Around the World in 17 Days
So no bow to the Queen, a cowboy-style salute to the president and a pointed finger at the Chinese.
It's all been happening on Kevin Rudd's 17-day world tour, a trip which has emphasised once more how his tenure in office continues to be defined by gestures - symbolic, bodily and linguistic.
After entering Windsor Castle through the Equerries Entrance rather than the Sovereign's Entrance, which is reserved for heads of state, the republican prime minister offered the Queen his out-stretched hand, a hearty "good morning your majesty" and some polite commentary on an unseasonably cold snap of British weather.
But the one thing missing, according to the protocol-minded critics, was "the customary neck bow". At the risk of mixing metaphors - or confusing bodily motions - .
Before that, to George W Bush at the NATO summit in Bucharest had already raised a few eyebrows (ok, enough). He had just walked into the crowded room, clearly did not know who to speak to, and then saw the president across the way.
Phillip Coorey of the takes up the story: "With a combination of nervousness and forced familiarity, Rudd flicked the president a mock but friendly salute and gave him a cheesy smile." And remember, John Howard was supposed to be the American president's "deputy sheriff".
Afterwards, Mr Rudd tried to laugh off the episode - although by "laugh" I really mean a weird and slightly manic giggle.
"I was just saying hi to the President of the United States," he said, in a voice which was more Revenge of the Nerds than Rawhide.
Meanwhile, back home in Australia, a po-faced Brendan Nelson, the embattled leader of the Liberal Party, called the greeting "conduct unbecoming of an Australian prime minister".
But it was the way that which seems to have gone down particularly well here. Not only did he display once again his impressive mastery of Mandarin, but he deployed it to rebuke his host on the question of Tibet. "There are significant human rights problems in Tibet," he told students at Peking University.
Here's the hard-to-impress Alan Ramsey, a columnist with the Sydney Morning Herald. "To say it took courage and no little risk only parrots the obvious. What it took was leadership of the most dramatic kind."
Mike Steketee, a columnist with the Australian, noted that the China trip had "disposed of the conservative criticism that he is Australia's Manchurian candidate".
With this fast-paced world tour, Australia's global rebranding continues apace - and seems relentless. On his arrival home, Mr Rudd announced the appointment of Quentin Bryce as the country's first - and possibly last - female governor general, the Queen's representative.
What did you think of the regal handshake, the presidential salute and the Mandarin putdown? And what do you make of the new diplomatic face which Australia is presenting to the world?
PS. Thanks for your kind messages ahead of the wedding. My wife, Fleur, and I had a ball. A snap is included above.
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If Australia is to become a republic, then do it with honour, by passing an act of parliament that declares it will happen when the Queen's life comes to an end. The Queen has been a faithful servant and does not deserve to be disrespected and dumped. It would be a shameful beginning for an Australian republic.
But I am for the monarchy because it has worked so well and precisely because she is not a politician. All that matters to me is that Australians elect the person who really rules, and that is the PM. The Queen is the symbolic head of a family of nations and Australia should make more of that link, not less.
I wish that Australia could become an associate member of the European Union, were such a category created. Maintaining a constitutional link to Britain is smart. Like Britain, Australia cannot go it alone. The age of nationalism is ending and sharing a common head of state is more important than having a separatist republic. Most Australians are of European decsent and Europe is far more multi-cultural than Asia and vastly more enlightened than America.
Who cares if he bowed? We don't owe anything to a person who owes her position simply to who her father was. As to what "tired old" Europe thinks of Australia; who really cares? Bring on the Republic ASAP
The media reporting that Rudd did not bow when meeting the Queen is simply wrong. PM Rudd did bow his head as he was announced to the Queen of Australia. There is footage to confirm this, but it seems that it is intentionally ignored in an attempt by the media to promote the republican debate. I might add that the media has a vested interest in constitutional change, as it is a big issue here in Australia that sells newspapers etc.
Rudd's behavior towards the Queen was simple boorish impudence, something which the world always fears will suddenly erupt from any ignorant Aussie at any time. The "salute" to Bush was a spontaneous, friendly greeting that is very common over here in the Americas and nobody here can understand what any of the fuss is about. In fact it was rather "cheeky," another Aussie trait which is looked upon with much more favor by the world at large than "boorish impudence." Lecturing the Chinese in fluent Mandarin was however something to the rest of the world that was definitely "un-Aussie." We older educated people remember a time when Australia was a 100% xenophobic "whites only" European-based nation. To see the Australian Prime Minister stand up and chastise the neighbouring Chinese in their own language not only "seems to have gone down particularly well here" it has "gone down particularly well," EVERYWHERE! If Rudd needed to "find himself" at the start of his tenure, he has managed that with flying colours!
George Bush and Elizabeth have one thing in common: they both think they are royalty. The sooner we leave this tribal nonsense behind the better of this species will be. Good for Mr. Rudd
Sean O'Leary
Chicago
I'm quite happy with the PMs tour, he told Bush that we'll be leaving Iraq, he told the EU to pull its finger out and put troops on the ground in Afghanistan, and he told China that Australians believe they could handle Tibet allot better.
