FED: Aust needs Labor to deal with future challenges - Rudd

AAP General News (Australia)
04-27-2007
FED: Aust needs Labor to deal with future challenges - Rudd

"My name's KEVIN .. I'm from Queensland .. and I'm here to help".

With that line .. a specially-commissioned song .. and the slogan .. "Australian Labor
.. Fresh Thinking" .. KEVIN RUDD has taken the stage for his first Labor national conference
as opposition leader.

Mr RUDD has told the conference the nation needs to elect Labor at the next federal
election to deal with the challenges of the future .. rather than sticking with a government
anchored in the past.

In a speech on enduring Labor values .. he's told the conference Australia's approaching
a crossroads and Australians need to deal with it head on.

He says one thing we know for certain is the history of nations is made up of those
who understand .. anticipate and act on the challenges of the future .. and those who
do not .. those who instead bury their heads in the sand and hope it will all just go
away.

Mr RUDD says Labor is at its best as a navigator of Australia's future .. drawing on
the achievements of past leaders like BEN CHIFLEY and JOHN CURTIN.

He told the conference the election in just a few months time will be about the future
versus the past .. and while the ALP is the party of the future .. the Howard government
has become the party of the past.

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KEYWORD: LABOR RUDD (SYDNEY)

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