What does this man stand for? Who does he stand for?

All we know is that he believes that Australia lost the best PM in the world when his colleagues dumped him for incompetence.

If we subtract the sound bites and platitudes, what vision does Rudd have for Australians that's not based on a negative and contrary assessment of his opponents. What will he do to clean up the mess that he started?

"Working with business" and "Labor values" are cozy, populist and fairly vacuous when there's no accompanying commentary. My problem with Rudd is, that apart from the odd garbled interview, I'm not getting any substance.

Tell me why this mediocre pollie deserves any votes on his own merits - and not on his negative assumptions regarding the opposition?

I reckon I'd have a good case for plagiarism here.

(I know you guys don't necessarily have a sense of humour...so I'll just add that I'm joking above:)

What or who does Kevin Rudd stand for?

Excellent question SM.

Just about everyone seems to want the election to be as soon as possible. But I think that it should be put back as far as possible to give the voters every chance to understand what Rudd (and Abbott) is really up to.

What...does Kevin Rudd stand for? the greater glorification of Kevin, of course.

And the lot of the lesser, mortals in the cabinet and the community is to praise and show reverence.
Poirot , Lexi and Pjack have been early (and exemplary) converts.

Agree there Luddy.

Self interest is the only thing I've ever found as a driving force in him.

Oh dear......

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/kevin-rudd-overtakes-tony-abbott-as-voters-choice-for-prime-minister/story-fnii5s3y-1226671943567

An unfortunate article if you are a Coalition voter Poirot.

"According to the Galaxy poll, taken exclusively for News Limited papers, Mr Rudd is considered the better choice for prime minister by 51 per cent of voters compared with Tony Abbott's 34 per cent."

If I were Rudd, I would go to the polls early.
It doesn't really matter what he stands for, as merely having 'knifed' Gillard has apparently elevated him to hero status!

P,

Deliberately adding a mirror to your thread:

I also see that no one has any idea what Rudd stands for.

SOL

Keen for a dash to the polls at 49-51 2pp. You really are desperate.

Juliar got a 6 point bounce when she knifed Rudd which disappeared in 6 weeks.

Quick answer let the people tell you.
This mornings polls.
Confirmation that has been seen in every poll for years.
They see in him a better more wanted man than Tiny Tony the truth is only them, the voters views matter.
Got to go! raining out side going to zip out and sing in it.

SM,

Yes I realised that....'twas only a joke (would've done the same myself:)

I note a certain disaffection from Suse pertaining to Gillard's demise. That's interesting, because not all Labor voters are happy with Rudd's re-ascendance, especially people who identified mainy with the fact that Gillard was a woman..

For me, it's a touch of poetic justice.

I'm one who's of the opinion that Gillard's coup actually weakened Labor in the 2010 election, despite her initial jump in the polls. There also seemed to be something hugely amiss in Labor's ability to sell itself to the electorate under Gillard.

I suppose, SM, for me it's more of an interest in how this change will affect voting patterns.

I think that most voters are far more shallow in their reasoning than we allow for. Rudd's return even's up the contest - and may even define the choice more clearly for some.

Interesting times.

P,

"I think that most voters are far more shallow in their reasoning than we allow for." God I hope not. Time will tell

Rudd is the new model for Labor. Factionally unaligned, impeccable professional credentials, public service background, rags-to-riches story, devoted to managerialism by rigid process control. He also has a wife who is herself a model for careerist women, although she is far from a feminist in the Gillard mould. Her comments last year about the way women obsess about perfection rather than being pragmatic about outcomes as men are drew lots of outrage from the professional feminist whingers. Let's not forget she is a psychologist by profession, so they could hardly be dismissed out of hand.

In my view the power of the AWU especially and the unions generally is gone. The Emily's Listers are growing more powerful and moving away from the hard left model that Gillard exemplified. They have a new co-convenor in Sen McEwen, who was not facing election this time, and may have lost the opportunity if Gillard had remained and the party had been destroyed as it was undoubtedly going to be. She is third on the ticket in SA.

