https://www.scmp.com/rss/25789/feed Australian politician Kevin Rudd replaced his former deputy Julia Gillard as prime minister and leader of the Labor Party on 27 June 2013. Rudd previously served as prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and leader of the Labor Party from 2006 to 2010. A former diplomat and Chinese-speaker, Rudd is the first former Australian prime minister to return to office since Robert Menzies in 1949. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Lucy Quaggin,Khushboo Razdan Lucy Quaggin,Khushboo Razdan Australia’s former prime minister and a prominent China scholar, Kevin Rudd, will step down as ambassador to the United States a year ahead of schedule, a move some analysts say underscores a fundamental shift in how Canberra must navigate a Washington increasingly centred on the personal rapport with US President Donald Trump. The resignation follows a period of heightened friction between Rudd and Trump, punctuated by the “America first” leader’s blunt public declaration in October 2025 that... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3339796/not-trump-compatible-china-expert-rudd-exits-australias-us-ambassador-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3339796/not-trump-compatible-china-expert-rudd-exits-australias-us-ambassador-role?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:28:45 +0000 Reuters Reuters Australia’s ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, is stepping down, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday, a year ‍earlier than expected following criticism from US President Donald Trump. Rudd, a former Australian prime minister, is returning to head the Asia Society think tank and will finish his posting in March, Albanese told a news conference. “Australia and the ⁠United States are the closest of friends and allies, and this will never change,” he said. “We will continue to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3339657/australian-ambassador-hated-trump-leave-us-post-early?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3339657/australian-ambassador-hated-trump-leave-us-post-early?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:59:28 +0000 Orange Wang Orange Wang Would the Cold War have unfolded differently if Nikita Khrushchev had chosen a different interpreter? It is a decades-old thought experiment, born of the phrase translated as “we will bury you”, but it is chiming with today’s strategic rivalry between China and the US. Whether the statement, attributed to the then-leader of the Soviet Union in 1956, should instead have been interpreted as the less aggressive “we will outlive you”, the incident sheds light on a recurrent headache in modern... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3330459/hawkish-interpretations-rise-us-china-discourse-gets-lost-translation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3330459/hawkish-interpretations-rise-us-china-discourse-gets-lost-translation?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:00:15 +0000 Reuters Reuters Prime Minister Anthony Albanese endorsed Australia’s ambassador in Washington as doing a “fantastic job”, describing comments by US President Donald Trump that he does not like Kevin Rudd as “lighthearted”. Australia’s main conservative opposition party has called for Rudd, a former Labor prime minister, to be sacked after Trump made the comments at a press briefing in Washington on Monday. Asked by an Australian reporter about Rudd’s past criticism of the president on social media, and told... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3329865/australias-albanese-says-envoy-rudd-doing-fantastic-job-after-trumps-jibe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3329865/australias-albanese-says-envoy-rudd-doing-fantastic-job-after-trumps-jibe?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 02:15:08 +0000 The imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House has raised alarms among Australia’s defence community, with analysts concerned his approach to foreign policy could destabilise the Indo-Pacific and complicate the multibillion-dollar Aukus submarine project. Nick Bisley, dean of humanities and social sciences at La Trobe University in Melbourne, said that despite Australian leaders’ public confidence in the US alliance, there was significant unease behind the scenes. “There is a great deal... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3286598/trumps-return-sparks-anxiety-australias-defence-community-over-aukus-submarine-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3286598/trumps-return-sparks-anxiety-australias-defence-community-over-aukus-submarine-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Nov 2024 00:00:16 +0000 A senior American diplomat responsible for the US policy of a “free and open” Indo-Pacific defended the approach Tuesday of combining “intense diplomacy” with Beijing while pursuing “intense competition”. “Let’s not underestimate the achievement of making sure that we have channels of communication between Washington and Beijing,” Daniel Kritenbrink, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said during an event at the Stimson Centre think tank. Reducing the risk of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3278934/senior-us-official-defends-blend-diplomacy-and-competition-china-indo-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3278934/senior-us-official-defends-blend-diplomacy-and-competition-china-indo-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Sep 2024 21:03:53 +0000 China and the US both seek to stabilise their relationship but each brings a different lens to an expected meeting between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November, according to Australia’s envoy to the US. Ambassador Kevin Rudd told a panel hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on Monday the difference in expectations would lead to “at best, modest outcomes”. Will Xi or won’t Xi? Why Beijing has held off confirming Apec attendance Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi’s trip to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3239778/differing-us-and-chinese-objectives-will-limit-outcomes-xi-biden-meeting-kevin-rudd?