Troy Bramston, who used to be the speech writer for Australia's answer to Grover Cleveland, Kevin Rudd, is impressed by the Presidential Library of George Bush II (oh, alright, President George W. Bush) and thinks we should have similar things here.
I for one would be very interested to go to the Vice Regal Library of Michael Jeffery.
Maybe Kevin Rudd should call his three immediate predecessors Julia Gillard, John Howard and Paul Keating and ask them to partner with a university and offer them a start-up grant and ongoing funding to serve as an important educational tool and stimulate civic interest in government, politics and history.
I see. He means President as Head of Government (our PM) instead of President as Head of State (our G-G). First you have to ask, what's wrong with Hawke, Fraser and Whitlam? I mean, I know the answer, but why not include them? We already give these people generous pensions, offices and free travel. This is starting to look like money for menaces. "Cough up or I'll come back and pass another carbon tax, borrow money from a dodgy Iraqi businessman etc."
As a matter of fact U. S. Presidential libraries appear to be a waste of money and highly partisan. (See also: State of the Union speeches, take that! The West Wing).