. ''The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding'' (1988). [http://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Shore-Robert-Hughes/dp/0099448548/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193540375&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
* Kemp, Rod, and Marion Stanton, eds. ''Speaking for Australia: Parliamentary Speeches That Shaped Our Nation'' Allen & Unwin, 2004 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=110168653 online edition]
* Kingston, Beverley. ''The Oxford History of Australia: Volume 3: 1860-1900 Glad, Confident Morning'' (1993)
* Kociumbas, Jan. ''The Oxford History of Australia: Volume 2: 1770-1860 Possessions'' (1995)
* Lowe, David. ''Menzies and the 'Great World Struggle': Australia's Cold War 1948-54'' (1999) [http://www.questia.com/read/98863631 online edition]
* Macintyre, Stuart. ''The Oxford History of Australia: Volume 4: 1901-42, the Succeeding Age'' (1993)
* Macintyre, Stuart. ''A Concise History of Australia'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Concise-History-Australia-Cambridge-Histories/dp/0521601010/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193540375&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* McLachlan, Noel. ''Waiting for the Revolution: A History of Australian Nationalism'' (1989)
* Martin, A. W. ''Robert Menzies: A Life'' (2 vol 1993-99), online at ACLS e-books
* Reynolds, Henry. ''The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European Invasion of Australia'' (1990).
* Schreuder, Deryck, and Stuart Ward, eds. ''Australia's Empire'' (Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series) (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Australias-Empire-History-British-Companion/dp/0199273731/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226788019&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Serle. Percival, ed. ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'' (1949)[http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/00-dict-biogIndex.html online edition]
* Taylor, Peter. ''The Atlas of Australian History'' (1991)
* Ward, Smart. ''Australia and the British Embrace: The Demise of the Imperial Ideal'' (2001)

===Historiography===
* Attwood, Bain, and Fiona Magowan. ''Telling Stories: Indigenous History and Memory in Australia and New Zealand'' (2001) [http://www.questia.com/read/101440289 online edition]
* Davison, Graeme. ''The Use and Abuse of Australian History'' (2000) [http://www.questia.com/read/102362225 online edition]
* McLean, David. "Australia in the Cold War: A Historiographical Review", ''The International History Review,'' Vol. 23, 2 (June 2001)
* McQueen, Humphrey. ''Gallipoli to Petrov: Arguing with Australian History'' (1984),
* Meaney, Neville. "Britishness and Australian Identity: The Problem of Nationalism in Australian History and Historiography", ''Australian Historical Studies,'' Vol. 32, 116 (April 2001),
* Nugent, Maria. ''Botany Bay: Where Histories Meet'' (2005) [http://www.questia.com/read/109729205 online edition]

===International Relations and Military===
* Bridge, Carl ed., ''Munich to Vietnam: Australia's Relations with Britain and the United States since the 1930s,'' Melbourne University Press 1991
* Dennis, Peter, Jeffrey Grey, Ewan Morris, and Robin Prior. ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History.'' 1996)
* Firth, Stewart. ''Australia in International Politics: An Introduction to Australian Foreign Policy'' (2005) [http://www.questia.com/read/108662470 online edition]
* Grant, Ian. ''A Dictionary of Australian Military History - from Colonial Times to the Gulf War'' (1992)
* Lee, David. ''Search for Security: The Political Economy of Australia's Postwar Foreign and Defence Policy'' (1995)
* McLean, David. "From British Colony to American Satellite? Australia and the USA during the Cold War," ''Australian Journal of Politics & History" (2006) 52 (1), 64–79. Rejects satellite model. [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8497.2006.00408a.x online at Blackwell-Synergy]
* McLean, David. "Australia in the Cold War: a Historiographical Review." ''International History Review'' (2001) 23(2): 299-321. Issn: 0707-5332
* Murphy, John. ''Harvest of Fear: A History of Australia's Vietnam War'' (1993)
* Watt, Alan. ''The Evolution of Australian Foreign Policy 1938–1965,'' Cambridge University Press, 1967