The model for that group is being revisited and it may yet become a force for genuine equality rather than a vehicle for the personal ambition of the psychopathic Gillard and the bitterness of third-rate genderists like Summers. It would be fascinating to know what discussions are happening behind the scenes. Rudd is grooming his daughter for a political career, so I'm sure that's part of it.

"The model for that group is being revisited and it may yet become a force for genuine equality"

Hope you are right there. I wonder if Rudd has learned anything about the old model in his travels or is he so self obsessed that he can't or won't think about how that plays out in the real world for other people.

R0bert

It's not really surprising that the SA branch was at the forefront of dumping Gillard.

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/06/sa-in-biggest-downturn-since-early-90s-recession/

They're not alone

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/06/where-are-the-job-gains-and-losses/

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/06/abs-job-vacancies-at-post-gfc-low/

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/06/hudson-australian-hiring-intentions-fall/

We need hard-nosed pragmatism and we need productive work to be created. We simply can't afford the free riders and rentseekers to consume what we have left of our national production base.

I hope that Rudd is the person to do it, but if he isn't, then I want the LNP in as soon as possible, because the nation can't take much more.

Emily's List

I can't abide cronyism. Ends do not justify the means.

Besides, the quick-witted and unprincipled are certain to take advantage.

@ Antiseptic / Onthebeach,

I'm going out on a limb here (but as Poirot would say : "It's just an observation")

In principle I am not in agreement with things like Emily's List and affirmative action.BUT, is there evidence that such initiatives are elevating women candidates who are of a lesser calibre to their LNP counterparts. Gauging from the way they handle themselves (on a individual level) in public debates/forums (Q&A etc) they can more than hold the own with the best of the LNP candidates.

Apart from (the usual) cliche examples like Joan Kirner (and even that is debatable)where is the evidence that Emily's List etc gives a leg-up to less capable candidates?

I'm open to correction on this.

Gillard, Roxon, Crossin. Say no more.

If they are indeed changing as I believe, then they may well be a force for some good, but it's probably a moot point anyway if the ALP goes under because of the AWU-WRA affair.

Sorry SPQR, I didn't answer your question, really.

I haven't bothered to compare ALP and LNP women because Emily's list is about competing with ALP men. It also excludes ALP women who are socially conservative, such as Jacinta Collins and even the talented (and shortly to retire) Kate Ellis.

It is that insistence on "the false certainty of consensus" as Eva Cox put it in her 1995 Boyer lecture that I find objectionable and makes it no different to the failed factional model that is at the heart of the ALP's present troubles.

SPQR,

Pretending that Emily's list is other than cronyism and is somehow justified by an alleged 'need for affirmative action' is putting lipstick on a hog. But is affirmative action justified after decades of it and when will it stop? Remembering that the reformist Whitlam government that really kicked affirmative action off came into power in December 1972.

If the political scandals of the past two terms of Labor government demonstrate that favoritism, cronyism and nepotism must be purged from government. State and federal parliaments have been rife with corruption.

Favoritism, Cronyism, and Nepotism by Judy Nadler and Miriam Schulman
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/government_ethics/introduction/cronyism.html

It is damned unacceptable that none of the parties, Labor, LNP and Greens will grasp the nettle, finding it easier and more convenient to wage war on personality. Why is it so?

My

"If the political scandals of the past two terms of Labor government demonstrate that favoritism, cronyism and nepotism must be purged from government. State and federal parliaments have been rife with corruption."

should be,

"The political scandals of the past two terms of Labor government demonstrate that favoritism, cronyism and nepotism must be purged from government. State and federal parliaments have been rife with corruption."

