This is something that all Christians (and people of other faiths and none) should listen to. Well done Kevin Rudd! His reasoning is a joy to listen to. – © Mark Alexander
Showing posts with label Kevin Rudd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kevin Rudd. Show all posts
Monday, October 31, 2022
Kevin Rudd Launched a Passionate Defence of Gay Marriage in 2013
This is something that all Christians (and people of other faiths and none) should listen to. Well done Kevin Rudd! His reasoning is a joy to listen to. – © Mark Alexander
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Kevin Rudd Quits Politics
Kevin Rudd, who served twice as prime minister of Australia, has made an emotional departure from politics after finally conceding that "enough is enough".
Following his decision to step down as Labor leader on election night in September, Mr Rudd said in parliament that he will quit as an MP at the end of this week.
"The decision that I have made has not been taken lightly," he said, pausing to fight back tears.
"This has been the product of much soul-searching for us as a family over the last few months."
Mr Rudd, 56, was one of the country's most popular ever prime ministers but was forced to endure the shame of being deposed by his colleagues before completing a first term. » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Friday, September 06, 2013
Conservatives Poised to Win Australian Votes
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
Parlamentswahlen: Australier wählen: "Dr. Death" oder "Dr. No"?
Beide Politiker teilen gerne aus, besonders im Wahlkampf. Rudd sei "dünnhäutig", lästert Abbott, und verliert in einer Debatte dann kurzzeitig selbst die Contenance: "Hält der Kerl irgendwann auch mal die Klappe?", schnauzt er in Brisbane, als Rudd das Mikrofon nur für sich beansprucht. Abbott sei "arrogant", hält Rudd dagegen. "Er leidet wohl an Gedächtnisschwund", sagt er abfällig an anderer Stelle. » | AG/red | Dienstag, 03. September 2013
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
Australia Ready for Gay Marriage, Says Kevin Rudd
The Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has launched an impassioned defence of same-sex marriage just days before the general election, telling a current affairs programme that his position is compatible with his Christian faith and the New Testament's message of universal love.
Challenged by a pastor on a Q&A programme on Monday night as to why as a Christian he did not follow the teaching of the Bible, that marriage was between a man and a woman, Rudd replied: "If I was going to have that view, the Bible also says that slavery is a natural condition because St Paul said in the New Testament 'slaves be obedient to your masters', and therefore we should all have fought for the confederacy in the US civil war." » Lenore Taylor in Canberra | Tuesday, September 03, 2013
Related video »
Kevin Rudd Launches Passionate Defence of Gay Marriage
Monday, July 15, 2013
Exclusive: Rudd's Sister Wants Putin-style Homosexuality Ban
Loree Rudd - who says she is unlikely to help her brother on election day because she opposes his support for gay marriage - believes the maverick Russian leader's hardline view on homosexuality is more enlightened than Western leaders.
"It's like he (Putin) can see the problem ahead," Ms Rudd, 62, who has just returned from a visit to Russia, said.
"I think that there should be a law (in Australia) protecting children from the propaganda of homosexuality as normal. They're trying to build their family life and structure in Russia and people in the West don't seem to understand our family life and structures are breaking down.
"I guess the bottom line, if there's one thing I can say that can't be challenged, it's that society needs to protect its children as best they can." » | Kieran Campbell | News Limited Network | Sunday, July 14, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Monday, February 27, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Gillard remains as Australian prime minister after seeing off party room challenge by 71 votes to 31
Julia Gillard will remain as Australia's prime minister after winning the resounding backing of her Labor party colleagues in a leadership ballot against Kevin Rudd.
The Labor party room voted 71 to 31 to retain Gillard as its leader and therefore as prime minister. It ends a week of vicious bloodletting by Labor parliamentarians, brought to a head with Kevin Rudd's resignation as foreign minister so he could mount a challenge.
"I can assure you that this political drama is over," Gillard told a news conference.
She said the Labor party would now unite and focus on winning the next general election, due in 2013.
"I absolutely believe that united we can win the next election," she said, adding she was impatient to get on with the job.
Gillard's leadership vote was the best result of any Labor leader in a challenge in 30 years. » | Alison Rourke in Sydney | Sunday, February 26, 2012
Play video of Julia Gillard’s speech here
Friday, February 24, 2012
Mr Rudd, dumped as leader in 2010, attacked Ms Gillard as treacherous and untrustworthy and insisted she would not be able to win the next election.
“I want to finish the job the Australian people elected me to do,” he said.
"Rightly or wrongly Julia has lost the trust of the Australian people, and starting on Monday I want to start restoring that trust.”