===Culture and society===
* Bebbington, Warren. ''A Dictionary of Australian Music'' (1999)
* Bennett, Bruce et al. ''The Oxford Literary History of Australia'' (1999)
* Bennett, Tony, and David Carter. ''Culture in Australia: Policies, Publics and Programs'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Australia-Reshaping-Australian-Institutions/dp/0521004039/ref=sr_1_47/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193533775&sr=8-47 excerpt and text search]
* Breward, Ian. ''A History of the Churches in Australasia.'' (2002). 474 pp.
* Carey, Hilary. ''Believing in Australia: A Cultural History of Religions'' (1996)
* Horton, David. ''The Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History, Society and Culture'' (2001)
* Huggan Graham. ''Postcolonialism, Racism, Transnationalism'' (Oxford Studies in Postcolonial Literatures) (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Australian-Literature-Postcolonialism-Transnationalism-Postcolonial/dp/0199274622/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209696680&sr=8-10 excerpt and text search]
* Jupp, James, ed. ''The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, its People and their Origins'' (2nd ed. 2002) 960pp [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0521807891/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-4827826-5463040#reader-link excerpt and text search]
* Jupp, James. ''The English in Australia'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0521542952/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-4827826-5463040#reader-link excerpt and text search]
* Kleinert, Sylvia. and Margo Neale. ''The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture'' (2001)
* Leitner, Gerhard. ''Australia's Many Voices: Australian English--the National Language'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/3110181940/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-4827826-5463040#reader-link excerpt and text search]
* Love, J.W. ed. ''Australia and the Pacific Islands'' (Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 9) (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/Australia-Pacific-Islands-Garland-Encyclopedia/dp/0824060385/ref=sr_1_14/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193533487&sr=8-14 excerpt and text search]
* McAllister, Ian, Steve Dowrick, Riaz Hassan; ''The Cambridge Handbook of the Social Sciences in Australia'' Cambridge University Press, 2003 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108131347 online edition]
* McCulloch, Alan. ''Encyclopedia of Australian Art'' 2 vol (1984)
* McDonald, John. ''Federation: Australian Art and Society, 1901-2001. Natl. Gallery of Australia, 2002. 264 pp.
* Moran, Albert. ''Historical Dictionary of Australian Radio and Television'' (2007)
* Nile, Richard. ''The Making of the Australian Literary Imagination.'' (2002). 315 pp.
* Rickard, John, ''Australia: A Cultural History'' (1988)
* Webby, Elizabeth. ''The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Companion-Australian-Literature-Companions/dp/0521658438/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209696680&sr=8-7 excerpt and text search]
* Wilde, William H. et al eds. ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' (1995) online at [[OUP]] [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Australian-Literature/dp/019553381X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209696680&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* ''The Oxford Literary History of Australia.''
* Samuels, Selina, ed. ''Australian Writers, 1915-50.'' (2002). 510 pp.
* Sayers, Andrew. ''Australian Art'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Australian-Art-Oxford-History/dp/0192842145/ref=sr_1_7/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193540375&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
* Webby, Elizabeth, ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature'' (2006)
* Wannan, Bill. ''A Dictionary of Australian Folklore: Lore, Legends, Myths and Traditions'' (1988)
===Primary sources===
* [http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/auslitandhis.html Australia: Literature and History 136 e-books]

==External links==
* [http://www.fed.gov.au Australian Government portal]
* [http://www.aph.gov.au Australian Parliament House (Reps & Senate) portal]
* [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia]
*[http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/oceania.htm Australia and Oceania]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Oceanian Countries]]
[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Australia]]
[[Category:Christian-Majority Countries]]

Kevin Rudd

2009-05-14T21:21:52Z

KarlMarx90:

{{PM
|name=Kevin Michael Rudd
|wife=
|party=Australian Labor Party
|dob=
|yob=
|birthplace=
|succ={{Succession
|hdg=Prime Minister
|start-date=3 December
|start-year=2007
|end-date=
|end-year=
|prev=John Howard
|next=
}}{{Succession
|hdg=Labor Party leader
|start-date=
|start-year=2007
|end-date=
|end-year=
|prev=Kim Beazley
}}
}}
'''Kevin Rudd''' is the [[Prime Minister]] of [[Australia]], and leader of the federal [[Parliament of Australia|parliamentary]] wing of the [[Australian Labor Party]] (ALP). At the federal level, the ALP won the 24 November 2007 election after 11 years of [[John Howard]]'s [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]-[[National Party of Australia|National]] coalition government.