Too little insightful views about Rudd,s re emergence are on display here.
Yes some Labor voters did not like reality taking place.
They had strapped them selves in for to fall from the cliff with Gillard.
But Rudd bought with him the undecided and those like me, sickened by the kick in the guts his knifing was.
He too by his victory put ALP reform back on the front page, we are a better party already because he beat the system.
He in the next few weeks will remove bad policy, replacing them with truly better.
I understand the blackness that SOME are feeling, I have been forced to live with it for 3 years.
Nothing is won yet but if my team was Liberals I would be looking again at Turnbull.

I agree Belly. Turnbull would be far superior to Abbott.
At least he sounds intelligent when he speaks publicly.

I am also relieved that Gillard is gone.
I was getting sick of all the gender related political rubbish.
Now it is just Rudd and Abbott......or whoever!

Poirot
There are many ALP voters and members who do not support Kevin but it has nothing to do with supporting Gillard because she is a woman.

I won't vote either LNP or ALP but frankly it comes down to preferenes and voters still have to pick one over the other.

It is difficult because while I cannot bring myself to vote for Rudd I remind myself that the LNP is the party that endorsed Peter Slipper, Scott Morrison and Cory Bernardi.

I am in the same boat Pelican.
I don't want to vote for either of the main parties either.

But what to do when considering preferences?
I think, at the end of the day, I just can't go with Abbott though...

Pelly and Suse,

I kinda have the feeling that we're now able to move forward. I have no idea why Gillard resonated so negatively with the electorate. She resonated negatively with me also, but that's because her government undertook a few things that I thought ran contrary to Labor principles.

Pelly,

I've been following quite a bit of twitter chatter on Gillard's demise - and I'd have to say, judging from the general consensus, that Gillard being a women and being turfed in the fashion she was, "does" have gender-based connotations for many.

As I said somewhere around here, for me it's a case of poetic justice.

Gillard's ascension crueled the Labor vote in the 2010 election - according to moi.

Poirot, <
"Gillard's ascension crueled the Labor vote in the 2010 election - according to moi."

Yes, according to moi as well!
I think Rudd's ascension has fuelled the labor vote now though...

I am not sure my contribution will be welcome.
I am sure, and unafraid, it will further damage my reputation within both my party and my union.
Arjay may welcome it, because I charge some in my party with conspiracy.
Seen my bleating on and on about reform?
Back when Kevin was given the leadership, SOME came under threat, within both groups, for supporting him.
Old hatred of the mans reforms and time serving an ALP Premier in QLD lead the hate Kevin thing.
He did get rude and cranky, *not one tried to tell him*
A trap was set, not based on polls but old hate and new ambition, to remove him.
Dirty stuff? yes for sure but now his return is not just better polling.
But do not fear every leaving front bencher is lost talent.
Some are faction only non-thinking fools.
Labor what ever its fate is bound to reform *daily*
I am proud to say I will again kick behinds if they falter.

I dont care for what Rudd stands for. My first choice is Christine Milne for PM and then Malcolm Turnbul. I am handing out how to vote cards for the Greens either way. Both Rudd and Abbot should should be put down the gurgler like the anti science and global warming denialists on this list.

The greens will be wiped out

Kevin Rudd doesn't stand for courage it seems. Julia is still staring him down like a ferocious NT buffalo cow if this report is anything to go by,

<Consistent with the fiasco that occurred to get Mr Rudd back his title, he still works from a makeshift office.

He and his staff were given 45 minutes to get out when he was rolled in 2010. After five days he still awaits permission to reclaim his former office>
[Telegraph July 1, 2013]

Kevin likes status too, but that *#@&^%* Redhead will not be dislodged from that power chair and office.

Gee, golly and shucks! LOL

I see that Rudd's inner circle is almost exclusively his supporters.

So much for healing the party.

Kevin could win an Oscar for his folksie 'I'm one of you' banter. The 'Real' Kevin is something different,

http://www.couriermail.com.au/realestate/news/rudd8217s-luxury-property-portfolio-miles-from-struggle-street/story-fnihprvr-1226673021164

<Rudd's luxury property portfolio miles from Struggle Street

By Sonja Koremans
July 02, 2013

KEVIN Rudd's multi-million-dollar property portfolio represents a huge wealth divide between the PM and Labor's working family voters in mortgage belts.

