G20

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As speculation mounts that ousted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will become the new Foreign Minister, is there a better role out there for him in the world?

Kevin Rudd was known for appointing politicians of both sides to important positions overseas.

He shipped former Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson off to Brussels as an Ambassador when he was discarded as Opposition Leader. At the same time Kim Beazley who he knocked off as leader was predictably sent packing for the plum job in Washington.

Continue reading "What in the world can Kevin Rudd do now?" »

Well he did secure press coverage saying things like “centre of world gravity just moved closer to Australia” and headlines such as Triumphant Rudd leaves as Obama battles on, so it’s no surprise the Prime Minister is looking like he’s just been told Christmas is coming twice this year.

This set of photos were taken by News Ltd’s Kym Smith at the “family photo” gathering after the Pittsburgh G20 summit, which you can read more about here, here and here.

But have a look at the rest of the pics after the jump - in every one, Kevin Rudd has a grin that looks like it was painted on with a roller brush. Enter your captions and explanations in the comments.

Continue reading "The G20 leaders walk into a bar. Who smiles the most?" »

SOME Australian voters might view their prime minister as a process-driven, even slightly nerdy, policy wonk but he is in fact a fun guy according to his German counterpart, Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

Speaking after the two met in the fabulously large yet sparingly furnished Chancellery - said to be the largest government headquarters building in the world - Dr Merkel described the process of dealing with Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd and the Australian Government as ``a lot of fun’‘.

The clean lines and huge scale of the Chancellery building, itself a monument to Germanic excellence in design and architectural boldness, seemed a perfect counter-balance as the two heads of government fairly droned on in the all-too-familiar monotonal language of power-politics. But despite Mr Rudd lasping briefly into the most technical of bureacratese with a reference to ``programatic specificity’‘, (which as the name suggests, means bugger-all) Dr Merkel said, the issues and challenges made the relationship enjoyable.

``It’s actually a lot of fun to work together,’’ she said welcoming Mr Rudd formally to her country.

Continue reading "Fun-loving Germans say Kev’s the life of the party" »