==Public Service and Political career==
From 1981-1988 Rudd served in the Department of Foreign Affairs, mostly posted overseas at the Australian embassies in [[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]] and later in [[Beijing]], [[China]].

In 1988, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Labor Opposition Leader in [[Queensland]], Wayne Goss. When the Labor Party won office in 1989, he became Chief of Staff to the Premier. In 1992, Goss appointed him Director-General of the Office of Cabinet. When the Goss government lost office in 1995, Rudd became a Senior China Consultant in the accounting firm KPMG Australia. He continued in this role while unsuccessfully contesting for election to the federal electorate of Griffith at the 1996 federal election, which he also contested at the 1998 election and won. Rudd served as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs (2001-2005).

In December 2006, Rudd became Leader of the Opposition after deposing the previous leader of the ALP, [[Kim Beazley]], in a leadership ballot. Since that time, he has enjoyed unprecedented public popularity having campaigned successfully on issues such as the environment and climate change, education and industrial relations policy.

During the 2007 election campaign, Rudd was accused of copying some of his policies (in particular economic policies) from his more conservative predecessor, John Howard, in a bid to win office, believing that the electorate found those policies appealing.

The ALP won the election on 24 November 2007, and Rudd was soon affirmed as the leader of the parliamentary wing and therefore Prime Minister elect. The new federal Cabinet was sworn in by the [[Governor General of Australia]] on 3 December 2007.

==Prime Minister of Australia==

Among Rudd's first acts as Prime Minister was to ratify the [[Kyoto Protocol]], something Howard had refused to do for economic reasons. Additionally, Rudd made a formal parliamentary apology to the "[[Australian Aborigines#Stolen Generation|Stolen Generation]]", a large group of [[indigenous Australians]] who were forcibly removed from their community in the first half of the 20th century. While there is continued dispute among historians over whether the "Stolen Generation" existed, the Opposition gave its support to the apology. Polls taken since the election show the ALP holding a commanding lead in the polls under Rudd's leadership, with Rudd leading opposition leader Brendan Nelson by 70% to 9% in the "preferred Prime Minister" rating (leading the press to dub Nelson as "Mr. Nine Percent").<ref name="ninepercent">[http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/mr-9-nelsons-parlous-poll-position/2008/02/19/1203190750515.html Mr. 9% - Brendan Nelson's parlous poll position] Fairfax Digital, 19 February 2008, accessed 2 March 2008</ref>

==Personal life==
Rudd grew up in a house steeped in conservative politics. His father was a dairy farmer on the Sunshine Coast of [[Queensland]], and member of the [[National Party of Australia|Country Party]]. After his father was killed in a car accident, when Rudd was 11 year old, the family was forced to leave the farm. Rudd joined the Labor Party at age 15.

For a time he boarded at Marist College Ashgrove in [[Brisbane, Queensland|Brisbane]]. He was dux of his state high school at Nambour, then went on to study at the [[Australian National University]] in [[Canberra]], the national capital, gaining First Class Honours in Arts (Asian Studies), majoring in [[China|Chinese]] language and history, became proficient in [[Mandarin (language)|Mandarin]], and acquired a Chinese alias, Lù Kèwén (the latter a similar sound to his given name, Kevin.)

Rudd met his future wife, Therese Rein, at a meeting of the Australian [[Student Christian Movement]] while studying at university. He was then attending a [[Uniting Church in Australia|Uniting]] church. They married in 1981 at [[St John]]'s [[Anglican Church]] in Canberra, and have three children.

Rudd has attended the Anglican church with his wife and family, without formally taking up membership<ref name="light">[http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/more-than-just-a-light-on-the-hill/2007/12/21/1198175342004.html More than just a light on the hill], Fairfax Digital, 22 December 2007, accessed 27 December 2007</ref>. He is credited with being an active member of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship, attending not only lectures but also Bible studies. He is said to carry a Bible when he travels.

Rudd has given various speeches about his faith, and quotes the German [[theologian]] and [[martyr]] to the anti-[[Nazi]] cause, [[Dietrich Bonhoeffer]], as his hero<ref name="light" />.

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.kevinpm.com.au/ Kevin Rudd's official website]

{{Australian Prime Ministers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudd, Kevin}}
[[Category:Australian Prime Ministers]]