Rudd still ignores expense

Kevin Rudd calling the federal election a week earlier than Julia Gillard's announced date of September 14 will cost this country at least $20 million and probably more, because the scheduled referendum on whether local government should be formally recognised in the Australian constitution has now had to be abandoned.

Apparently, due to constitutional constraints, September 14 was the earliest such a referendum could be staged.

Local councils throughout Australia, including Gosford, collectively contributed at least $10 million dollars of their ratepayer's funds towards the cost of the referendum.

Rudd now says that if he is elected the referendum will be held separately at some time in the future which is estimated would cost at least $40 million dollars.

The question is: Did Mr Rudd understand the referendum would have to be aborted when he made his hasty decision to call the election a week earlier than previously planned or did it simply not occur to him and his party or conversely did they simply not care?

From watching Mr Rudd being interviewed on the Saturday, when he seemed to be rather nonchalant as to when the election would be called, to witnessing his hurried return to Canberra from Brisbane on the Sunday and his unseemly haste in announcing the election, it became clear something rapidly changed his mind and the referendum was simply sacrificed for political expediency.

It seems that Mr Rudd's penchant for ignoring expense has not changed.

Email, 6 Aug 2013

Vic Jefferies, St Huberts Island