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Campaign countdown: Back to 7.30 Report Land

Paul Colgan

by Paul Colgan

17 Jun 10:00pm

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Filed under: 7.30 Report, Campaign Countdown, Election 2010, Kevin Rudd, Politics

40 comments

This isn’t about beating up Kevin Rudd. He’s doing a fine job of that to himself. Tonight he was back in “7.30 Report Land” and walked straight into a question about something he said to the miners’ table at last night’s press gallery ball in Canberra. His expression slightly but perceptibly darkened as Kerry O’Brien asked what the PM meant when he singled them out and said “we’ve got a long memory”.

Rudd said the comment was a “throwaway remark” but it is hard to interpret as anything but a threat, however jocular the delivery. This is the second time this week Rudd has been forced to characterise a comment as innocuous after it has been said, having forced to defend a remark he dropped about a female reporter’s outfit on Tuesday.

The problem is that remarks from a Prime Minister are anything but throwaway when they are so frequently repeated.

The Chatham House Rule was supposed to be in force for last night’s event but given the political and economic stakes of the government’s stand-off with the mining industry and the fact that the room was full of journalists, it was only a matter of hours before it became public. Katharine Murphy reported for The Age this morning:

The genuine show stopper though was saved up for the resources industry, a longtime mid-winter ball sponsor. The Minerals Council of Australia and their guests sat at the front of the room. The miners were informed by Rudd: ‘‘Can I say guys, we’ve got a long memory.’’ It can be assumed they know he’s the Prime Minister, that Prime Ministers are very powerful, and can deliver significant retribution if warranted. Possibly they didn’t need it spelled-out in such naked terms, but there you have it.

There’s a saying in golf when you’re having a rotten time of it, finding yourself in every possible trap, that you “can’t buy a par”. Rudd’s problem at the moment is something similar. The negative is sought in every casual remark and it becomes news, and the sense of crisis continues to build around his leadership.

Rudd doesn’t seem to grasp this. If he did, he would be choosing his words with much more care. Wisecracks aren’t worth the risk in the current climate.

Every little distraction hinders Rudd and his ministry in their attempts to steer focus onto their record in office. Rudd even had to raise the matter of the paid parental leave scheme being passed by the Senate today during his extended interview with O’Brien.

The conversation on the 7.30 Report, which you can read a transcript of here, also touched briefly on election timing.

KERRY O’BRIEN: But you’ve got an election looming, you’ve got an election coming.

KEVIN RUDD: Yeah, well we have an election due by whatever it is, March or April next year and we only have three year terms. You’ve got to use the time effectively.

Make of it what you will - all there is to add is Rudd managed to keep his poker face on and didn’t seem like a man in a hurry.

The Herald Sun has a write-up on Rudd’s 7.30 Report appearance here.

We’ll update this post later with some of the key reads from Friday’s papers.

Most commented

40 comments

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    • Against the Man says:

      11:14pm | 17/06/10

      http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/7412978/labor-accused-of-health-backflip/

      HaHa the longer Mr Rudd waits there will be more to expose of this labor government aka the worst in australian history. Please delay the elections Mr Rudd, there is more to highlight to the public, remember that certain insulation debacle, I have a feeling that is going to creep up again soon….....

      Reply

    • Bruce says:

      11:38pm | 17/06/10

      “We’ve got a long memory” !!  Yep, I know when I use that expression, I will follow through, no matter how long it takes…....

      Reply

    • Nick says:

      12:13am | 18/06/10

      The other day one of The Punch columnists mocked Rudd potentially using ‘reform’ as a re-election strategy. It seems that off-the-cuff observation was spot on. He used it several times in the 7:30 Report interview, and in Question Time.

      Reply

    • McCackie says:

      05:46am | 18/06/10

      Sovereign risk anyone, not only will I remember he says but so will my comrades in the future.  Has this increased the cost of Project Finance (risk premium) by what, 0.1%, 0.3% or even 0.5%?  Money we borrow from overseas, thanks Maaate, opps you’ve done it again.

      Reply

    • Brian says:

      06:15am | 18/06/10

      A throwaway remark? I don’t quite believe that, Rudd will have some sort of payback if he get’s re-elected. He’s already proved that he’s small minded about things. He’s not the type of person who’d let people show him up in public without payback somewhere down the line…watch your backs miners.