Mr Rudd, who has higher approval ratings than Ms Gillard, targeted his pitch carefully at his fellow party members, saying that the Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, was “beatable”.
“If we don't change the Labor Party is going to end up in opposition. We will all end up on the backbench. It is time for a reality check for everybody.” » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Australia's leadership crisis has exposed a paralysing dilemma that the ruling Labour party has never been able to resolve: its path to success lies with a leader, Kevin Rudd, who is deeply loathed by his colleagues.
For all his jarring quirks and transparently feigned "blokey-ness", Mr Rudd appears to have connected with the Australian public, while Julia Gillard – with her workaday manner – has not.
For most of his time as prime minister, Mr Rudd enjoyed soaring public approval ratings which kept at bay his party colleagues, who largely regarded him as a selfish and egotistical autocrat. When his polls finally dipped, the party swooped – and Ms Gillard deposed of him in a sudden coup in 2010.
The caucus virtually unanimously backed Ms Gillard – prompting Mr Rudd to resign rather than face the ignominy of a ballot – and seemed to believe it had shaken off a tyrant. The public, however, was surprised to discover that a small group of little-known power brokers had orchestrated the demise of a prime minister they had elected in a landslide. » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The Australian foreign minister has resigned amid an ongoing leadership row, saying he could not continue in his role without the support of the country's prime minister, Julia Gillard.
Kevin Rudd announced his resignation during an early morning news conference in Washington, where he is on official business. The announcement came amid continuing speculation that he planned to seize power from Gillard.
Gillard came to power in an internal Labor party coup in which Rudd was ousted in June 2010. She became only the third Australian prime minister since the second world war [sic] to gain power in this way, and secured a minority government in a subsequent election. » | Associated Press | Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Julia Gillard is poised to face a leadership challenge from the man she ousted as Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, as a feud erupted over the leak of a video recording of him swearing profusely.
Leadership tensions in the ruling Labor party appeared to be nearing their inevitable conclusion on the weekend, with reports that a challenge is likely within two weeks.
The ongoing tussle was exacerbated by the appearance of a leaked video on Youtube showing Mr Rudd swearing profusely in his office while filming a public message as prime minister.
The two-minute video was posted by a user called "HappyVegemiteKR" - a reference to Mr Rudd's repeated claim if asked whether he intends to challenge Ms Gillard, that he is a "happy little vegemite".
But the video triggered a new round of internal ructions, with Mr Rudd accusing Ms Gillard's office of leaking the video – a claim she strenuously denied.
Mr Rudd, now the foreign minister, was ousted in 2010 by Ms Gillard who was forced to form a minority government at the subsequent election.
At the time, Mr Rudd was widely loathed in the party but he is now believed to have support of about a third of MPs who believe Ms Gillard has little chance of winning the next election, due in 2013. » | Jonathan Pearlman, in Sydney | Sunday, February 19, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Friday did not deny a report that she has ordered cabinet ministers not to talk to major newspaper editors in a bid to stamp out leadership speculation.
Ms Gillard heads a fragile Labour coalition government after the party failed to win a majority in the August 2010 election and there is mounting speculation that Kevin Rudd, the former prime minister who is now foreign minister, could challenge her for the top job.
The prime minister removed Mr Rudd in a brutal Labour Party showdown in mid-2010 and the Sydney Daily Telegraph said a gagging order was issued at a cabinet meeting last week to try and hose down further leadership speculation.
The newspaper said ministers must now seek permission from the prime minister's office before any meeting or private talks with senior newspaper figures. » | Friday, February 10, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
With Ms Gillard today using a keynote speech on the economy to try to break the slump in her form, the Regional Development Minister, Simon Crean, went after Mr Rudd yesterday, saying he was not a team player but a prima donna who did not have the numbers to mount a challenge.
''He can't be prime minister again. He's got to accept that,'' Mr Crean said. ''People will not elect as leaders those they don't perceive as team players.'' (+ video) » | Phillip Cooray, Chief Political Correspondent | Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
THE AUSTRALIAN: WIKILEAKS deserves protection, not threats and attacks.
IN 1958 a young Rupert Murdoch, then owner and editor of Adelaide's The News, wrote: "In the race between secrecy and truth, it seems inevitable that truth will always win."
His observation perhaps reflected his father Keith Murdoch's expose that Australian troops were being needlessly sacrificed by incompetent British commanders on the shores of Gallipoli. The British tried to shut him up but Keith Murdoch would not be silenced and his efforts led to the termination of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.
Nearly a century later, WikiLeaks is also fearlessly publishing facts that need to be made public.
