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One lesson from the election: Don’t mess with Kevin

Joe Hildebrand

by Joe Hildebrand

17 Sep 06:00am

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Filed under: Election 2010, Foreign Affairs, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Labor Party, Politics

81 comments

I’m sure I am not alone in saying that every time I see Kevin Rudd on the television these days I hear Metallica playing Enter Sandman in the background and expect him to jump on a Harley and blow away a Columbian drug lord with a sawn-off.

Oh man, Kevin just Punked us. Photo: Kym Smith

Or maybe he just has a certain look in his eye.

The sad truth is that there have been no winners in this agonisingly protracted and policy-free election campaign. No winners except Kevin, that is.

Following his obscene shafting at the hands of a bunch of ALP powertrippers who were pulling more than just the levers, it is clear that Kevin had two primary objectives for the campaign.

The first was that Labor would lose office as a result of knifing him, a perfectly understandable emotional response given the circumstances. If one gets expelled from a school, the only appropriate response is to burn the school down. It is a grand old Labor Party tradition.

However it was obviously pointed out to him at some point during the campaign - let’s call it the point where Laurie Oakes’s phone stopped ringing - that if Objective One was realised he would not be foreign minister and get a nice UN posting.

And so he formed Objective Two: that the ALP wins and he gets to blow Australia to become secretary-general and leave those snivelling ingrates behind.

So to summarise: Objective One - Labor loses; Objective Two - Labor wins.

To a mere mortal, these would appear to be mutually exclusive goals. But to Kevin Rudd the laws of neither physics nor logic apply.

Labor did indeed lose the election by almost every measure - with Rudd’s knifing widely cited as a key factor - and yet was still able to form Government and make him Foreign Minister.

So to summarise: Labor is completely destroyed as a result of dumping Kevin; Kevin is rewarded with the portfolio of his choice.

Given the extraordinary scale of this political masterstroke, it is all the more astonishing that Kevin was unable to achieve the far simpler task of keeping himself as leader in the first place.

Indeed, the result is perhaps the strongest indication yet that God really does exist and was on Kevin’s side all along - although unfortunately He still doesn’t have a vote in caucus.

Should there be any further divine intervention, it is worth remembering that the UN Sec-Gen’s job becomes available at the end of next year. If Kevin gets it and there’s a swing of more than 8.5pc at the ensuing byelection, he may just end up bringing down the Government.

And that’s why you should never @#$% with Kevin.

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81 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Against the Man says:

      06:48am | 17/09/10

      So basically he is happy from going to CEO to Junior Vice President of PR in the ALP camp? Nonsense. He is left with a public humiliation and this is his legacy. The stuff you can’t erase from history books. He should have shafted Labor and left in a blaze of glory rather than become Gillard’s neutered lapdog. Whenever I see Rudd I don’t hear ‘Enter Sandman’ more like ‘Its Raining Men’.

      Reply

    • Don says:

      12:52pm | 17/09/10

      Yes ,don’t know why people still like this thing.  He wanted to saddle Australia with billions every year to third world countries, hand over to the UN authority over the Australian government , and so on. It was all in the Copenhagen ‘treaty’ paper . He should be thrown to the lions instead.  The voters have such short memories.

    • Moggy says:

      01:06pm | 17/09/10

      Without a doubt Rudd is biding his time to shaft Gillard & the Labor Party. It will be a media feeding frenzy when it happpens, & it will happen. An ego like Rudds cannot help itself. I can’t wait because it will be the best entertainment of the decade, blood baths always are!

    • Bob H says:

      01:43pm | 17/09/10

      @Moggy - agree entirely, like the Chinese Rudd is playing the long game and mimics eager sub serviance to position himself for a killer blow, to the back room boys as well as JG.  When hurt he is full of self pity (the tearful leadership loss speech) and when powerfull, very aggressive and arrogant.  I can only assume JG has some political kevtonite in her armoury to keep her safe.

    • Sven Gali says:

      01:47pm | 17/09/10

      If nothing else, we’ve learnt a lot from the election about the preferred entertainment of Coalition voters, Moggy, and also their soothsaying abilities.