      Reply

    • persephone says:

      08:49am | 18/06/10

      Brian, have you got a single example to support what you’re saying here?

      I mean, it was so small minded of Rudd to appoint political enemies like Downer, Fischer and Costello to government jobs.

      It was so small minded of him to sack all those public servants when he was elected….oh, sorry, no, that was someone else.

      Godwin Grech did his best to bring the government down, apparently manufacturing ‘evidence’ and misleading a Senate enquiry, but I haven’t heard of any attempts by the PM at payback.

      So I’d be interested to know what your evidence is that he’s either small minded or vengeful.

    • Tails says:

      03:00pm | 18/06/10

      Er, persephone. He’s got a long memory. He’s going to do it later. When they’re not thinking about it anymore. Sheesh, thanks for reminding them all. Now Kev’s got to wait another few years for his sweet, sweet, glorious payback. (insert evil laugh)

    • persephone says:

      11:34pm | 18/06/10

      Well, if he’s still PM in ten years, that’s OK by me!

    • Stephen says:

      07:04am | 18/06/10

      The PM looked rattled at times last night - if you watched you probably noticed his rapid and uneven blinking.  Not confidence inspiring. 
      Don’t want to be like David Marr here, but he looked very tense when questioned by someone who could ask a follow-up question to his usual non-reply.

      Reply

    • persephone says:

      08:12am | 18/06/10

      ‘The Chatham House Rule was supposed to be in force for last night’s event but given the political and economic stakes of the government’s stand-off with the mining industry and the fact that the room was full of journalists…’

      So you’re defending your colleagues for breaking the ‘rules’ because they were there?

      In other words, if a journo’s in the room, no matter what the previous agreements have been, it can be assumed they’re going to break their word.

      Scarcely a ringing endorsement for your profession and its ethics.

      I thought journos attended all Winter Balls, so why was this one any different?

      Throwaway lines like this one simply reinforces the idea that the media are ‘out to get’ Rudd and will breach their own ‘ethical’ standards to do so.

      Reply

    • Adam Diver says:

      10:05am | 18/06/10

      The Journos ethics don’t lie with covering up political agendas but informing the public. If Rudd is stupid enough to say something like that, then I want to know about it.

      After all it is the public that pay for the journos (barring 250million bribes) and there loyalty and ethics lie with us, not politicians.

    • Sherekahn says:

      10:16am | 18/06/10

      persephone, you are just too generous!
      ” the idea that the media are ‘out to get’ Rudd and will breach their own ‘ethical’ standards to do so.”
      Ethical standards the media?  Not on your life!
      To get on with the media one must be as Amoral as them.

      Kerry O’Brien has in the past, been respected but truthfully can anyone make sense of his present lauding of the mining industry?  Or his constant nagging at all ALP politicians? 
      Is he preparing for retirement and consequently leaving some avenues open for future invitations to dinner?
      All will reveal itself Kerry, some of us have long memories.

    • Leo Shanahan

      Leo Shanahan says:

      11:01am | 18/06/10

      Pers, for the record there is no hard “rule” about reporting from the Press Gallery ball. In the past comments by numerous leaders have been reported. Furthermore the “rule” didn’t seem to stop a Labor staffer at last year’s ball filming Malcolm Turnbull arguing with Andrew Charlton and then distributing that to the media.

    • Andrew says:

      11:37am | 18/06/10

      “The media’s out to get Rudd” ...hehehehe…. So now their out to get ‘im are they Pers?

      Couldn’t have anything to do with his MASSIVE failure.

      Problem Labor and particular Kevin Rudd has is that if you promise the world and try and be all things to all people, eventually you have to deliver. I will grant you this, listen closely because it’s me given you something here… I don’t think the PM is evil incarnate, I won’t attack his character (although there is ample room to) like Labor is doing with Abbott. I will simply say he and his kitchen cabinet and his broader ministers simply lacked government experience.

      Put simply they love the idea of running the show but can’t even manage to raise the curtain.

      The complete failure to understand the law of unintended consequences is typical of policy formulated based on “treasury” modelling and academic research. The failure to understand human interaction and free market forces is, well frankly, bordering on criminally negligent.

      I get the whole centralisation transfer of wealth agenda. Its just its be tried before by men far more capable than Rudd and they failed, what arrogance made him think he could possibly pull it of?

