In a gah, really?-inducing case of deja vu Kevin Rudd has announced that he will contest the Labor leadership after Prime Minister Julia Gillard called a Labor party leadership ballot that will be put to the Labor caucus tonight. Hopefully this doesn’t interfere with the football because it’s just about Beersies O’Clock, amirite?!?
The terms of the ballot are totes high drama: There can only be one winner and the loser will forever retire from parliament and be pushed into a fire pit in a roach-infested ’73 Volkswagen Beetle. News of the #spill sent a veritable shockwave through the #AusPol community at large; however, when you look back It’s not as though there haven’t been any glaring tell-tale signs of spillage, and it was only a matter of time before we arrived at where we have arrived at. The only person who seemed to be vehemently assured that Kevin Rudd would NOT contest the Prime Ministership has been Kevin Rudd.
Some instances when Mr Rudd denied his interest in challenging the Labor leadership:
In September 2011
he exhaled an enthusiastically analysed Freudian slip when he was asked
to comment on the current speculation surrounding the Labor party’s
leadership he said: “I’m a very happy little Vegemite being prime
minister… being foreign minister of Australia.”
On
February 22nd 2012
Rudd resigned as Foreign Minister and stated in a press conference: “No way will I ever be party to a
stealth attack on a sitting PM. We all know when that happened it was
wrong,and should not happen again.”
On February 24th 2012 KEVIN RUDD CONTESTS THE LABOR LEADERSHIP!!!
In October 2012
when pressed as to whether his supporters were counting the numbers for
another leadership challenge, Rudd replied: “Oh give us a break, you
know, give us a break. I said 12 months ago that I supported the Prime
Minister… (and) that remains my position and everyone should take a
very long cold shower.”
In February 2013 Rudd told Sky News,
“It’s time this debate was put into cryogenic storage,” when he was
questioned as to a possible play for the leadership “Frankly, it ain’t
happening.”
In March 2013 Rudd told The Daily Telegraph that “Unlike others who have
used the phrase, when I say will not challenge for the leadership, I
mean it. That means Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or beyond.”
Today Kevin Rudd contests the Labor leadership.
It seems like the guy doesn’t mind telling a fib or two. But if it’s any consolation he’s a great time on the piss!
Image by: Scott Barbour via Getty
