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Rudd's spectacular fall from grace

Posted by: 3AW Radio | 24 June, 2010 - 8:54 AM

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ABOVE: Neil prepares to 'farewell' Kevin Rudd today.

VIDEO BELOW: Neil Mitchell says 'soon to be ousted' Prime Minister Kevin Rudd only has himself to blame after an unprecedented fall from grace.

'Kev from Queensland' is around an hour away from being ousted as Australia's leader as this video goes live.

Neil Mitchell editorial Rudd blew it – spectacularly

Good morning!  OK start the countdown, launch the rockets.  This is only a couple of weeks ago.

(Julia Gillard Interview plays - listen above)

Neil: So will you promise you will not be leader at the next federal election?

Julia: Oh absolutely! (Laughs freely). Oh Neil, this is, this is, you know, it makes good copy for newspapers but it, it is not within cooee of my day-to-day reality.  You may as well ask me am I anticipating taking a trip to Mars, ah no I’m not Neil.

Return to editorial:

Julia Gillard will be on her way to Mars within the hour!  It’s my information; she is going to win easily – she’s got as many as 70 votes.  There’s even an outside possibility some of her supporters are hoping Kevin Rudd will not even contest the leadership.  If he knows that he is beaten that’d be the sensible thing to do to minimise damage to the party.  But he is not known for putting the party ahead of himself.

I want you to part of it all morning.  It’s going to be a very dramatic morning.  Give me a call.  The meeting starts at 9:00am, I think we’ll have a result fairly soon after, I think the result will be Julia Gillard as Australia’s first female Prime Minister.  I’ve sent her a text message today saying “see you on Mars” and I hope we can speak to her at some stage.

Look there’s a lot to say here, it’s been an extraordinary 12 hours.  It’s almost unprecedented for a Prime Minister to be rolled in his first term, rolled from the Party benches not the cabinet.  This was engineered by the Right Wing of the Party and the Australian Workers Union and former Secretary Bill Shorten a Victorian was in the middle of it.  But it is all Kevin Rudd’s fault!   In very simple terms – it is his fault!  A very very senior Labour man said to me this week, “Kevin Rudd has trashed the brand, he has trashed the brand”.  So the caucus faces a decision; under Kevin Rudd, Labour will be annihilated at a federal election.  Under Julia Gillard they’ve got a chance, just a chance of winning.  Rudd has brought this on himself with his arrogance, his refusal to consult, the fact that he is controlling nature, his ability to connect with voters, and this perception that we the people just don’t know who he is!  He’s blown it all by himself and he has blown it in spectacular fashion.

If he had performed over the past two years as he did in his press conference last night, this would not be happening.  He was angry, he was direct.  For heaven's sake you could understand what he was talking about!  He was believable.  It looked like a real man not a contrived, artificial, self-serving smarmy person we, or you have rejected.

Now I know the Labour caucus is unpredictable and Kevin Rudd was campaigning last night.  In his press conference he was chasing the left; on asylum seekers, he promised he wouldn’t move to the right, emissions trading he promised action.  He would have worked hard all night, but logic says he is finished; Julia Gillard will be on Mars; she’ll be played full forward for the doggies and she can thank the union movement for putting her there.  They brought it to a head, not the left-wing unions the right-wing.

So for the real world, what’ll change?  Well, they will do a deal quickly on mining tax, they’ll steer a different line on asylum seekers but the most basic plus that Labour sees from this; if Julia Gillard wins, they’ve got rid of their biggest problem – Kevin Rudd!

Gillard promised not to lead

Julia Gillard On May 10, not that long ago really, Julia Gillard made the strongest possible assertions she would not lead the Labor Party into the next election. Certainly not calling her a liar, but it appears she may have been wrong.