Combined with his global warming message and partnerships with other countries along with firming Australias position against Japanese south sea whaling I believe he is conveying a far more honest projection of what Australians actually believe abroad, unlike Howard who just projected GWs.
Yes Mr Chan we probably could do better with our aboriginal peoples but they could do allot more to help themselves too, but then again our government doesn't shoot them when they have a protest. We'll treat China as "equals" when your government actually represents the Chinese people not some dictatorial parliment.
Mr Rudd wants to make Australia seem relivant to the world and to muscle in on the decision making. Its about time someone did. Australia to be a middle strength power, yes maybe if we have the strength to defend ourselves without relying on a foreign country to do it for us. The UK is a middle power. Australia is a middle power wanna be.
Our defence forces must be increased to attain the level of middle power. 2 Aircraft carriers minimum. A 100,000 man regular army. When we send troops overseas it is a minimal force of 1,000 to 2,500. We need the ability to send 30,000 if needed. At current levels that would be all our regular forces and a large chunk of our reserves with nothing to rotate with, or to defend ourselves.
If you want to bark with the big dogs you better have the teeth to back it up. Right now we dont. A 26,000 man army with only 5,000 - 7,500 combat troops which we have now, you might defend Rotnest Island well but not the mainland. What wars may be coming in the future? War for water or War to stop polution killing the planet and everyone on it. Who knows what it will be over but the only thing we know for sure is War always comes and we cant afford to not be ready for it.
Uncle writes above that "Europe is far more multi-cultural than Asia"! Codswallop and you know it (I live and work in Chennai, India).
And how this is related to the republican debate I don't know. Except perhaps that it exposes the hidden motivations of many monarchists - that they'd prefer Australia forged alliances with Europe rather than Asia. Now why would that be?
Uncle's comments about the Queen also amused me: "she has been a faithful servant". No, Uncle, she's the one with the servants.
As for Alex's comment about Rudd being rude to China. I admit to feeling uneasy about the moralising that many in the West have indulged in with respect to China. It's certainly true that many countries in the West have a lot of blood on their hands (including, as Alex says, Australia). Nonetheless the Chinese occupation of Tibet is clearly, in many respects, brutal and, apparently, entirely counter to the wishes of the indigenous population. Building schools and universities is fine, but this should not be used to excuse abuses. I support Rudd's stance on this.
I have been amused by all the overblown media comment on the import of Rudd's first world tour as Oz PM. Heck, the bloke has only been in the job barely 6 months. It took former PM Howard 12 years to completely flush Australia's reputation into the sewer. It will take time to find it, clean it off and begin to resuscitate it. Most importantly, Rudd will have to actually do some things, apart from speaking frankly to the Chinese Govt: e.g. achieve some concrete improvement for Aboriginal Australians, rein in the black balaklavas (aka secret police), abolish our asylum seeker gulags, bring Muslim Australians back into mainstream Australia, and get our troops out of Iraq - replacing them with massive aid to undo some of the horrors Prez Shrub's invasion has inflicted.
The Republic will come but we have many vital issues before it. We will still fondly regard the UK but you did cast us off decades ago with the EU - we just need to change our Constitution & flag to reflect that.
Cheers from the Land of Oz
Rod Olsen,
Another Anglophile Munchkin.
Oztralia
Uncle: I like your suggestion of an addedum to the referendum saying that we won't start the republic until Her Madge dies.
As someone who wants a australian as head of state, this is one of the best ideas I've heard on the republican debate.
I would also be open to having Her Madge or, say, Harry being naturalised and setting up shop at Yarralumla.
G'day Nickleberry, you are right to (cods)wallop me for not considering India's multiculture. But India is very different than other Asian countries like China, Japan, Thailand, Korea and Indonesia. How many African-Koreans do you know? Or Indian-Japanese for that matter? For many East Asian countries, multi-racial culture is almost entirely alien. And where it does exist, there are huge tensions.
Europe is different and Australia's multicultural evolution much more similar to Britain's. The fact is that Australia is not like any part of Asia, east or west. Of course we want closer ties to the liberal and progressive EU. It is not a hidden agenda, and it is not racism, not for me anyway. It is heritage and heritage does matter.
Australia must be a powerful player in Asia but should not cut her links to Britain. If anything, we need to strengthen them, and forge even closer ties with the EU.
And sorry mate, the Queen has served her people all her life. That was a cheap shot.
At last the media have found something to bag Kevin Rudd, I am sure if you wait long enough you will find a few more things. At least he is not crawling up the a**** of George bush.Some people have seen him bow to the queen i haven't , come on media find a real story
The handshake with the Queen? Really not important; he did nothing wrong at all.
The "salute" to Bush? Very silly; I am sure he regrets it.
The remarks on Tibet in Mandarin whilst on a visit to China? Very brave, and he is to be commended.
Wait till the Queen dies? But her mother lived to over 100 - I don't want another 20 years of monarchy for my country, and I equally don't want to be wishing for the Queen's death as she seems a decent old stick, and she's been around all my life. I applaud PM Rudd's handshake; I don't care about the salute to Bush, which I think has been vastly over-interpreted by conservatives; and who cares what Brendan Nelson thinks? He seems to absorb and regurgitate the worldview of the last person he spoke to.
