Most politicians, noted Harold Macmillan, are undone by developments no manifesto or focus group can anticipate. The tragedy of Kevin Rudd, deposed on Thursday as Australian prime minister, was that there were no “events.” The economy barrelled through the global financial crisis, thanks in large part to China's ferocious appetite for its resources, and an oligopolistic banking system that never had to chase yield in strange places. Then, while politicians elsewhere were squaring up to their banks, Mr Rudd decided to go one better, and take on the miners. By this act of hubris, he becomes a historical curio: the only Australian prime minister to have fought just one election.
英國(guó)前首相哈羅德?麥克米倫(Harold Macmillan)曾說(shuō)過(guò)，多數(shù)政客是被任何競(jìng)選宣言或焦點(diǎn)小組都無(wú)法預(yù)測(cè)的情況趕下臺(tái)的。對(duì)于周四下臺(tái)的澳大利亞總理陸克文(Kevin Rudd)來(lái)說(shuō)，悲劇在于沒(méi)有“情況”。澳大利亞經(jīng)濟(jì)安然度過(guò)全球金融危機(jī)——很大程度上得益于中國(guó)對(duì)澳洲自然資源的旺盛需求，同時(shí)也是由于該國(guó)銀行業(yè)體系由少數(shù)大銀行壟斷，從來(lái)不需要到陌生的地方去追逐收益。于是，在其它國(guó)家的政客們準(zhǔn)備對(duì)付國(guó)內(nèi)銀行之際，陸克文決定勝人一籌，對(duì)礦商開(kāi)征資源暴利稅。由于這一狂妄之舉，他成為了一個(gè)歷史上的異類：唯一僅參加一次大選的澳大利亞總理。