Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday likened rival Tony Abbott’s “baddies versus baddies” comments on Syria to a children’s game of “Cowboys and Indians”, saying he was unfit to deal with foreign policy.
Abbott is the frontrunner to win September 7 elections over centre-left Labor incumbent Rudd, with a new poll on Monday showing he has overtaken his rival as preferred prime minister for the first time in four years.
The Newspoll in The Australian showed 43 per cent of voters now see Abbott as the better prime minister to Rudd’s 41 per cent, while his conservative coalition has opened a 54 to 46 per cent lead over Labor on a two-party basis.
International relations is more complex than a 1950s John Wayne western
While Abbott is on track for victory, his diplomatic credentials are being increasingly questioned after he said on Sunday the escalating Syria conflict “is not goodies versus baddies, it is baddies versus baddies”.
Rudd said the simplistic language trivialised the matter and mocked Abbott as a graduate from the “John Wayne school of international relations”, referring to the legendary movie star who made his name as a gunslinger in Hollywood westerns.
“International relations is more complex than a 1950s John Wayne western,” said Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former foreign minister and diplomat.
He added later: “I mean, the last time I used the term goodies and baddies was when I was playing Cowboys and Indians in the back yard when I was about 10.
“We’re talking about serious matters of international security and international relations and the alternative prime minister of Australia is referring to this as no more complex than goodies and baddies or baddies versus baddies.