      First it was going to be a Coalition victory, then it was going to be the end of the world if the Independents sided with Labor, then the Government wasn’t going to last a week, and now Kevin Rudd is going to “shaft Gillard & the Labor Party”, (whatever that’s supposed to mean). In fairness, at least the law of averages suggests that if you just keep trying, eventually you’ll get something right.

      Meanwhile, Australia continues to be the envy of the world.

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      06:26pm | 17/09/10

      Sven Gali :  Yes , Australia continues to be the envy of the world , and most Australians know that the Coalition was responsible for the good shape that Australia was in when Labor took office.
      Thats one side of the ledger of course , on the other , Labor has thrust debt on the nation to the point where our eyeballs are floating .
      One consolation , the life of the Gillard Labor/Wilkie/Oakshott/Bandt/Windsor government will be snuffed out rather quickly .

    • Sven Gali says:

      07:40pm | 17/09/10

      So we’re not the envy of the world then, Wayne ?

      Good luck with your soothsaying.

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      06:36pm | 19/09/10

      Sven Gali :  aka persephone ?  : 
      The rest of the world admires our firm economy , fired up by the Howard /Costello government , not our national debt run up by the Rudd/Gillard govt.
      I realise you have difficulty in wading through your brainwash but i’m a patient man and will help in every possible way.

    • Sven Gali says:

      06:27pm | 20/09/10

      So we are the envy of the world then, Wayne ?

    • Jay says:

      07:28am | 17/09/10

      It was devine intervention, Kevin’s prayers answered and not Katters. All those Sunday morning church doorstop interviews was God’s decider. Kevin thinks and acts as though he still is the leader but doesn’t follow his christian beliefs on forgiveness, you may be spot on re, byelection.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      11:00pm | 17/09/10

      It was Abbott sucking up to the mining companies which led to Rudd getting axed.  A bad day for democracy when corporations resent paying reasonable tax, and cause the PM to be deposed?

    • Seamus says:

      07:32am | 17/09/10

      You can’t have two egos the size of Julia’s and Kevin’s in the same parliament.  Something must give, and give within the year I’m thinking.

      Reply

    • Macca says:

      08:41am | 17/09/10

      Howard and Costello lasted for a while, Hawke and Keating managed a term or two without killing each other. Ultimately, they know that the stability of the party in power is more important then their own egos ... well, mostly

    • Tedd says:

      03:27pm | 17/09/10

      Imagine of Costello had hung around - we would have had the Abbott & Costello show

    • Rhubarb Lover says:

      07:52am | 17/09/10

      Your comment: Interesting analysis Joe but fundamentally flawed as Labor had no hope of winning with Kevin at the helm

      Reply

    • Bubba Ray says:

      08:09am | 17/09/10

      The last Rudd Newspoll was 52-48 to Labor. The last Gillard newspoll was 50-50.  Further the trend for Rudd was improving while the Gillard trend was declining. Rudd was in a stronger polling position than our current PM which would indicate that there would be signifigant hope of him winning an election.

    • Brian Taylor says:

      08:31am | 17/09/10

      can’t really say that Gillard won either, she now leads a mish mash of diff parties that can only have one ending, another election….sandman? nah, more like “We are the world” lol

    • Scarneck says:

      10:30am | 17/09/10

      I agree Rhubarb…“Given the extraordinary scale of this political masterstroke, it is all the more astonishing that Kevin was unable to achive the far simpler task of keeping himself as leader in the first place”....this for me proves just how toxic Kevin Rudd was in the minds of the so called faceless people.

    • Jon says:

      07:54am | 17/09/10

      The only thing Kevin Rudd has been able to do, was make Tony Abbott look good.

      Reply

    • Denny Crane says:

      07:57am | 17/09/10

      Kevin Rudd is now in control of the Labor Party, he lost control when shafted as PM, but within 3 months he is now more in control then ever before.

