“The process isn’t functioning properly. I’ve been talking about this for a while, but I decided it’s time to be an agent of change from the inside.”
Brace yourselves Australia, it looks like we’ve got another Rudd on our hands.
Greg Rudd, a 58 year old businessman who runs a consultancy in Beijing announced yesterday that he will be running as an independent Senate candidate for Queensland in the next election.
Greg is Kevin Rudd’s older brother, but the two men share more than an obvious family resemblance.
Remember the distinctive turn of phrase that earmarked the Rudd years? And by distinctive we obviously mean verbose, over-complicated and robotic. Well it turns out that extends to all members of the family.
For example, it’s only been 24 hours since Greg Rudd made his announcement, and he’s already been quoted as referring to the federal parliament as a “six-cylinder car running on two cylinders,” and that “today’s politics is too divisive, restricting positive outcomes for the country.”
Sound like anyone you know?
Yet despite these similarities, the older Rudd wants to make it clear that he is a very different person from his brother, and always has been.
He told The Australian while he and his brother joined the ALP in the early 1990s, only Kevin was a “true believer”.
“I actually don’t believe any one side of politics has all the answers, so I tend to follow individuals who have something of value. You do need political parties, but I don’t want to be a part of them,” he said.
Greg Rudd also said that Canberra’s obsession with celebrity in politics has sidetracked good policy making.
“…[we] need to focus on getting back to what parliament is all about: finding good policy and finding ways to implement good policy.”
And to be fair, we haven’t seen Kevin sporting a pair of transition lenses just yet either.
Should Greg Rudd be selected in the coming months, the two brothers are unlikely to sit down for a cosy chat about matters of state. Today’s Herald Sun reports the two had a falling out when Kevin Rudd was prime minister and have not spoken since 2010.
“Kevin may or may not come back - it’s really up to him - but the next election won’t be a normal election,” said Greg Rudd.
May the best Rudd win.
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