Why did Kevin Rudd stop being the prime minister?

Answer 1

Kevin Rudd lost his position as Leader of the Labor Party and hence Prime Minister of Australia due to a combination of factors.

Mr Rudd had a group of advisers who simply gave him bad advice. Instead of acting in partnership with the Cabinet, he tended to listen to just a few people, whose limited experience led to poor choices. The advice they gave him led to unpopular choices which destroyed his reputation and his credibility.

Similarly, Mr Rudd had a tendency to take just part of a policy and adopt it, instead of incorporating the whole plan. The Henry Report was an example of this. The Henry Report, which led to the planned introduction of the mining super tax, had many more components which would have supposedly reformed Australia's economy, but most of the focus was on this one, unpopular plan to place a huge tax on what is arguably Australia's most profitable industry.

When it came to the crunch, Mr Rudd's advisers deserted him. Those who had supported him chose to support his deputy, Julia Gillard, instead. It should be noted that, although Ms Gillard has always claimed she did not want the top job, there are many indicators to suggest she was being groomed for the position. Indeed, she posed a significant threat to Mr Rudd when the leadership of the Labor Party was at stake in 2006 (this was when Mr Rudd was elected leader of the ALP). Mr Rudd made what he thought was a strategic move when he appointed her the deputy PM, because it brought her into the limelight where she would be less likely to undermine him. She was a threat to his leadership almost four years before the 24 June 2010 "coup" ever occurred.

Another mistake which Mr Rudd made was his failure to act in January 2010 when policy differences suggested a double-dissolution election was in order. Following the failed Copenhagen summit, the ALP's electoral strategy group put together a plan for Mr Rudd to start campaigning in late January and raising his profile. Prior to the first sitting of parliament on February 2, Mr Rudd was to call a double-dissolution election for March based on the Senate's rejection of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme early in December. Mr Rudd's failure to act was compounded by the fact that his first public duty was to write and promote a children's book, instead of attending to his Prime Ministerial duties. He was greatly criticised for not having the nerve to call the double-dissolution election.

Another issue is that there were concerns about the way Kevin Rudd, as Prime Minister, neglected the administration of national security. It has transpired that Mr Rudd compromised the National Security Committee of Cabinet by not turning up for crucial meetings. Commonwealth officials and cabinet sources have indicated that Mr Rudd showed "a casual disregard" for the national security committee, at a time when Australia was engaged in a war and Wrestling with its border security policy. It was not uncommon for Mr Rudd to allow his 31-year-old chief of staff to deputise for him on the committee when he was either late or simply did not attend at all.