      With a minority government Rudd forced Gillards hand, in giving him the Foreign Minister’s job, at the expense of Stephen Smith.

      With Rudd as Foreign Minister, he will decide what he wants to do, Gillard maybe his boss from the outside, but she answers to the henchman, and Rudd knows this, should she or her henchman decide to push back at Rudd, all he has to do, is decide that he has had enough of politics, step down walk into his UN job.

      This forces byelection, and possibility if Labor lost his seat either hung parliament or if independents switch camps Tony Abbot as PM.

      So yes Kevin Rudd is now the leader of the Labor Party all over again

      Reply

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      09:15am | 17/09/10

      It’s true !  Kevin Rudd has what’s left of Labor Federally , by the political balls .  He won the 747 , flips the Labor party , the union assassins and leaves Gillard teetering on the edge of a political abyss. He is well aware that the Coalition led by Tony Abbott is more than ready to form government when the inevitable defeat on the floor of the House removes Labor from the Treasury benches.
      The depth of the estrangement between Rudd and the Gillard Labor remnants is underlined when he sits in Caucus without a vote.
      That Gillard would pressure Stephen Smith aside from Foreign Affairs is a sign of the stranglehold Rudd has on Gillard , because she is well aware of Smith’s ambitions , his intelligence and competency .
      Smith won’t let the grass grow under his feet , which leaves Gillard looking anxiously over her shoulder , while trying to balance a precariously arranged rabble of support.
      Kevin Rudd went the twelve rounds and comes up on a points decision.

    • ibast says:

      11:52am | 17/09/10

      On the contrary.  Foreign minister is effectively a sidelining form Australian politics.  Foreign minister is a very important position for Australia internationally and it is not common practice to switch foreign ministers (unlike other ministerial positions) unless they retire of there is a change of government.  Also because of their high travel rate the foreign minister has very little to do with the day to day politics of the federal government.  From that position it is unlikely he will influence local politics very much and he will be very hard push making a move on the leadership.  It was a very clever mover giving him that position.

    • Dale says:

      12:07pm | 17/09/10

      Doesn’t even have to resign. A stroll across the chamber to the no votes is enough to form a deadlock. Technically Labor could expell him due to their stupid no crossing the floor policy but they can’t punt him from Parliament. He would just be another Independent. Yep his got a firm grip around labor’s nether regions all right.

    • The Badger says:

      12:08pm | 17/09/10

      When you have nothing else, you have hope.

      Keep hope alive you two.

    • Mayday says:

      08:04am | 17/09/10

      Kev has been raised from the dead.
      God moves in mysterious ways!

      Reply

    • Rosie says:

      08:05am | 17/09/10

      These days everytime I see Kevin Rudd on TV, I hate myself for feeling sorry for him when he cried like someone who had just lost a loved one when making his farewell speech before leaving the Lodge with his family.

      It is hard to believe that he could still be part of a team that shafted him, took away his dream job and his dignity. Has anyone in the Labor Party have any conscience, Oakeshott & Windsor for that matter in backing a tainted Labor Party.

      The Govt has lost my respect expect Stephen Smith, only Labor person that showed empathy and acted with integrity when the selfish Kevin07 took his job away from him, a job he did very well. The former Foreign Affairs minister knew the “has been” Kevin07 had to be accomodated in what whatever he demanded.

      Today I look at our PM, I see a harpy with sagging earlobes. In Kevin Rudd, I see someone strutting his stuff on the world stage acting the tough guy but the nation’s biggest cry baby. The faceless men, the Shortens etc, are the real winners because they were allowed to get away with the ousting of the nation’s elected PM and was rewarded. Oakeshott & Windsor, 2 fools for self serving reasons enabled the Labor Party a 2nd term in Govt.

      Reply

    • Judith Vinn says:

      10:30am | 17/09/10

      I can’t understand all this” Kevin was hurt, Julia is a beast” treat it like a soccer game,if you don’t play well this week some-one will take your place and it’s up to you to better your-self and get back on the team.It’s just a job, may-be ego’s do get in the road but I don’t think that is the whole game.Life goes on. Just my opinion.

