Rudd Gets Prickly Welcome From Bush , page 1

Our new Prime Minister here in Australia has finally had a face to face with President Bush. And it seems the Big Guy was a little weird with our K-RUDD.

While other world leaders got big smiles and pats on the back from Mr Bush, the Australian prime minister had to make do with a brief handshake and a relatively stony face from the president as the pair posed for photographers and TV crews

Apparently K-RUDD got his point through during his telephone call from Bush. Old Kevvy may be exposing his Socialist roots in lobbying for China to take part in G7.

What followed was an extraordinary exchange in which Rudd advised the most powerful man in the world that a plan to address the global financial crisis through the G7 group of leading industrialised nations was wrong.

Rudd, the former diplomat and Mandarin speaker, advised Bush that the G7 plan, largely being pushed from within Europe, was out of touch with the reality of the Asia-Pacific century.

It made no sense, he said, to take action on the crisis without engaging China.

Rudd argued that the better vehicle for a co-ordinated response to calm the markets and toughen financial regulation was the broader G20 grouping, including G7 members plus China and a range of other nations from South America and the Middle East, as well as Australia.

Two weeks later, Rudd's view has prevailed.

Or maybe there is some truth to this, despite official denials:

The leak controversy centres on a claim in The Australian on October 25 that the outgoing US president asked Mr Rudd: "What's the G20?", an allegation since denied by both Canberra and Washington.

K-Rudd is a huge fan of Gough Whitlam, and I think he would like to view himself as a person aspiring to those heights. But will he be man enough to take on the USA in the fashion of Whitlam. If so, can we here in the humble Antipodes expect another bloodless coup. And if we do, will we do anything about it?

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