      Anyway, as for the press being after him, maybe they are now because when you fall from grace, when you break an implied trust it can never be repaired and you will never be redeemed.

      Labor will jettison Rudd before the election if next weeks newspoll is bad. He knows it. Frankly the backroom boys will be tossing it up now “do we lose and election with Rudd or do we put Julia in?”

      In any event I would wager Rudd will be out of the leadership within 9 months. Care to take my money?

    • luke09 says:

      01:39pm | 18/06/10

      persephone, rudd said “Can I say guys, we’ve got a long memory.” knowing the room was filled with journalists, can’t you at least admit one time he messed up?

      Knowing the difficulties he is having with the miners it was poor judgement at the very least.

    • Dovif says:

      03:35pm | 18/06/10

      If anything most journalist have been great to Kevin Rudd

      Rudd call the Chinese Delegate at Copenhagen
      “Rat F**kers”. And journalists did not report it for 6 months

      Maybe they are all afraid of payback

      It is the Labors way ... just look at NSW, and the corruption, the paybacks, the free trip to Dubai ... the lying at ICAC ... it is just the Labor way

    • Christian Real says:

      07:24am | 19/06/10

      Leo Shanahan
      It didn’t appear stop the Liberal party from coercing Godwin Grech into giving false and misleading testimony either.
      The fact that Turnbull, Abetz meet with Grech before the Senate Estimates committee hearing seems to indicate that a thorough investigation into the Liberal party was warranted, Godwin Grech I believe did not act alone in “the Utegate affair”,nor was he the mastermind behind the scam to bring down an elected government.
      The fact that Turnbull already appeared to have knowledge about the fake email when he was arguing with Andrew Charlton at last years balls seems to say the Liberal party was in on the fake email and the utegate affair up to their eyeballs.

    • Danilo2291 says:

      08:26am | 18/06/10

      That was not a throwaway remark- it was a gentle threat which is stating don;t trust or believe me as I will have payback on you as I will walk over anyone and punish anyone who defies me.Yes ,his gang of four gillard,tanner and swan have possibly made retribution plans for the future if voted back in. They have to be the most devious untrustworthy incompetent government Australia has ever had. You looked most uncomfortable PM when asked the question ,most uncomfortable . Just bring on the election.

      Reply

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      08:48am | 18/06/10

      The office of Prime Minister is a high office indeed and commands the respect of the nation , so it should .  This powerful position is aspired to by a select few from both sides of the political spectrum and the occupants , in the main , have high respect for the office to which the nation has granted them entry. It is unusual for Prime Ministers to use the office to offensively
      threaten the use of Prime Ministerial power , to get even for what is their own failure in bringing about reform .
      Prime Minister Rudd , has failed to to consult or negotiate , prior to announcing major taxation reform . The Mining Industry is up in arms , angry at the P.M.‘s failure to observe what would be normal protocol and procedure , before trying to implement such reform , and justifiably so.
      His ” throwaway remark ” was not a joke , it was a spiteful threat which has left a stain on the Australian office of Prime Minister.

      Reply

    • julie says:

      08:49am | 18/06/10

      totally.  what an idiot, protesting too much with a smarmy smile ... ‘just a throw away line’.  Right.  Does he have no nous or tact at all?  What kind of context does he think he’s operating in, for people to see it, supposedly at a function ‘with journalists there..Chatham House Rules’ but oh yes it seems it’s been reported anyway ... well Der, why wouldn’t it be?  He is just so clueless. Amatuer is right.

      Reply

    • Against the Man says:

      09:18am | 18/06/10

      Throw away remark? Rudd is he trust worthy? Will he do the best for Australia or himself? I think the average Australian knows the answer to these questions. Time for change folks.

      Reply

    • Sherekahn says:

      09:49am | 18/06/10

      Wow!  Didn’t Kevin Rudd ruffle Kerry O’Brien’s feathers last night!  Kerry stuttered and stumbled showing barely controlled ‘agro’ as Kevin Rudd kept him “on subject.”
      Mr Rudd is correct when he chooses to ignore the “polls.”
      The giant multi-national Miners are no different than BP oil.  Until they are pressured to behave in the interests of the Public, they will squirm and spin.
      Genuine Aussies are purposely NOT being polled!
      Ask people in the street what they think; you will be amazed at the replies.  “It doesn’t affect me mate!”