    • Scarneck says:

      10:36am | 17/09/10

      “It is hard to believe that he could still be part of a team that shafted him”...Rosie, this is the fundamental difference between conservatives and socialists.

    • Sven Gali says:

      11:12am | 17/09/10

      Hear, hear, Scarneck.

    • Mike T says:

      11:28am | 17/09/10

      @ Judith.

      I get your point around the changing of political leaders being a normal act. I even get that its normal for political parties to knife or overthrow leaders.

      I think that most people gripe is when it occurs to a PM. People will say that you vote in the party and the decision of who leads is at the discretion of that particular party. This is technically correct, however, the fact remains that MANY people vote for a leader or they vote for a party based on the ability of the person who is at the helm. The general feeling is that an elected PM is put in that position by the voting public (again, i concede this is not techincally correct) so the public are understandbly upset if that person is overthrow during the course of government. Its almost paramount to the offending party saying to the Australain people “i know you voted this person to lead Australia, but we are going to throw him out based on our opinion, you lot can go and jump”

      Abbott summed it up best during the campaign when he said something along the line of “the leader of the oposion is put thier by the party, the leader of the governemnt is put there by the people”...i think this sums it up well. I didnt vote for Kevy, but i feel part of the Nation that elected him, he was OUR PM, so personally i was peeved when the ALP overthrew him.

      Anyway, just my 2c

    • PJC says:

      12:06pm | 17/09/10

      “Rosie, this is the fundamental difference between conservatives and socialists”

      Scarmeck & Sven Gali difference between class & arse!

    • Sven Gali says:

      12:14pm | 17/09/10

      Hear, hear, PJC.

    • Scarneck says:

      12:18pm | 17/09/10

      Mike T@11:28   I usually vote (and I’ve voted in many) for whoever I believe is the least loony candidate in my electorate , this election was the first time that I was swayed by the leaders, there was no way known I could have voted for Abbott, so the Liberal candidate in my electorate took the brunt.  I normally swing but not this time wink

    • mickijo says:

      02:00pm | 19/09/10

      There is no pride in the ALP, only naked ambition.

    • Dash says:

      08:30am | 17/09/10

      So we have to contend with another three years of Kevin bloody Rudd and his fake cardboard cut-out diplomacy! Fantastic! And the election lies are already flowing from Labor. Gillard during the election campaign said “there will be no carbon tax”. Yesterday we see that is a huge lie and she’s working on it with the loony greens. Add it to the multitude of lies from the ‘07 campaign. The cost of carbon will flow to the public and inflation will go through the roof. Where are all the idiots who voted for their power prices to rise and rise and rise! It seems the ALP can say what it likes and the electorate wont hold them accountable. The NBN is a fraud of the highest magnitude. We have a government for the minority by the minority. The education revolution is so important now we don’t even have an education minister and we have the most left leaning government in our history with a pack of loony greens who want to decriminalise drugs, open our borders, tax the hell out of successsful hardworking Australians and force up the cost of living so that we can make not a powder puff of difference to the worlds environmental position. This country is being run by inept, corrupt politics and ideological nonsense. NSW is coming to a state near you!

      Reply

    • Nicole says:

      09:45am | 17/09/10

      @Dash, three more excruciating years of Labor and Rudd. What a depressing thought. On the flip side, the circus is bigger and the clowns are funny to watch. So even though it will cost us dearly and screw the country even more, at least it’s going to be entertaining. But I don’t think we’ll have three years of it, because the cracks are starting to appear already and they will implode sooner rather than later. We’ll be back to the polls with in twelve months. Thank God.

    • Against the Man says:

      11:02am | 18/09/10

      More like 6 months for a new election. Gillard has already stated she won’t keep her pre-elections promises, blah, blah. No surprises huh? The ALP and Independents are gonna get trashed in the next polls HEEHAA!

    • Macca says:

      08:31am | 17/09/10

      I see this as another example of the ALP underestimating someone.

