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| Kevin Rudd challenges Julia Gillard for leadership of Australia | Kevin Rudd challenges Julia Gillard for leadership of Australia |
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| Australia's former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced he will challenge Julia Gillard for leadership of the Labor party and the country amid a bitter and escalating power struggle. | |
| Prime Minister Julia Gillard is planning a party leadership ballot for Monday in an effort to knock down Rudd's ambitions to return to power. /> />Gillard ousted Rudd as prime minister in June 2010 in an internal party coup, and their centre-left Labor Party scraped through elections later that year to lead a minority government. | |
| "Rightly or wrongly, Julia has lost the trust of the Australian people (and) that's why I've decided to contest the leadership," Rudd said. /> />He said if he did not run, Labor would lose the next election, due in 2013. /> />"All indications are that we are heading to the rocks," he said. /> />Rudd resigned as foreign minister during a trip to the US earlier this week, saying he could not continue in his role without the support of the prime minister. | |
| Arriving back in Australia on Friday he confirmed that if he did not win the leadership contest on Monday, he would return to the backbench and not challenge a second time. In an afternoon press conference in Brisbane he said wanted to continue the work he had done as prime minister. /> />"I want to finish the job the Australian people elected me to do when I was elected by them to become prime minister," he said. /> />"The governments problems as they have accumulated are of their own makings," he said, adding that during his time as prime minister, his opinion poll ratings only once fell below 50%. The current government's primary vote is languishing at around 30%. /> />Earlier, Julia Gillard accused Rudd of trying to turn the leadership contest into a personality contest. /> />"This is not an episode of Celebrity Big Brother, this is about who should be prime minister," she said. /> />"As prime minister I have got big reforms done that languished under my predecessor" she added. /> />She said they included the introduction of a price on carbon, a tax on the mining and resources industry, a national broadband network and health reform. Ironically there are very few policy differences on these issues between the two candidates. /> />Gillard supporters have continued to attack Kevin Rudd, accusing him of trying to destabilise the government over the past year. Others said they would not serve under him. /> />"I doubt I would be asked, but I wouldn't accept if I was," said attorney general, Nicola Roxon. /> />"I don't believe he will win on Monday. I don't believe I will be a member of his team if he did," said environment and sustainability minister, Tony Burke. | |
| One Gillard supporter accused Rudd of using Tea Party tactics by appealing to the electorate to use their power in the leadership contest. /> />"Pick up your telephone, speak to your local members of parliament. Tell them what you think," Rudd said. /> />Three ministers have come out in support of Rudd publicly. The now housing minister and former attorney general under Rudd, Robert McClelland, said people just needed to look at Kevin Rudd's standing in the polls to see who was best placed to win the next election. /> />"The reality is that we have been effectively flat-lining in support (under Gillard)" he said. /> />The conservative opposition has called for an election. | |