Mr Rudd owns luxury homes in Canberra, Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast. In total, they're estimated to be worth more than $10 million. It includes a $1.4 million block in Brisbane's well-heeled Norman Park that he bought two years ago with a plan to build a million-dollar-plus home for visitors.

The same year, he and wife Therese paid over $3 million for a five-bedroom home in Castaways Beach, near Noosa.

Named Ocean Blue, the property is available for holiday rental at $1054 a night during peak periods, with a minimum seven-night stay at $7378.

The oceanfront home has three bathrooms and two separate living areas "one for the children to escape to and the other for parents to relax", according to its website description.

The Rudds also own a stately Queenslander overlooking the Brisbane River worth about $1.5 million.

His Norman Park home will once again be where Mr Rudd runs the country from after deciding to base himself in the Sunshine State.

Aside from his own homes, the PM also has access to government-funded official residences including the Lodge in Canberra and Kirribilli House in Sydney.

Recently the Rudd's listed their "sophisticated and luxurious" Canberra residence, for $2.25 million.
.................>


Good on him. It is a pity though that he feels obliged to dumb down his act for the voters though. That is what comes of US style television electioneering.

US-style electioneering....

You didn't happen to catch Abbot's try-hard US-style campaign launch, did you?

Arf, arf, arf.....

You can't try any harder than a rotating selection of talking heads that get chopped off when the voters stop listening to the Labor lies.

Yeah you are absolutely right You can't try much harder than a rotating selection of talking heads.
http://www.ezymathtutoring.com.au/high-school-maths/hsc-maths/

PEST, I strongly agree and disagree with you.

I very much care about what Rudd stands for. He’d have to be very different to Rudd mark one, in order to garner my support!

And I very much care about what Milne is for. She’d have to do what any sensible environmentally-minded person should do and embrace real sustainability, including a strong push for net zero immigration, and she’d have to advocate a STOP to the boats and a regaining of our border security, with all our humanitarian efforts towards refugees going through our formal immigration program and international aid programs, before she and her party would garner my support.

Turnbull is a whole lot smarter than Abbott, but just as manically pro-expansionist and antisustainabilityist!

If you like the Greens, I don’t how on earth you could like Turnbull!!

Um, but if you like real green philosophy, I don’t know how on earth you could like Milne either!!

Yes both Rudd and Abbott should be put down the gurgler, as should all climate denialists, anti-science and antisustainabilityists!

So that leaves precisely NO one to vote for at the coming election!!

Ludwig,

If you want to see what KRudd stands for, simply look at all the popular coalition policies. That is exactly what KRudd did last time. His "me too" covered everything except work choices.

Note that suddenly Illegal immigrants are "economic refugees" and his vow not to swing to the right has evaporated. KRudd and Labor cannot be trusted.

I had an interesting conversation with a couple of about to be first time voters the other day. One of them wasn't even going to enrol, thought he couldn't be bothered and didn't want to expose himself to fines for failing to vote in the future. Now he is signing up to vote for “Ruddy!!”. It should be noted that war cry came with a fist pump. He takes a pretty hard stance on asylum seekers and probably not as enlightened as some on gay rights etc but Rudd is the man!

The other first timer answered my question about the leadership challenge with a thumbs up. When I asked why she said it made the decision simple. I think at that age having the time and inclination to nut out who they were going to vote for between Abbott and Gillard was not an attractive use of time. I am sure she would have done the work but not been happy about it. She is very definite that she will be voting for Kevin come election day.

They are only a year out of high school but one gets the sense there would have been no sangers lobbed in Kevin's direction if he had toured their school, but if they had the culprit would have been dealt with.

