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Australian Labor Party leadership election, 2012: Kevin Rudd vs Julia Gillard?

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Australian Labor Party leadership election, 2012: Kevin Rudd vs Julia Gillard?

Asked by: Super UserKentoine Johnson in Politics » South Pacific
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Background

But the Prime Minister will be left with a bitterly divided party and could be haunted by the possibility of a later challenge by Mr Rudd or another contender.

The Prime Minister laid down the gauntlet to her predecessor, urging him to make a once and only challenge for the good of the Government.

However, some of Mr Rudd's backers, including Doug Cameron, have warned a loss in the leadership contest may not prevent him trying again.

The former leader will arrive in Brisbane this morning and faces the last opportunity to convince Labor MPs to back his attempt at a political comeback.

In a sign he knows he faces a tough battle, Mr Rudd called for voters to mount a popular revolt against the power of Labor's factions.
"The future government of Australia is not about the power of factions, it's about people's power," he said.

"Pick up the phone, talk to MPs, talk to your media outlets, express your view."

Ms Gillard's supporters last night were claiming she would win the backing of more than two-thirds of the 103-member Labor caucus.

In a strategy designed to push Mr Rudd's support base well below the 30 or so votes his supporters are claiming he can rely on, Ms Gillard and her backers ramped up their campaign of attacks on his legacy.

Ms Gillard accused Mr Rudd of sabotaging her leadership and being unfit to head a government.

"Kevin Rudd as prime minister always had very difficult and very chaotic work patterns," Ms Gillard said.

A chorus of senior ministers including Wayne Swan, Stephen Conroy, Tony Burke, Nicola Roxon and Craig Emerson lashed out at Mr Rudd, effectively saying they could not work with him.

Mr Swan said Mr Rudd was "deeply flawed" and Mr Burke said "Kevin has been undermining the Government for more than a year now".

The attack flushed out Rudd backers including Martin Ferguson, Kim Carr, Chris Bowen and Robert McClelland.

Mr Ferguson predicted Ms Gillard could not win the next election and urged his party to change back to Mr Rudd.

"Kevin is best placed to take on Tony Abbott," he said.

But Ms Roxon mocked this claim.

"We need to get out of this idea that Kevin is a messiah who will deliver an election back to us," she said. "That is just, I think, fanciful. It wouldn't be good for the country to have Mr Rudd as prime minister again."

Mr Carr claimed Ms Gillard's supporters had been bullying Labor MPs to ensure they backed the Prime Minister.

As each side landed blows on the other, questions were raised about those prominent members of the party who stayed silent including the Government's Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese.

Simon Crean and Stephen Smith ruled themselves out of contention as third candidates. But some in the Labor Party claim one of the architects of Ms Gillard's rise to power, Bill Shorten, could be positioning himself to take advantage of the fallout from the bitter leadership contest.

Mr Shorten did not return calls, but recently has insisted he is a strong Gillard backer.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/pm-heading-for-a-hollow-victory/story-e6freon6-1226280034879

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