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3239778/differing-us-and-chinese-objectives-will-limit-outcomes-xi-biden-meeting-kevin-rudd?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Oct 2023 05:05:55 +0000 The head of Britain’s Royal Navy has joined Australia in questioning US bureaucratic hurdles facing the three-country Aukus project to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. Admiral Ben Key said US regulations should not be used to maintain a competitive edge at a time when Western powers find themselves in “as contested an environment as we have been in for many decades, in terms … of the global order.” “We have to be very careful as to what it is that you want your rules environment... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3238308/australia-panned-ridiculous-aukus-delays-now-britain-asking-questions-too?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3238308/australia-panned-ridiculous-aukus-delays-now-britain-asking-questions-too?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Oct 2023 01:33:58 +0000 Amid all the commotion on the international scene of late, few people may have noticed that it was five years ago this week that then US president Donald Trump signed the memorandum on Chinese trade, a move widely seen as the official start of Washington’s fundamental policy turn against Beijing. The signing acquires symbolic importance due to President Joe Biden’s statement last October that the US faces a “decisive decade” in what he terms a contest between democratic America and authoritarian... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3214175/bidens-decisive-decade-may-include-us-china-conflict-no-one-wants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3214175/bidens-decisive-decade-may-include-us-china-conflict-no-one-wants?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:00:17 +0000 With 2022 winding down, let’s take a look back at some of the big moments in Asia over the past year that saw crowd crushes, devastating “super floods”, new leaders installed in the region, Kim Jong-un’s secret daughter in the spotlight, as well as K-pop boy band BTS’ military enlistment. Kim Jong-un unveils daughter While North Korea kept the region on tenterhooks with a flurry of missile launches for most of the year, leader Kim Jong-un offered a glimpse into his dynasty’s next generation by... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3204965/year-asia-indonesia-sex-ban-thai-weed-law-kims-secret-daughter-china-border-reopening-and-other?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3204965/year-asia-indonesia-sex-ban-thai-weed-law-kims-secret-daughter-china-border-reopening-and-other?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Dec 2022 04:00:13 +0000 In appointing Kevin Rudd as ambassador to the United States, Anthony Albanese is sending someone with all the qualifications, and more, for what is a highly demanding diplomatic job in extremely uncertain times. Twice prime minister, and a former foreign minister, Rudd has the special advantage of being a leading authority not just on China but on that country’s leader, when China’s assertiveness is the biggest story in our region. This year he received a doctorate from Oxford for a thesis on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3204304/australias-rudd-well-qualified-envoy-us-may-find-diplomatic-life-constricting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3204304/australias-rudd-well-qualified-envoy-us-may-find-diplomatic-life-constricting?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Dec 2022 16:00:12 +0000 The appointment of former prime minister Kevin Rudd as Australia’s next ambassador to the United States hints at the two Western nations more closely aligning their approach to the strategic competition of China, experts say, but it may also inject nuance into the defining diplomatic challenge of the times. Rudd, 65, who served two terms as prime minister of Australia, is a lifelong China academic who since exiting domestic politics has been a prominent Western voice on Beijing’s strategic view... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3204105/kevin-rudds-china-experience-will-inject-nuance-us-australia-ties-aukus-pact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3204105/kevin-rudds-china-experience-will-inject-nuance-us-australia-ties-aukus-pact?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Dec 2022 10:00:19 +0000 Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was named Canberra’s next ambassador to the United States on Tuesday at a time when both countries are deepening security cooperation in response to a rising China. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Rudd “one of the world’s most eminent and sought-after experts on China and US-China relations”, and said he would bring “unmatched experience” to the role at a time when the region was being reshaped by strategic competition. “Kevin Rudd is an... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3203944/australia-names-most-eminent-and-sought-after-china-expert-kevin-rudd-new-us-ambassador?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3203944/australia-names-most-eminent-and-sought-after-china-expert-kevin-rudd-new-us-ambassador?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Dec 2022 07:03:09 +0000 As part of SCMP’s commitment to providing comprehensive coverage of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin’s death and legacy, this story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. China’s embrace of change in critical times – with bold economic reform and the pursuit of favourable external ties – was seen as a hallmark of Jiang Zemin’s 13-year leadership. And such proactive pursuits serve as a lesson that many... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3202137/chinas-economic-rise-under-jiang-zemin-featured-lessons-warnings-still-resonate-today?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3202137/chinas-economic-rise-under-jiang-zemin-featured-lessons-warnings-still-resonate-today?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Dec 2022 22:00:17 +0000 China is likely to make significant headway in easing its tough zero-Covid policy by mid-2023, with indications that it will emulate a “Hong Kong model” of progressive opening up, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said. Speaking during a panel discussion on China at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, Rudd said he believed there had been an “inevitable crab walking” away from its zero-Covid policy since the end of the 20th Party Congress. There are signs the Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3199930/china-crab-walking-away-zero-covid-hardline-diplomacy-here-stay-australias-kevin-rudd-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3199930/china-crab-walking-away-zero-covid-hardline-diplomacy-here-stay-australias-kevin-rudd-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Nov 2022 05:46:40 +0000 Western powers should avoid delivering “stern moral lectures” to Pacific island states about their deepening ties with China and instead offer alternative development proposals, the former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has said. The comments by Rudd, the ex-leader of the Australian Labor Party that swept to power in last weekend’s election, comes amid duelling visits by the new Australian foreign minister Penny Wong and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to the Pacific region this week. The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3179402/china-australia-relations-former-australian-pm-kevin-rudd-tells?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3179402/china-australia-relations-former-australian-pm-kevin-rudd-tells?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 May 2022 05:47:31 +0000 Reversing the trend of a slowing economy is the biggest challenge facing China’s leadership this year, especially with the Communist Party’s national congress only months away, according to former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd. His recent assessment was further underscored on Monday when the latest official data showed that China’s economy shrank dramatically in April. “In 2022, the biggest elephant in the room on this score remains the [Chinese] economy,” said Rudd, who is now president... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3177944/chinas-slowing-economy-biggest-elephant-room-kevin-rudd-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3177944/chinas-slowing-economy-biggest-elephant-room-kevin-rudd-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 May 2022 14:15:12 +0000 Australia’s former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd have attributed a dramatic deterioration in Sino-Australian relations to an aggressive foreign policy pursued under Chinese President Xi Jinping, while also criticising senior Australian government figures for needlessly inflaming tensions with Beijing. Speaking at a webinar on Tuesday, Turnbull and Rudd said Xi’s adoption of an increasingly nationalistic and strident foreign policy was the primary driver of worsening ties... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3144561/xi-jinping-blame-worsening-china-australia-ties-say-former-pms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3144561/xi-jinping-blame-worsening-china-australia-ties-say-former-pms?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Aug 2021 12:00:38 +0000 In the past five years, the number of overseas-born migrants from India grew more than any other group in Australia, increasing from 449,000 to 721,000. Indian residents leapfrogged New Zealand-born and China-born migrants in the 2020 government figures to rank second in the country, behind only those from England. Despite their increasing numbers and growing political voice, it appears those of Indian origin still do not matter enough in the mainstream Australian public sphere. This is most... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3132210/its-not-surprising-indian-australians-feel-singled-out-they-have?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3132210/its-not-surprising-indian-australians-feel-singled-out-they-have?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 May 2021 10:00:17 +0000 The Australian government may have to pay taxpayer-funded compensation to a Chinese company if its lease contract of Darwin Port is overturned on national security grounds, but experts say the government has no “immediate imperative” to terminate the deal. An Australian parliamentary inquiry’s call last month for the government to consider revoking the 99-year lease to Landbridge Group has gained momentum after Minister for Defence Peter Dutton confirmed to The Sydney Morning Herald on Sunday... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3132114/china-australia-relations-ripping-chinese-firms-darwin-port?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3132114/china-australia-relations-ripping-chinese-firms-darwin-port?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 May 2021 20:30:10 +0000 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is laying “landmines” for the incoming administration on Taiwan policy, former Australian prime minister and China scholar Kevin Rudd has warned. Pompeo on Saturday lifted internal restrictions on how US officials may interact with their Taiwanese counterparts – a move that enraged Beijing, which sees the island as part of its territory and opposes official exchanges between Taipei and other governments. Speaking with CNBC on Monday, Rudd – Australia’s leader... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3117432/mike-pompeo-laying-landmines-taiwan-policy-former-australian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3117432/mike-pompeo-laying-landmines-taiwan-policy-former-australian?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Jan 2021 12:30:16 +0000 Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s refusal to directly condemn a senator’s demand for three Chinese-Australians to denounce Beijing has drawn criticism amid mounting public anger in Asian-Australian communities over the incident, with the opposition on Friday saying an apology was necessary. Morrison on Friday was asked about Senator Eric Abetz’s line of questioning of Australians Osmond Chiu, Wesa Chau and Jiang Yun at a Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade public inquiry earlier in the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3105904/australian-pm-calls-senators-questioning-chinese-australians?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3105904/australian-pm-calls-senators-questioning-chinese-australians?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Oct 2020 21:00:11 +0000 An Australian senator who questioned the loyalty of three prominent Chinese-Australians at a parliament inquiry and demanded they condemn the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sparked a public backlash and a potential investigation into his conduct. Eric Abetz, a German-born senator who was part of a Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade public inquiry about issues facing diaspora communities, monopolised the session and attempted to force Osmond Chiu, Wesa Chau and Jiang Yun to denounce China’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3105689/senator-insists-chinese-australians-condemn-ccp-inquiry-diaspora?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3105689/senator-insists-chinese-australians-condemn-ccp-inquiry-diaspora?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Oct 2020 10:46:03 +0000 Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned of the growing risk of military conflict between China and the United States amid rising nationalism in both countries in the run-up to the US presidential election. Rudd, who led Australia from 2007-2010 and again for three months in 2013, said on Thursday that a build-up of Chinese and US forces in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait raised the possibility of a “conflict through miscalculation and escalation” ahead of the November 3... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3099140/us-china-military-clash-real-danger-november-vote-warns-ex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3099140/us-china-military-clash-real-danger-november-vote-warns-ex?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Aug 2020 13:00:40 +0000 In 2013, the Chinese government laid out a policy agenda that promised real reforms to an economy laden with debt and distorted by the influence of the country’s large state-owned enterprise sector. Instead of seeing that agenda through, it chose to dodge the risks entailed by marketisation and has since reverted to what it knows best – state control over the economy and the semblance of stability that comes with it. The China Dashboard, a joint project of the Asia Society Policy Institute and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3090046/can-we-believe-china-will-reform-its-economy-time-given-empty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3090046/can-we-believe-china-will-reform-its-economy-time-given-empty?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jun 2020 17:00:03 +0000 As one of the first countries to emerge from what may still just be the first wave of this coronavirus crisis, China also has an opportunity to lead the world in demonstrating what a green economic revival can look like. Already, China’s emissions – like those across the rest of the world – have dropped sharply as a result of this crisis. In the four weeks after Lunar New Year, it is estimated that domestic emissions dropped by as much as 25 per cent, equivalent to around 200 million tonnes of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3084603/china-can-show-world-what-green-economic-recovery-looks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3084603/china-can-show-world-what-green-economic-recovery-looks?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 May 2020 01:30:10 +0000 Behrouz Boochani is not an angry man. He tells me this on the phone from Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, where he has been detained by the Australian government for the past six years. “I should be angry, but in my personal life, I am a peaceful person,” he says, laughter in his voice. Boochani is a Kurdish refugee from Iran who twice attempted to make it from Indonesia to Australia by boat in 2013. The first time the wooden vessel sank, and Boochani and other passengers were lucky to survive.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3020309/using-whatsapp-and-sms-refugee-behrouz-boochani-writes-book-manus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3020309/using-whatsapp-and-sms-refugee-behrouz-boochani-writes-book-manus?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Jul 2019 23:00:11 +0000 Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is making a late bid for the top United Nations job, after months of cross-crossing the world in low-key lobbying for government support. Rudd had requested that the Australian government take the crucial step of formally nominating him to succeed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose second five-year term ends December 31. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that decision would be made by Australia’s next cabinet, which will be named Monday following... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1991292/its-official-former-australian-leader-rudd-wants-nomination-un?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/1991292/its-official-former-australian-leader-rudd-wants-nomination-un?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Jul 2016 07:45:44 +0000 We cannot recall many political leaders who were able to lead their party back into power after a decade in the wilderness, save their country from recession and job losses in the global financial crisis with fearless stimulus measures, give the elderly their biggest pension rise ever and democratise the country's oldest political party with reforms that gave rank-and-file members a say in who leads it. That is from the CV of Kevin Rudd, former Australian Labor Party leader and prime minister.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1358880/political-legacy-kevin-rudd?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1358880/political-legacy-kevin-rudd?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Nov 2013 20:37:14 +0000 Australia's former attorney general has launched a scathing attack on Labor colleague and ex-prime minister Kevin Rudd, calling him a rude and disorganised "bastard" who should quit parliament. Rudd, who lost national elections to conservative leader Tony Abbott last month after ousting Julia Gillard as prime minister in June, has a reputation as a hot-tempered politician and a micro-manager, and Nicola Roxon did not mince her words in a speech. "Although I was frustrated beyond belief by his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1333895/bastard-kevin-rudd-gets-earful-ex-australian-minister-nicola-roxon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1333895/bastard-kevin-rudd-gets-earful-ex-australian-minister-nicola-roxon?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Oct 2013 13:38:51 +0000 Pressure was building yesterday on defeated Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to quit politics, with senior figures within his Labor Party saying he would be a destabilising influence. Rudd's was soundly defeated on Saturday by conservative Tony Abbott and announced he would resign as Labor leader. Kevin should seriously contemplate leaving the parliament. If you have a former prime minister sitting in your party room on the backbench, that spectre looms large Former minister Brendan... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1307897/kevin-rudd-urged-quit-politics-avoid-destabilising-next-labor-leader?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1307897/kevin-rudd-urged-quit-politics-avoid-destabilising-next-labor-leader?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Rupert Murdoch’s clout in Britain and the United States might have diminished, but in Australia he dominates the media landscape, playing a prominent role in undermining Kevin Rudd’s dream of retaining power, analysts say. While the ruling Labor party has long trailed the Tony Abbott-led conservative opposition in opinion polls, Rudd’s ousting of Julia Gillard to re-take the prime ministership in June reignited hopes that he could pull off an unlikely upset in the September 7 general... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1302576/australias-rudd-battles-murdoch-press?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1302576/australias-rudd-battles-murdoch-press?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Sep 2013 08:06:18 +0000 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has mounted a spirited defence of same-sex marriage only days out from Australian elections. Rudd announced in May that he had reconsidered his opposition to same-sex marriage, and he promised to hold a Parliamentary vote on allowing gay couples to marry within 100 days if his centre-left Labor Party wins the election. Rudd was questioned about his new stance at a nationally broadcast forum in his hometown of Brisbane late on Monday by New Hope Church Pastor Matt... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1302564/australian-prime-minister-kevin-rudd-defends-gay-marriage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1302564/australian-prime-minister-kevin-rudd-defends-gay-marriage?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Sep 2013 07:33:18 +0000 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday that key naval assets could be relocated north to adapt to a changing security landscape and put personnel nearer to their fields of operation. Our national security challenges of the future lie to our northeast, to our north, and to our northwest Kevin Rudd Rudd, facing national polls on September 7, said moving Sydney Harbour’s Garden Island base to Queensland, in the east, and Western Australia could improve the nation’s ability to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1299721/australia-pm-kevin-rudd-says-warships-could-be-moved-north?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1299721/australia-pm-kevin-rudd-says-warships-could-be-moved-north?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Aug 2013 06:36:22 +0000 Embattled Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned on Thursday he was nowhere near being “dead and buried” after a debate in which election rival Tony Abbott asked: “Does this guy ever shut up." Labor’s Rudd and his conservative opponent went head-to-head in an often fiery televised confrontation on Wednesday evening with Sky News, which hosted the forum, saying Abbott won with 37 audience members voting for him compared to 35 for the prime minister. The remaining 33 people in the audience... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1298551/australias-rudd-says-he-far-dead-and-buried?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1298551/australias-rudd-says-he-far-dead-and-buried?