Neil Young once said “it’s better to burn out than to fade away”. Today, Mark Latham has decided to burn out, taking the unprecedented step of resigning not only from the Labor Party leadership, and not only as a frontbencher, but as a bencher of any kind.

The powerbrokers are no doubt relieved to put away the dagger without having to plunge it into the man’s back, perhaps uncertain of being able to aim it away from the pancreas.

The question in everyone’s mind is, who on Earth is everyone in the ALP going to agree upon for a replacement leader? With Kim Beazley immediately putting his hand up, and Kevin Rudd sure to challenge even if just to provide a choice, it’s shaping up to be an interesting race.

Beazley

Garrett

Gillard

Kim Beazley (Member for Brand)
Bee’s Knees is basing his candidacy on experience and stability. He has 24 years of parliamentary experience—five years as Defence Minister, one as Deputy Prime Minister, and five as Opposition Leader—and he has quite stably presided over two election defeats. However, with Labor’s system of factions, Kim appears to be the only candidate with blend of charisma and political acumen that a statistically significant amount of the caucus can agree upon.

Kevin Rudd (Member for Griffith)
Despite receiving encouragement from some, Kevin decided to stay out of the last leadership ballot and vote for Kim instead, regretting only that he only had one vote to give for his erstwhile leader. It would now seem that he has another vote to give, and whilst Kevin is in Indonesia on tsunami business, he cannot be drawn on any leadership aspirations he may have. However, it has become apparent that, as shadow minister for foreign affairs, he is a hearty, well-tempered young diplomat, and it would be fantastic to see a Nambour boy in the Lodge.

Prime Ministers by State of origin

NSW

Barton, Page, Chifley, Holt, McMahon, Keating, Howard

Vic

Deakin, Bruce, Scullin, Menzies, Curtin, McEwen, Gorton, Whitlam, Fraser

Tas

Lyons

Q’ld

Fadden, Forde

SA

Hawke

Overseas

Watson, Reid, Fisher, Cook, Hughes

Two Queenslanders, and not even any good ones. Time for another!

Penny Wong (Senator for South Australia)
Hailed as one of the up-and-coming young women of Australian politics. She might look like a diminutive Chinese woman but she speaks with a strong, authoritative—and yes, Australian accented—voice. I could see her appealing to a broad range of voters, not just women and ethnics, but folks who would normally vote Liberal as well. What a pity she’s a senator.

Peter Garrett (Member for Kingsford Smith)
Sure, he may look like an eccentric bald weirdo, but he also has the distinction of having fronted Midnight Oil, and there is no doubt Australians love their Oils. Garrett is well-known for the conservationist message in his music, and as leader of a party determined to win government eventually, he would be in a prime position to do so, pun intended. He’s only been an MP for a month, but how much training do you need to be Opposition Leader anyway? The man has a huge team around him to guide everything he does and every decision he makes. Any smo could do it.

Julia Gillard (Member for Lalor)
There has been a lot of hype surrounding Gillard lately, and it is said that her supporters are having a sticky-beak around, seeing if she would have the numbers for a viable challenge. While it would be nice to have a (attractive) woman as the leader of a major political party and alternative prime minister, I tend to think that she is not quite politically mature enough yet. Her spinster status may also be an obstacle to her becoming leader, and for the time being at least, a closed-minded Australian electorate will probably feel the same way.

In sum, although it looks like a walkover for Beazley next Friday, there’s a veritable salad bar of talent and, knowing the Labor Party, there’ll be plenty of second helpings in the near future.