      The didn’t take into consideration the impact Rudd’s removal as PM.
      They have continually stated, and continual to believe, that Tony Abbott is unelectable
      And they have now underestimated the power and influence of Kevin Rudd, in a party where nobody likes him. He has no factional support and apparently no backers when it came to the leadership challenge. His party thought he was so useless he was removed as PM in less than a single term. And this man is now Foreign Minister.

      Reply

    • The Badger says:

      12:15pm | 17/09/10

      Gee macca
      you are reading a lot into the machinations of the ALP. Are you one of the “faceless men” in the know?
      I suggest that the people were angry over the removal of Kevin Rudd, not because he was “useless”, but because they believed in what he was doing and wanted him to finish the job. A point of view you won’t get in your Murdoch press.
      I also believe that Tony Abbott is unelectable and he has yet to prove me wrong.

    • TimB says:

      12:46pm | 17/09/10

      Tony gaining the votes of basically half of Australia proves you wrong Badger. At least it proves you wrong by any reasonable definition of the word “unelectable”.

    • Mike T says:

      01:03pm | 17/09/10

      @ Badger…

      you are right he is yet to prove you wrong, but to say that somone that came within a wisker is unelectable is a bit silly. The fact he came so close is prof that is possible that the country will elect him given another election.

    • Scarneck says:

      01:30pm | 17/09/10

      I agree Badger. Abbott couldn’t beat ‘the worst government this country has ever had’ (Abbotts own words) so who can he beat?  I think most people realise that the best asset the ALP had through the election campaign was Abbott himself.

    • Ben81 says:

      02:11pm | 17/09/10

      I can understand the whole “Labor’s best asset” thing at the time Tony Abbott took over the Liberal leadershi[p, Kevin Rudd was supposed to wipe the floor with him, no chance in hell he can win such a huge amount of seats against Labor in their first term etc etc, but doesn’t it make you feel a bit desperate to keep parroting that line now Scarneck?  You’d be kidding yourself to say he did any worse than Julia Gillard, and really kidding yourself when you consider the scale of that task..

    • Mike t says:

      08:51am | 17/09/10

      It is going to interesting to see how Julia Managers Kevy over the next few years…. His distain towards her is very obvious i dont see him as the type to let sleeping dogs lie!!

      Suicical as it may be, i see him challenging again at some point, possible if the public view of JG turns sour (more so then it is now).

      Like many o the deals JG did to form power, it may work out well, but it also has the potential to bite her untanned back side…...

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      11:13pm | 17/09/10

      Scarneck, Abbott did very well during the election campaign.  He didn’t shoot himself in the foot even once!  Perhaps the weapons of the Lib factions which were trained on his back, were a great incentive to excel?

    • jg says:

      09:00am | 17/09/10

      Rudd is one very, very strange man.

      Reply

    • John Goslino says:

      09:02am | 17/09/10

      Agree a tad with Denny Crane, Rudd may have more scope to do what he wants to do now and set himself up for future opportunities.  However, as he won’t wield as much influence overall and in the context of his drive for a mining super profits tax etc, we can appreciate the compromise ministerial deal that gives him an important portfolio but takes him out of national terrestrial matters.  As a non-factionally aligned member, that is a pretty good outcome.  It’s also sad he was forced - to some degree - to back down on some initiatives, and again, we are left with inadequate compromises and policy gaps.  I tend to think Labor would have struggled to get over the election line with him as leader given the voter angst over different matters and the leadership vacuum before we he was dumped, but as we see now, many responsible for poor policy implementation inc. Julia have been rewarded in the wash-up.  Despite his flaws, Rudd still appeals as more of a personable leader than Julia (or Tony), we hope he shows that on the foreign policy arena and helps to achieve better outcomes for his country and its neighbours, not least with China.

      Reply

    • Andrew says:

      12:53pm | 17/09/10

      I think it’s worth looking back at some not to distant history here.
      Didn’t Lord downer once head up (albeit briefly) the Coalition as leader of the Liberal Party.
      I seem to recall he got rolled in a leadership shoot out and he also went on to become Foreign Minister - not sure if he was any good or not but seemed reasonably competent.
      Why is this such a remarkable occurance to so many?

