Friday 24 April 2009

Rudd's 2020 continues to underwhelm at my house


The official view from Canberra in the wake of that basically elitist gabfest; "The Australia 2020 Summit was held on 19 and 20 April 2008 at Parliament House in Canberra, bringing together 1,000 participants from across the nation and generating more than 900 ideas."

The media view on Wednesday; "JUST nine new ideas from nearly 1000 developed by Kevin Rudd's 2020 Summit talkfest are set to be adopted. But the most popular one, for Australia to become a republic appears to have sunk without a trace."

Apparently Rudders favours:
"A national "golden gurus'' mentoring program;
$50 million for the development of a bionic eye;
The creation of a civilian corps help out in war zones and natural disasters;
A dedicated ABC children's TV channel;
A new indigenous cultural education centre;
A PM's award scheme to boost Asian links;

A "roundtable" for business and schools; and,
A high-speed broadband for vocational education organizations."


As well as:
"A Skills for the Carbon Challenge initiative to equip workers and business with green skills"

Well, I guess vocational education organizations will be underwhelmed, since Rudders has already announced a national high-speed broadband for every town of 1,000 souls or more.
Likewise the various inventor's of bionic eyes will probably be grateful for further funding, but also might've preferred to have had that money during the hard slog of creating medical prosethesis.
While the Republic Movement will be livid and plotting dire revenge.

Now we hear that the PM wants a 2020 summit every few years.
I think all those in-flight gourmet meals must be going to more than Rudders' chin line when he come up with a mish mash idea like that.
After all - Cate Blanchett might not want to have another baby every few years!

For what it's worth here's the report Responding to the Australia 2020 Summit.

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