Sometimes good news and bad news come together. I cheered when Kevin Rudd was ousted as Prime Minister. His farewell speech was quite impressive and welcome although he failed to thank the troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Julia Gillard, on the other hand, remembered to thank the troops and did a fine job of explaining why she challenged Rudd. She also did a clever thing by acknowledging the contribution made by John Howard, something that Rudd never did. He should have done so. Why not give credit where credit’s due?

Rudd has only himself to blame for his downfall. He was a one-man band and a poor listener. I’m sure that nobody except his young minions and Ms Rein could give him any advice. He certainly did not listen to his party and now he has paid the ultimate price for his arrogance. I would be sorry to see him appointed as Foreign Minister, so fingers crossed that Gillard has not promised him that sweetener.

The bad news is that Lindsay Tanner will be leaving and that is disappointing. He always answered questions and stuck to the subject during interviews. I would have preferred him to be Federal Treasurer instead of our current one. Never mind, it has been a happy and exciting day and now we will see if Gillard can do any better.