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Blog comments Your Say

  • What has Julia done?
    People Julia had a lot to do with the labour party's winning also, people try to remember that a TEAM is to plan together for the better outcome,members have a right to object to what,how and when, even if there is a leader ,the leader cannot decide by himself, team members have equal rights to contribute their theory and they have to decide on it together, especially when that team is running under ademocratic principle. I am sure that there was a reason for electing Julia as a deputy prime minister everybody knows the duty that comes with this title. Also most of us knows that not to trust the media's whirly wind therefore it's not Julia's fault that other labour premiers were prosecuting the prime minister for grabbing the mining companies by their balls it was a TEAM decision to go ahead with it, people who making it out that the prime minister was a one man's team; in that case was a dictator?
    Kevin Rudd is not a strong leader he has given up on all of us, not just on his team he could of kept his eye on the media to figure out what they are up to, instead, he chucked a tantrum like a little kid, So, men and women please don't be prejudice against Ms Julia Gillard, just because she is a woman. All these negative comments that coming from the media again tries to do the exact same thing that they did to Kevin Rudd that is lose self-esteem and create paranoia among the team members .
    I wish you all the best Julia Gillard and for your team let's prove that you are here for our future.

    Sweetpea Friday 25 June, 2010 - 8:19 PM
  • We do NOT vote for the leader, we vote for the party.

    The ALP has blown it big time by not standing up to the media misrepresentations and beat up, and the slithering slimy mining magnates instead choosing to stab the leader that actually has achieved more than is credited due to media bias.

    If they dont have the guts and backbone to do the hard slog they are a waste of space and can never be trusted in government.

    So regardless of Julias capabilities we arent going to find out as who would be stupid enough to trust that gutless pack of backstabbers to do the best for the country, they would roll over after a couple of negative polls, wimps.

    If you want a cushy job, stand as an independant in any labor seat, good chance you might get in.
    You wont have much influence in an overwhelming liberal majority, but it has its perks and will be the experience of a lifetime, you may even keep the job for life

    John Philip Friday 25 June, 2010 - 7:59 PM
  • The coalition doesn't have to do anything.
    Apart from those feminists blathering over Julia being a female.
    There are so many dyed in the wool and swinging voters who refuse to ever vote for a pack of gutless wimps again no matter what spin the media and the parties put on it.
    The media, big business and the mining companies achieved their unstated goal of a fawning permanent pet Liberal government that will provide a desperate cheap workforce and allow them to import their skilled workers. Bad luck for small business, cheap labour with no OHS or restrictions on dismissal counts for nothing with no customers that can afford you

    What is done is done

    Good luck

    John Philip Friday 25 June, 2010 - 7:43 PM
  • After all Hitler was focussed on destroying the power of the unions, communism and all opposition
    He supported the church
    He supported business
    He had the devoted support of the world and American media, Randolph Hearst fawned over him, he was named man of the year
    He had the support of world wide elite and businessmen such as Henry Ford etc etc who funded the meteoric transformation of Germany
    He replaced unions with work contracts and an oversight body to look after workers interests and sent unionists to the concentration camps
    He had companies such as US steel provide the banned for Germany technology to produce the steel for his Panzer tanks
    Also Rockefellas Standard Oil provide the banned for Germany secret technology to produce leaded petrol to power the Panzers.
    Both technologies advanced over that available to the allies

    Sounding familiar in many ways

    John Philip Friday 25 June, 2010 - 7:36 PM
  • Rudd and the Labor Government had to take decisive and rapid action to save Australia from a severe recession Jobs were saved, priorities changed, mistakes made. The Libs couldn't have done the job with their ideology.
    The media has destroyed a decent viable NBN and saved their advertising base and shareholders dividends for now, by their constant beat ups manipulating pubic opinion. Now act is if they had nothing to do with it all and hype up the female Prime minister expecting the mug public to be fooled again. Think again
    The gutless wimpy ALP showed they dont have it to lead a country and take the hard decisions, fold at the first opposition. ALP MP's better plan for new careers

    John Philip Friday 25 June, 2010 - 7:33 PM
  • couldnt stand keven rudd but he didnt deserve to become knifed in the back buy gillard .i wont being voting for her

    tanya goss Friday 25 June, 2010 - 2:59 AM

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