      Reply

    • centurion48 says:

      11:23am | 18/06/10

      @Sherekahn: were you watching the same interview as I saw? You think Kevin kept Kerry on subject? WTF
      Why are miners any different from any other taxpayer? Kerry Packer knew that only a fool gives the government more than necessary. Nobody pays more tax than they legally have to. The miners are protecting profits and so they should. Owners need a return on investment and capital needs to be reinvested for expansion.
      Rudd says he wants to spend money on roads, rail and ports to help the miners but the miners currently spend money building that infrastructure anyway. In NSW and Qld, the governments just get in the way.
      I suppose you also think Kevin was telling the truth when he implied he wasn’t sure when the election had to be held. He has that planned but the date keeps getting extended as his popularity plummets. He is between a rock and a hard place and will get crushed.

    • Bob. says:

      10:19am | 18/06/10

      Grow up.Rudd is doing good job , some journalists want to be smart as.. it is their problem.
      Until we have credible opposition with policy that we could vote for I stick with Labor.

      Reply

    • AC says:

      11:02am | 18/06/10

      I’m a swinging voter and I’d rather give a party that might fail a chance than re-elect a party that has already failed.

    • Andrew says:

      11:41am | 18/06/10

      “Rudd is doing a good job”????? I want some of whatever you’re smoking! Pass the doochie…

    • Hamish says:

      12:54pm | 18/06/10

      I think this it what will eventually decide the next election AC. Both my parents are swinging voters (I’m not), but one of them thinks Labor has already stuffed up so much that the Coalition couldn’t possibly be worse while the other totally agrees that Labor are hopelessly incompetent, but thinks Tony Abbott is too ‘dangerous’ to vote for. To be fair they are both readers of The Age so are fed on a steady diet of anti-Abbott propaganda (which helps explain the latter’s position), but I think these two positions broadly reflect swinging voter sentiment.

      I had up until very recently believed Labor would sneak in next election. After all, only two governments in Aus history have been voted out after one term. However, lately I think I’m changing my mind. The problem for Labor is that WA and Qld (and SA to a lesser exctent) will be pretty much gone for them unless they can get some agreement with the miners. There are a lot of competitive seats in those states so Labor could see really significant swings against them there.

      It’s starting to look more positive by the day (I’m a Coalition voter).

    • Nicki says:

      01:00pm | 18/06/10

      @AC/

      I am not sure which party you are going to vote that is you choice, but the Liberal Party failed me for the 12 years they were in Government.
      It will take miracle for me to vote for them again especially now with Abbott as the leader.

    • Jan says:

      01:39pm | 18/06/10

      Last night Rudd said that the election might be in March 2011,I think it is good strategy and it give all parties to staff up or get ahead with their policy toow voters what they are really made of.
      It goes very well with new campaign slogan that I claim ownership of today “Kevin 11” it sounds very catchy to me.
      “Kevinelevin”/

    • AC says:

      01:47pm | 18/06/10

      @Nikki:

      The government may have failed you during that 12 year period but I believe the country as a whole benefited. There is never going to be a party or policy that will please each and single australian. I will be voting with who I believe will be the best for the country as a whole.

      Also, I don’t believe in always referring back to to previous governments as any indication of how the current party will perform, although there wil be those who will say that the current opposition party is no different from that of Howard’s. That is akin to saying you will never vote for the Libs ever again, which I think is foolish. The economic and political climate has changed and so have the political parties (for better or worse, who knows). Both the ALP and the Libs seem to be very similar at the moment, but I just do not trust Rudd and he has had his chance, which he has wasted, unfortunately for Australia.

    • jb says:

      12:49pm | 20/06/10

      Jan what about the slogan Kevinis11
      Kevin is a leavin’...
      hehe, i’m funny!

    • pc says:

      11:29am | 18/06/10

      Hi AC, Hi PC, Hi Punchmates

      Hi AC Im only guessing, but Im guessing your refering to the Greens - AC - “I’m a swinging voter and I’d rather give a party that might fail a chance.” 

      I like people that want to vote Green. You are people that think about your vote and when you think about your vote you arent thinking “What am I going to get out of this?” You are probably also thinking of not just the people in your immediate circle of relationships but people outside of them as well. Some Green people tell me that people only vote labor becuase they are ‘rusted on’.

