Et tu, Julia

Gillard’s regicide was that of Macbeth, who having been promised power by the three witches, surely powerbrokers Bill Shorten, David Feeney and Mark Arbib, lets vain ambition override loyalty and common sense, murdering King Duncan in cold blood.

Highly illuminating is Gillard’s accusation that Rudd was implicitly disloyal towards her, in sending his staffer Alistair Jordan around the caucus to check Rudd still maintained their support. It was this, her backers claim, that led her to end Rudd’s leadership.

If true, this shows a level of emotional immaturity unbecoming in one desiring the Prime Minister’s office. If this perceived insult was all it took for Gillard to impetuously backstab her leader, then it rather seems that Rudd was being far too trustworthy. It’s the political equivalent of a husband who, on being asked why he has come home late, decides his wife doesn’t trust him and accordingly has an affair.

Gillard has already promised to usher in a new era of cooperation and finding consensus. Reading between the lines, this suggests Gillard et al. will immediately distance themselves from any policy that has the slightest hint of electoral unpalatability. Policies, for which Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan, as members of the famed Gang of Four, are significantly culpable.

Indeed, Gillard was responsible for the highly wasteful BER stimulus spending, while there are claims that Swan and Gillard pressured Rudd to drop the ETS, the backflip that ultimately hit Rudd’s credibility the hardest. No matter how much spin is applied to her image, the fact remains that our new PM is up to her neck in it.

At this stage, it appears the ALP machine has gotten away with its crimes, but the chance remains for literature to become reality. Judas, realising what he had done, hung himself in shame, while Macbeth’s arrogance ended in his comeuppance.

We can only hope for the same.

Because, if you put lipstick on a pig, as our American friends say, it's still a pig. Except here, it's a treacherous swine.