Prime Minister Rudd seemed friendly, knowledgeable, articulate and a great representative of your country during his visit to the U.S.
Good luck with the Republic debate. Whatever enhances your democracy, freedom and equality, I'm all for.
Adrian...your problem is you equate sheer size with rights to be in a club.
China pays lip service to copyright protection and patents,despite being a member of the WTO,and produces at least half of the worlds counterfeit goods.
Combine that with an ever increasing problem of manufacturing safety standards and product recalls where peoples lives have been put in danger because they are always after the quick buck,its not surprising the other members are reluctant to allow China to join their club.
If China isn't willing to follow the most basic of rules and safety standards then I would gladly like to see them excluded from the G10.
Adrian Chan, not all Westerners are white. Yes, Australian aborigines have a much lower life expectancy than other Australians, and yes, they have a higher incidence of crime and alcoholism. However, much of that is due to what was done decades ago, not what the rest of Australia (primarily 'white' Australia) is doing now.
In contrast, China TODAY is very harsh with Tibet, and the number of Chinese racists far outnumber the amount of racists in Australia and Europe combined. Westerners are brought up to believe racism is bad--which it definitely is. Chinese--as is evident by Adrian and the numerous other pro-Chinese commentators--are brought up to believe that they are the master race, even when (as might be the case for Adrian) they themselves were born in the West and thus ought to be Westerners and therefore not take undue umbrage at criticism of China any more than any other non-Chinese.
Does Australia really want to become a republic ? Sorry I live in Europe and have never heard about this,or read about it (til now) or seen anything on tv either.
Did you Prime Minister visit England and meet the Queen ? Sorry but I didn't see anything about it in the papers or tv.
Did he really salute George ? Who cares.
Maybe that puts things into perspective for you. I don't think anyone gives a stuff Blue.
These monarchists here are absolutely hilarious. They are clearly born with a deep and faithful reverence not just for the crown but for the United Kingdom (that's how it works, a bit like the Jesuits) completely at the expense of any sort of loyalty and love for Australia itself.
Those above who profess such a love for the Queen, for this "family of nations" (first I've heard of it), and for this idea that dumping the Queen is disloyal simply do not get it.
The fact is, they put this notion of loyalty to Queen and Britain above Australia and its people - and that's why they're fated to ultimately lose this argument. They're completely out of touch, and are deluding themselves into thinking that the British Empire both still exists and is widely embraced by the populace.
A move toward a republic is not an intentional move away from a monarchy, it's just a side-effect. All this talk of an Australian republic doesn't stem from hatred of the crown, or anger toward the Queen - it's a discussion about our best way forward as a country.
It's not a rejection of the legacy of the contribution made by Britons and Britain to Australia, and it isn't a snub at the house of Windsor. We're acting in our own best interests - as we bloody well should!
At the end of the day, Australians aren't going to deny themselves constitutional change that will bring about a more democratic and predictable Australia out of "loyalty" to the Queen. Why should they?
And what has the Queen done to earn any kind of loyalty anyway? It's a bit like saying we should be loyal to the President of the United States. Bizarre.
Monarchists are simply Australians with a massive inferiority complex, and an ability to detach themselves magnificently from the rest of the country.
Australia will be a republic, you can't stop it.
Perhaps those that wish to express their loyaly to Britain and the Queen in spite of this should simply move there. No doubt they'd be eager to lose the accent and deny any link with their country of birth or naturalisation.
Oh, and Ian - This is domestic news. What happens domestically in your country hardly makes headlines here. It's the same all over the world. I hope that puts things into perspective for you.
If the only issues the Opposition and media can come up with to criticise the PM about is the supposed salute and non-bow, then the sky is harldy about to fall in.
Re the Queen - I'm sure she's more pragmatic about us becoming a republic than many monarchists. Why us becoming a republic is seen as some personal insult to her I can never understand - can't we, as a country, decide our fate without having to constantly worry about what we think the Queen might think? Is that the best argument the monarchists can come up with?
However, the trip aside, the event I am most thrilled about is our new G-G. At last, we have a PM who with some 21st Century attitudes, not 1950's ones.
Welcome back Nick.
Nick,
you forgot one very important and most embarrasing moment on kevin's tour- his 'Shilly Shally' comment about Tibet at the Whitehouse Press conference.
Which world leader says SHILLY SHALLY? I thought that to be the most embarrassing moment on his comedy tour.
Will
Kevin Rudd is to be commended know one except the old Bats care about the Queen here in England why should we. I will be home at the end of the year and as a young Australian who has a brain I can see that the Monarchy does absolutely nothing for our country!
They won't even let Aussies have long Visa's here anymore. I can't wait until the day that the Union Jack is stricken from our Flag and I can say to my children that I am really proud to be Australian and proud that I had something to do with becoming a republic. P.S if you are so fond of the queen come and live in England... not Australia . Rudd is awesome stop winging