    • Mike T says:

      01:06pm | 17/09/10

      @ Andrew

      Basically becasuse downer wasnt our PM…...

    • yofussn says:

      09:07am | 17/09/10

      Our poor ole Kevie,  at his press club interview he appeared overly contrite, talking in that I’m a magnificently brilliant individual that can talk my way out of a sealed cement tomb, as he usually does,  bordering on bitter & twisted in his summation of labor keeping scourge of the earth mr Abbot from gaining office. Did he ever have any real idea what he was doing when he first gained office so much so that he had to have a citizens assembly to come up with ideas?!  Alas, dont suppose anyone could blame him as the way over the top smug & smirkiness of Howard & Costello treating them like a complete joke would no doubt have left the now obvious ways of the oh so superior labor attack dog holier than thou henchmen to never forget the turning of the tables,  henceforth the bitterness that seems to rule both roosts.

      Reply

    • jb says:

      09:21am | 17/09/10

      Shouldn’t our foreign minister be sorting out the east Timor solution for the asylum seekers and not gallivanting around the US of A?
      job interview over there Kev?
      did he fly commercial or take Raf 1?

      Reply

    • Scarneck says:

      10:48am | 17/09/10

      jb@09:21. Kevin Rudd is representing Australia at a UN General Assembly meeting as well as attending three other high level international meetings…this is NOT gallivanting around the US of A you clown.

    • jb says:

      04:31pm | 17/09/10

      well sorry but it is gallivanting around when his first job is to look after the east Timor solution NOT shaking hands with UN delegates.
      Kevie never gave a crap for Australia and its fools like you scarface that probably would have voted for him again.
      selfish fools like you…

    • Gregg says:

      08:55pm | 17/09/10

      @ Carrying Scars,
      Sime commonsense prevailing would have easily come up with an appraisal that Australia and Kevolemon will have SFA influence on whatever is being discussed by the UN or at any other high level meetings whereas the overcrowding with asylum seekers is at supercritical levels.
      Best to fix up your own backyrad before you go for a stroll in the park somewhere so who’s the clown clown!

    • Amy says:

      09:59am | 17/09/10

      Really Joe?  You don’t think ‘Objective 1’ was merely a means of getting to ‘Objective 2’?  I thought the timing of the leaks ending and Kev’s return to the Labor campaign was pretty obvious…

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      10:09am | 17/09/10

      Love it. Why shouldn’t he get what he wants? He was ambushed by that knifing. He didn’t even have the oportunity of a few days to state his case to the party. PM’s deserve better, this is what I call karma. And let’s be honest, after that campaing we experienced, did either party really deserve a mandate for anything? If Kevin Rudd wanted too he could have taken ex-Priministarial perks, his 4 staff, airline gold pass, probably an office or two and live off the taxpayer all his life.

      Good one him as far i’m concerned. He knows the environment his in, it’s about party games and not about country…

      Reply

    • Shama says:

      10:47am | 17/09/10

      Though widely referred to as the knifing, Labor must have had compelling reasons to dump Rudd, I don’t think its simply the faceless men etc.

      Its like the guy who has a good public face and is the image of the company but creates havoc in the office and really most people can’t wait to see him go. And Rudd clearly has a nuisance value as his current assignment shows much like the guys who are given huge payouts just to leave. 

      Pity the tanty meant Stephen Smith had to move.

      Reply

    • Scarneck says:

      02:36pm | 17/09/10

      I think they were simply spooked by the polls Shama, you could be right about nuisance value…the foreign affairs minister does spend more time overseas than other MP’s wink Don’t worry about Stephen Smith, I too admire him, he still holds one of the more important portfolios.

    • Sven Gali says:

      11:07am | 17/09/10

      Hilarious, Joe. Thanks for the early start to the weeknd, made that much better by the comments from Coalition supporters demonstrating that they still haven’t regained their sense of humour. If they ever had one.

