Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Rudd to contest leadership ballot at 9am tomorrow

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said at a press conference at 10.28pm that he will contest the leadership at tomorrow's ballot after Julie Gillard tonight requested a spill.

The Prime Minister said that if he is re-elected, the Labor Party will not be lurching to the right on asylum seekers and will move forward on its agenda on climate change according its own timing.
He said that factional leaders had indicated he no longer had their support and he suggested they were trying to do a number on him.

'Politics is a tough business but the business of politics is doing what's right for the country,' Mr Rudd said.

'We've headed into some tough weather of late and some people have become squeamish. I'm not one for getting squeamish.'

The vote will occur at 9am tomorrow and Mr Rudd said he believes he can win the vote.

When asked if Miss Gillard would need to stand down as deputy Prime Minister if she lost the ballot, Mr Rudd said all he was doing was calling a leadership vote which he believed was the responsible thing to do. He said it was in the national interest to resolve the matter urgently.

'And I have some urgent things to attend to.'

The press conference ended at this point.

2 comments:

  1. I'm curious about why the right faction is supporting Ms Gillard who is clearly from the left.

    She seems like she has a backbone so I can't imagine her being a puppet?!

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  2. Rudd is famously non-factional which probably means that the left may have moved first to Gillard and the right decided n recent days they had a better chance with her. He had no real competition last time he brought the factions together (before 2007 election)but, unless he can pull of a miracle overnight (or Someone else does) he looks to be in a tight place.

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