      ‘Rusted on’, like some discussions of ‘a long memory’ here on the punch are confused. For more than a century the labor movement has been comprised of people fighting for each other, thinking about people beyond their immediate circle of relationships. Part of thats because the labor movement is exactly about your relationships with… well pretty much everyone. Sometimes this fight is hidden - as in the fight over action on climate change. Sometimes it is open conflict - like the fight over the super profits tax. But its a fight the labor movement have been battling for over a hundred years.

      Because we remember, we remember how long the fight has been. We remember the need to fight together. We remember because we have experienced relationships with people we dont know by name.

      The Greens have no such experience. Rather than join the fight that was already on they decided to make their own fight. It didnt matter to them that they werent very good at it - they still got to grandstand, take the high road and do absolutely nothing. They may be greens but their @rses are lily-white.

      Reply

    • Bazza the oracle says:

      11:30am | 18/06/10

      Kevin ‘07 has stumbled from disaster to disaster for several reasons .(1) Absolutely no substance to any of his promises before the election,  (2) he is absolutely poll driven (3)political spin instead of the inconvienient truth on anything. He was a figment of the medias imagination. His statement at the ball was an undeniable threat . His current policys remind me of the ditty “swallow the fly”. he bought the dog to caTCH THE CAT, HE BOUGHT THE CAT TO CATCH THE BIRD, HE BOUGHT THE BIRD TO CATCH THE SPIDER ETC.  One policy to take the heat off the other.Pretender, liar, idiot

      Reply

    • Jl says:

      11:35am | 18/06/10

      Yea, This man RUDD has got to go.

      Reply

    • antiperspirant says:

      02:11pm | 18/06/10

      Ok we all know Rudd called the Chinese “f*%##$%&” and accused them of “rat-f*%*%” us.

      That was a mistake. Bad, even very bad, silly, but under under pressure I can sort of see hyperbole and “over enthusiasm” being tossed around.

      So after doing it a “don’t mention the war” strategy could have been good. They seemed to have done fine in not denying but not confirming it.

      Why the hell would you be so stupid as to try to make a joke of it. Is he really that dumb?

      That faux pas should have been buried, patted down, concreted over and tarred. Big warning signs of “do not approach” should be erected near it.

      To bring it up at and try to make light of it just proves how positively naive and out of touch this guy is.

      I am embarrassed he represents our country. He is a disgrace. And what is worse he really doesn’t seem to get he is the problem. Oh well 4 weeks to go before he is gone anyway - 3 from next Monday.

      Reply

    • Brad Price says:

      02:12pm | 18/06/10

      So if what KRudd said was not meant to be threatening. Can we now assume that he “sometimes doesn’t always speak the truth”.....

      Reply

    • Juju says:

      03:55pm | 18/06/10

      March or April next year, eh? Make it March so we can get rid of Labor in both NSW and Federally. That would be *awesome*!!!

      Reply

    • Yoyo says:

      06:31pm | 18/06/10

      You are dreaming.

    • Timmo says:

      02:32pm | 19/06/10

      What’s all this consulting with the mining industry business. Kevin Rudd is the Prime Minister and if he feels that a different tax is needed to increase the revenue for the populace then he can just bring in the tax. He doesn’t need to consult with anyone. Having to consult and make a bigger deal out of it is stupid and doesn’t serve the community in any positive way, in particular reporting the wrong message just because you’ve laid your cards with Abbott and his lot of merry men.

      There was no consultation with the tobacco companies over the recent increase in tobacco costs to the public. There was no consultation with the liquor companies over the increase in the price of alco pops. Why not?. There is never any consultation with petrol companies over the increases in the cost of fuel. How come the mining companies are so special.? While propping up the banking sector re their profits they never consult or bail out the small shopkeepers that go broke everyday, who are under financial difficulty or the people who lose their houses to the bankers.

      Anyway, the mining companies are not losing as there are other benefits for them coming out of it such as taxation benefits and also the benefits the superannuation schemes which will help out there. Why not tell the people that in your article mining companies. All this false advertising information that is put out creates instabilities within our communities. Speak and write the truth, not play around with it that’s what should be happening. The lying and deceit should stop, it’s not the right thing for the country.

      Reply
 
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