Now most of us on this forum will probably be rather dismissive of voting in such an unnuanced manner but I don't think these people would really care. For some reason that I can't quite grasp they really relate to Kevin Rudd. While LNP supporters may gnash their teeth over our youth being led by blatant personality politics the whole of Tony Abbott's time as opposition leader has seen him playing exactly that game, now I think it may bite him on the bum.

Another illuminating conversation over coffee this afternoon. My Christian fundamentalist father-in-law who is normally a pretty staunch Liberal voter has basically indicated he is going to vote for Rudd. Not that he would ever come out and directly say so.

He believes Rudd will win the next election, I told him he might be in with a chance but it was quite unlikely.

He feels he can better identify with Rudd because 'Kevin is married with children' and that he had been quite uncomfortable with Gillard because she was representing himself and the country whilst 'living in sin'.

Yet a couple of months ago he and my mother-in-law were caning Gillard and the Labour party for the temerity of supporting a conscientious vote on the issue of gay marriage. When I pointed out that Rudd was the first Prime Minister who had explicitly supported same sex unions and that he might now be being a little hypocritical he just shrugged and changed the subject.

What was more telling in my eyes was when Abbott was mentioned he gave a bit of a chuckle which spoke volumes. It was kind of like he was acknowledging Abbott certainly tries hard but doesn't have the weight of Rudd. He said he had heard Rudd on the radio this morning and was impressed.

When pressing him further on what I saw as a rather surreal position from a deeply conservative, very religious, self funded retiree he said Rudd just came across as someone you could have a coffee or a lunch with and you would be able to have a decent conversation.

He referred to Rudd as a 'real' person.

I am a little at a loss to explain why, with all the fault both sides of politics have exposed in our new/old PM, that he is garnering such responses from both ends of the age spectrum.

However I do get the sense that the more the LNP try to highlight Rudd's flaws the more 'real' he is going to appear to these particular demographics.

Strange days indeed.

Mainly big ticks for Labor's handling of the GFC in this survey of leading Australian economists...the major criticism being of Swan's promise of a surplus "come hell or high water."

http://www.smh.com.au/business/brickbats-and-praise-for-labor-20130707-2pk5d.html

Abbott's pledge to roll back carbon tax was met with opinion calling for a strengthening of emphasis to boost productivity rather than undoing Labor decisions.

P,

Labor is particularly skilled at spending wildly, so the excuse to break all Krudd's promises of fiscal discipline was a godsend. That the programs were incompetently managed with most of the stimulus occurring after the worst of the GFC mattered less. That a better managed program could have got similar results for a fraction of the cost under the coalition was not contested either.

That they failed miserably at everything else shows that Labor was incompetent at everything other than spending money.

Kevin13 is still the one man, arm waving, band that was judged unelectable in 2008-10. Here he is, all bull(s...), treading all over Macklin's tended garden,

<FORMER Labor Party president and indigenous leader Warren Mundine has accused Kevin Rudd of trying to destroy two years of work to create bipartisan support for an indigenous recognition referendum.

Mr Mundine warned the Prime Minister to butt out and leave Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin to build the cross-party support for the major change and determine the question to be put to voters, after Mr Rudd this week accused Tony Abbott of delaying the process.

"Rudd has threatened bipartisanship support on the referendum with his political negative spin," Mr Mundine told The Australian yesterday.

"Macklin had been working hard with Tony Abbott and the opposition for the referendum to succeed. In one stupid brain-explosive sentence, Rudd has almost destroyed all that work.

"My message to Rudd is to shut up and get back on board and stop using indigenous people and the referendum as a political football. We're sick of being used.">

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/kevin-rudd-ruins-good-work-on-vote-says-warren-mundine/story-fn9hm1pm-1226678162768

Australia does seem to work better while PM Rudd and the missus are overseas in the luxury VIP 737-700. If only he didn't say anything while over there. Like Julia Whatshername, he constantly gives away $$millions of TAXPAYERS' money to buy attention.