The Fairfax pro-Julia juggernaut has already started to leak the more nefarious of Kevin Rudd’s personality weaknesses. And there are plenty yet to be disclosed.
Three years ago Rudd had taken Labor to such lows that he had to be replaced and now that he has been returned, what has changed?
Nothing really, despite his assurance that he is a new man, but a man who has reached the age of 30 does not change.
There was such antagonism toward Gillard that, after his re-election, a momentary boost in Rudd’s polling had to be expected.
This is certainly the peak of polling success for Rudd, it will be downhill from here.
I struggle to find a word that encompasses Rudd. He has so many flaws, but just plain “nasty” will do.
A person like Kevin Rudd gathers many enemies and the most virulent sit directly behind him, embittered and bubbling over with enmity. His back is bared.
Labor’s Caucus is now divided into three: Those who are emotionally Gillard, those who are pragmatically Rudd and those who readily accepted 30 pieces of silver.
Loyalty means little in Labor. Witness Gillard’s most loyal lieutenants Shorten and the confused Judas, Penny Wong... when the going got tough the tough got the hell out of there, leaving her without so much as a consoling word.
She sat forlorn on a back bench. Only Oakeshott stood her friend while Rudd and his co-conspirators joyfully and openly shared the spoils.
This is the calibre of, and the lack of decency in, the Labor Party of today.
My animus for Gillard was clear, and hers for me, but I know I would have put an arm around her and offered a word of comfort.
So where were her former comrades? Traipsing to The Lodge to assist in packing up? No, they were gallivanting around Parliament House celebrating their resignations. This is not the solidarity of the Labor Party of old.
Those who have refused to serve under Rudd will be the source of leaked tales of treachery and grift. What have they to lose? It is exactly what Rudd did to them to undermine their Julia.
Their political careers are finished anyway and very few corporate positions are available to ex-unionists.
The idle hands of Labor’s loose cannons will ensure Rudd’s run is a bumpy one.
If a choice had to be made between Gillard and Rudd, it was not made in Australia’s interests, it was made only in the interests of Labor politicians.
Rudd has been an incompetent, malignant cancer within the Party, Julia has been a symbol of all that is un-Australian.
But there is little to choose between the two, together they have brought Labor to its knees.