I grew up in a Queensland country town where people spoke their minds bluntly. They distrusted big government as something that could be corrupted if not watched carefully. The dark days of corruption in the Queensland government before the Fitzgerald inquiry are testimony to what happens when the politicians gag the media from reporting the truth.
These things have stayed with me. WikiLeaks was created around these core values. The idea, conceived in Australia, was to use internet technologies in new ways to report the truth.
WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?
Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest. WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption.
People have said I am anti-war: for the record, I am not. Sometimes nations need to go to war, and there are just wars. But there is nothing more wrong than a government lying to its people about those wars, then asking these same citizens to put their lives and their taxes on the line for those lies. If a war is justified, then tell the truth and the people will decide whether to support it. Read on and comment >>> Julian Assange | Wednesday, December 08, 2010
BBC: Wikileaks: Australia FM says US to blame, not Assange – Australia's foreign minister has said the US is to blame for the release of thousands of diplomatic cables on Wikileaks, not its Australian founder, Julian Assange. >>> | Wednesday, December 08, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Wikileaks: Kevin Rudd blames US for release of diplomatic cables: Kevin Rudd, the former Australian prime minister, has blamed America for the release of thousands of classified diplomatic cables by Wikileaks and called into question US security measures surrounding confidential information. >>> Bonnie Malkin, Sydney | Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
BRISBANE TIMES: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has left her predecessor Kevin Rudd out of her new cabinet but says she would be ''absolutely delighted'' to see him serve as a senior minister if the government is re-elected.
Ms Gillard unveiled her new cabinet in Canberra this afternoon, with few changes announced to the frontbench. She said Mr Rudd would be accommodated as a senior minister if the Labor government won the next election.
''It is best to have as limited a reshuffle as possible to keep the maximum stability in the team,'' she added. Instead, Ms Gillard has handed her own portfolios of education, employment, workplace relations and social inclusion to former Labor leader Simon Crean.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will take on the added role of Mr Crean's portfolio of trade.
Ms Gillard said Mr Smith had been doing a ‘‘great job’’ as foreign minister.
Ms Gillard said she had spoken to Mr Rudd about his future and he had confirmed he would run for his seat at the next election.
‘‘Consequently what I have said to Kevin Rudd is I would be absolutely delighted to see him serve as a senior cabinet minister in the team if the government is re-elected,’’ she said. Gillard leaves Rudd out of reshuffled cabinet >>> Tim Lester and Phillip Coorey | Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Julia Gillard, a miner's daughter from South Wales, has become Australia's prime minister after a political coup to wrest control of the country from the beleaguered Kevin Rudd.
Julia Gillard, whose family left Barry as "Ten Pound Poms" when she was struck down with pneumonia at the age of five, was installed after the most eventful night in modern Australian politics.
Ms Gillard is the daughter of a coal miner and names Nye Bevan as one of greatest political inspirations. She says her start in life greatly influenced her leftist sensibilities and willingness to fight her corner.
Speaking in Canberra, Ms Gillard, 48, said she had challenged for the prime minister's job because "a good government had lost its way" and she did not want to see cuts in health and education if the opposition Liberal Party won the next election.
Watching their daughter make history by becoming the country's first female prime minister, John and Moira Gillard, who both still speak with thick Welsh accents, said that they were elated, but "mindful of the enormous job ahead of binding the party together."
Despite leaving the Vale of Glamorgan for Adelaide in 1966, Ms Gillard kept in close touch with the Barry community throughout her adolescence.
She returned to Wales when she was sixteen, spelling out her ambitions to her former neighbours during a one-week holiday.
Basil and Mabel Baker, who have known Ms Gillard since she was a baby, said that even as a teenager, she was intensely focused.
"I remember asking her 'So Julia, what do you want to do with your life? I suppose you want to get married and start a family'," Mr Baker, 91, said.
"Quick as a flash, she said to me 'Oh, I don't want to do that. I want a career and I want to get to the top. I've no time for marriage and kids'."
Still unmarried, but in a long-term relationship with hairdresser Tim Mathieson, Ms Gillard has gone on to achieve that goal, and more.
After starting life in a modest two-bedroom terrace in Barry, she now lives in a large home in the Melbourne suburb of Altona, and owns another flat in Canberra. >>> Bonnie Malkin in Sydney | Thursday, June 24, 2010
Related articles here and here
Blodwen took on Kevin, and won! >>>
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Hard-boiled Blodwen speaks >>>
VIDEO: Abbott faces off against Gillard: Mere hours after Julia Gillard is sworn in as the new Prime Minister she faces off against Tony Abbott in question time. >>> | Friday, June 25, 2010
Bloodthirsty Blod >>>
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