      Reply

    • Clem says:

      11:43am | 17/09/10

      Kevin Rudd is Travis Bickle in Yacksy Driver.

      [TRAVIS stands in the middle of his apartment, staring in the mirror.  His eyes are glazed with introspection; he sees nothing but himself]

      Are you addressing me?
      Are you addressing me?
      Then who on God’s Earth are you engaging in an establishment of dialogue and open discourse with - are you addressing me?
      Well fair shake of the saucebottle, mate, I’m the only one in the chamber.
      So who, with respect, do you think you’re fiddle-faddling with?
      Is that affirmative?
      Can I just say this, here is a man who would not take it anymore.
      Here is a man, Mr Speaker, who gave it his ALL, who stood up for a natural complementarity between the two philosophical approaches, who engaged the community in the development of an ambitious long-term national strategic plan with accompanying benchmarks and measurable outcomes….
      Here is someone who stood up… stood up to the lectern, frankly, when his nation needed him most.
      Here is…
      You’re dead, amigo. Adios.

      Reply

    • Richard says:

      02:11pm | 17/09/10

      bwhaha! great job ^^ and great OP by Joe too smile

    • nosthow says:

      11:49am | 17/09/10

      It is true Labor suffered at the polls Joe over the Rudd affair and gave away quite a number of seats to a party with no policies and no vision for the future. Abbott stood flatfooted and the wave washed over his undeserving body. Come next election if Abbott is still leader of the Liberals he will have to actually fight a true election campaign against a re-vitalised and resurgent Labor Party. Needless to say he is not the man for that type of job. Meanwhile Kevin747 is getting on with life in the Gillard Labor government.

      Reply

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      08:11pm | 17/09/10

      nosthow :  ” .....against a re-vitalised and resurgent Labor party. “
      Ha heh heh heh heh haw haw , you really are a clown nosthow. !
      ” Meanwhile Kevin 747 is getting on with life in the Gillard Labor government. ”  hee hee haw ha hah ah heh heh. Stop it nosthow . !
      This is just too much. !
      Seriously buddy , Labor will be seriously damaged as a force in the political sense , after they are defeated on the floor of the House .
      Kevin 747 Rudd is laughing all the way to the U.S.A. , getting on with his love of international limelight , knowing that he has a firm grip on the political balls of the Labor party.

    • Joe Blow says:

      12:14pm | 17/09/10

      So a guy who doesn’t believe in off-shore processing is in charge of negotiating the East Timor Solution on behalf of the person who knifed him? 

      Western Australia may as well start building it’s own new processing centre today, coz east Timor will never happen!!

      Reply

    • Mike T says:

      01:09pm | 17/09/10

      Joe, everyone including Julie knew this would never happen from day one!!!

      Just another ALP lie to get across the line….....

    • Sally says:

      01:16pm | 17/09/10

      I still remember watching Mr Rudd crying on TV when he was telling the world his party did not want him as leader. But in the background I could see the impact and pain it was causing his family. Rudd has to unleash his wrath on the Gillard/ALP machine because they didn’t just knife him they hurt his family as well. That is more than just a personal attack and Rudd has to prove himself worth of more.

      Reply

    • Kelly says:

      02:05pm | 17/09/10

      Oh I think the pain on Therese’s face was the prospect of moving back to Norman Park ....

    • Against the Man says:

      09:47pm | 17/09/10

      Dude this guy was the millionaire PM and yet he was stiffed by our current fake PM. The guy has no guts to stand up to Gillard, maybe a stewardess on a plane but not to a powerful women like Gillard. Tail between his legs and away we goooooooooooooooo!

    • mickijo says:

      03:06pm | 19/09/10

      Will Kevin ooo collect an ex PM’s pension as well as his boodle for his present position?

    • Chris Ahern says:

      01:19pm | 17/09/10

      Kevin Rudd seems to be oblivious to humiliation.  He also seems to operate in his own world of grand delusions (ie “I have worked for years to build up this country”).  Every move or spending of taxpayers money is to try and big-note himself.  I strongly believe a person with his personality problems should not be in a position of authority.  I think he is mentally unsound.

      Reply

    • Bob H says:

      02:24pm | 17/09/10

      @Chris - you are correct but if you were to use “personality problems”  as a yardstick there would be no politicians left.

    • acotrel says:

      11:18pm | 17/09/10

      ‘I strongly believe a person with his personality problems should not be in a position of authority.  I think he is mentally unsound. ‘

        I wonder who he is talking about - Kevvy or Tones? Tones was the reason for the jibe -’ the coalition, - nasty one day nastier the next!’  I think he’ll do himself an injury!

    • nosthow says:

      07:44pm | 17/09/10

      One of the funniest comments i see Coalition desperates making time and again is “we will be back at the polls in 12 months” - poor little sods. In 12 months time Abbotts PPM rating will be hovering in the teens - the great white hope already lags 12 points behind Gillard as of the start of this week so its all downhill for Tones from here. Hell be able to chat to Malcolm about what its like to rate in the teens - he may even excel and reach single didgits - oh yeah ! “How low can Tony Go”

      Reply

    • Gregg says:

      09:08pm | 17/09/10

      ” However it was obviously pointed out to him at some point during the campaign - let’s call it the point where Laurie Oakes’s phone stopped ringing - that if Objective One was realised he would not be foreign minister and get a nice UN posting.

      And so he formed Objective Two: that the ALP wins and he gets to blow Australia to become secretary-general and leave those snivelling ingrates behind. “
      That sums up his motives totally and a bit of luck has run his way .

      He is one very sick individual and as Chris Ahern has indicated is mentally unsound to be in any position of authority, there being plenty of examples about:
      . rants in parliament and though you can say they all do it, Rudd was really something else, often on the verge of frothing.
      . similar outbursts outside of parliament it would seem, on his own ministers, turn-over of staff exceedingly high, at an AF hostie and then the Rat F@#$#rs incident at Hopenhagen and this guy is chosen to take on a PR role!
      . his indecision, inability to delegate/negotiate and ultimately dictatorial approach was just the worst of leadership anyone could want and if he is not unsound of mind he is sure of limited ability that he continually has to strive to cover up.

      Reply

    • Daniel says:

      09:19pm | 17/09/10

      I miss Kevin and the way he was treated by the sussex st factional lords was not right but the media made more out of this than he did. Kevin and Julia know how the ALP factions all wrk. They are all the same organization. The media needs to get real.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      11:05pm | 17/09/10

      There was an apt comment in today’s newspaper - ’ the coalition, - nasty one day, nastier the next!”

      Reply

    • Now Let Me Say This says:

      07:43am | 18/09/10

      Now let me say this, as long as the Rudd stops saying “now let me say this”, he can be allowd back into the country

      Reply

    • Trying to have a fair go says:

      07:42pm | 18/09/10

      Even writing this article raises the profile of this cretinous mass of greed and foolishness. Rudd is just as greedy and jealous as JG. They both have communism as their base philosophy because it’s easy; not because they truly believe in its application.

      Unbelievable that we continue to compliment him when he shamed Australia so much in such a short amount of time. I, for one, will rue the day he ever became “leader” - my business has not struggled as much since Paul Keating was “leader”. These men (& JG) do not understand the nature of business, they do not recognise the benefits of small business and land ownership to Australians. The sooner Rudd, Burke, Swan & Shorten are gone, the better for us all.

      Reply

    • Ron says:

      05:46pm | 20/09/10

      I’d am frightened of what Kev. will say behind closed doors. Julia will be giving him instructions on the one hand, but I doubt that they will be repeated in the same manner by this person whom I think is of unsound mind. I’m willing to bet that he will be the person to bring down this Government before this term has expired, but not before he has wrangled himself a great job with the U.N. Will be interesting to see how Clinton and Gates enjoy dinner at the Lodge with Julia and the defacto. I wonder if Kev arranged this just to cause some embarrassment to us.
      Ron,Sylvania.

      Reply
 
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