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Aug 2013 05:14:36 +0000 Media baron Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday threw his support firmly behind the conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott ahead of Australia’s upcoming election, saying Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was “all over the place”. Murdoch’s powerful News Corp Australia newspapers, which have the largest circulation of any media group in the country, have already called for voters to “kick out” Rudd’s centre-left Labor government. But the Australian-born octogenarian went further onTuesday, talking about... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1298003/murdoch-says-rudd-all-over-place-australia-poll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1298003/murdoch-says-rudd-all-over-place-australia-poll?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2013 04:45:11 +0000 In a gaffe that has attracted plenty of media attention in the heat of Australia's election campaign, opposition leader Tony Abbott told a gathering of conservative party faithful that no one is "the suppository of all wisdom". Abbott appeared unperturbed by tittering among journalists and supporters and continued to speak earnestly in a speech in Melbourne yesterday. Abbott, a Rhodes scholar, apparently meant to say "repository" - a storage place - rather than a medication inserted in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1296206/slip-tony-abbott-says-suppository-not-repository-australia-poll-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1296206/slip-tony-abbott-says-suppository-not-repository-australia-poll-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and conservative rival Tony Abbott went head-to-head yesterday in the first debate of the election campaign, an encounter which focused on the economy and divided viewers. Rudd, whom some commentators said looked nervous initially and appeared to check his notes, called for a "new way of politics" and promised to introduce a bill to legalise same sex marriage. Abbott, a veteran politician who served as a minister in John Howard's government, countered that a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1295915/australian-election-about-safeguarding-economy-says-rudd-debate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1295915/australian-election-about-safeguarding-economy-says-rudd-debate?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Aug 2013 11:01:42 +0000 Kevin Rudd has demanded election rival Tony Abbott come clean on any links to Rupert Murdoch as the mogul’s key tabloid on Thursday depicted the Australian leader as bumbling Nazi TV character Colonel Klink. The Australian-born media magnate has made clear he wants Abbott’s conservative coalition to win national elections on September 7, with his Sydney Daily Telegraph on Tuesday splashing with a picture of Rudd under the headline “Kick This Mob Out”. Rudd escalated the feud by suggesting... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1295218/australian-pm-demands-answers-murdoch-takes-aim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1295218/australian-pm-demands-answers-murdoch-takes-aim?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Aug 2013 03:39:09 +0000 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday launched into the first day of Australia's election campaign faced with a poll showing his personal support has slumped and the Murdoch press urging voters to "kick this mob out". Rudd on Sunday named September 7 as the day Australians will go to the polls, hoping to complete a stunning political comeback with victory for his Labor Party three years after it ousted him. But he faces an uphill battle after what newspapers said was years of a "toxic political... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1294461/kevin-rudd-battles-murdoch-media-australian-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1294461/kevin-rudd-battles-murdoch-media-australian-election?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has called an election for September 7, saying it will be fought over who can be trusted to manage the Australian economy as it transitions from a decade-old mining boom fed by Chinese industrial demand that is fading. In starting the five-week election campaign, Rudd said yesterday the economy could no longer rely on Chinese demand for iron ore and coal that made the country one of the few wealthy nations to avoid a recession during the global economic downturn. "With... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1294233/china-factor-weighs-australian-election-set-september-7?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1294233/china-factor-weighs-australian-election-set-september-7?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Aug 2013 06:50:25 +0000 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has hired strategists from US President Barack Obama’s team to help him get re-elected, vowing on Wednesday his campaign will use the “best brains in the world”. Rudd said the foreign consultants - said to include Tom McMahon, a former executive with the Democratic National Committee during Obama’s last year campaign - were very welcome. Social media expert Matthew McGregor and experienced campaigner Joon Kim are also part of the team to help Rudd’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1293345/australias-kevin-rudd-brings-obama-strategists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1293345/australias-kevin-rudd-brings-obama-strategists?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Jul 2013 09:51:04 +0000 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made a surprise visit to troops serving in Afghanistan, telling them that it was time they came home. Rudd, who the Labor Party reinstalled as leader four weeks ago ahead of this year’s election, made the trip Saturday with his wife Therese Rein to troops in southern Uruzgan province. “On behalf of a grateful Australian nation I am here to say to you, the men and women of the Australian Defence Force, thank you for a job well done,” Rudd told soldiers at... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1292432/australian-prime-minister-kevin-rudd-makes-surprise-afghan-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1292432/australian-prime-minister-kevin-rudd-makes-surprise-afghan-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Jul 2013 02:02:12 +0000 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was branded "Recycled Rudd" after he lost power in a Labor Party leadership wrangle and then snatched it back in a similar showdown three years later. Yesterday he succeeded in changing the ruling party's regulations to make his job safer. The party has decided also to make sure that the prime minister that the people elect in the future will be the prime minister the people get in the future Labor lawmakers agreed at a three-hour meeting with his proposal to tighten... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1288598/rudds-rule-change-makes-it-harder-dump-pm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1288598/rudds-rule-change-makes-it-harder-dump-pm?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Australia's new policy of resettling refugees in Papua New Guinea was already deterring boatpeople, the government said yesterday, as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd attacked people-smugglers as "merchants in death". Rudd, facing an election soon, said last week that all asylum-seekers who arrived by boat would be sent to poverty-stricken PNG even if found to be genuine refugees, under a deal signed with its northern neighbour. Immigration Minister Tony Burke said indications were that the plan was... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1288595/australias-png-refugee-solution-already-working?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1288595/australias-png-refugee-solution-already-working?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday he will transform a deeply unpopular carbon tax a year ahead of schedule, in a bid to cut costs to households as a national election looms. The fixed-price carbon tax on Australia’s worst industrial polluters, which went into effect in July last year, was supposed to remain in place until 2015. At that point, it was set to be replaced by an emissions trading scheme, in which the cost of producing a ton of carbon would be determined by free... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1283837/australian-pm-changes-carbon-tax-ahead-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1283837/australian-pm-changes-carbon-tax-ahead-election?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jul 2013 04:12:08 +0000 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday said the China resources boom was over, leaving the economy at a crossroads, as he called for a new productivity pact to boost competitiveness. In his first major policy speech since ousting Julia Gillard as leader, Rudd also urged a sharper engagement with Asia, particularly Indonesia, to help smooth the nation’s economic transition from its reliance on commodities. “If we make the wrong decisions now, we will be living with those decisions for... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1280190/australia-crossroads-china-resources-boom-ends-says-rudd?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1280190/australia-crossroads-china-resources-boom-ends-says-rudd?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jul 2013 04:25:21 +0000 It’s been less than a fortnight since Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took office in Canberra, but the Labor Party chief has already become somewhat of a social media rock star – in China. A post by the newly reinstated leader on China's biggest microblogging platform, Sina Weibo, went viral this week after it was forwarded more than 30,000 times and favourited some 5,000 times. The PM currently has 480,752 followers on Weibo. In the Tuesday microblog post, Rudd describes a telephone... https://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1279455/kevin-rudds-weibo-post-about-phone-call-xi-jinping-goes-viral?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1279455/kevin-rudds-weibo-post-about-phone-call-xi-jinping-goes-viral?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jul 2013 04:27:19 +0000 Australia's new cabinet was sworn in yesterday, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd naming a record number of six ministers and switching focus to the economy ahead of elections. With Labor trailing badly in the polls Rudd seized the leadership last Wednesday, ousting the country's first woman prime minister, Julia Gillard, three years after she had overthrown him. The Labor Party, which is counting on Rudd's vaunted campaigning skills, has seen an immediate bounce in popularity. "I am delighted... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1273263/rudds-new-cabinet-sworn-record-number-women?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1273263/rudds-new-cabinet-sworn-record-number-women?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 New Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd unveiled his cabinet on Monday, bringing in a record number of women and switching the focus to the economy ahead of upcoming elections. Rudd seized the leadership on Wednesday, three years after he was suddenly ousted by his centre-left Labor Party. With Labor trailing badly in the polls, the party dumped Julia Gillard and has seen an immediate bounce in popularity. “I am delighted that in this cabinet of ours we will have the largest number of women in... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1272953/australia-pm-kevin-rudd-names-record-number-women-cabinet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1272953/australia-pm-kevin-rudd-names-record-number-women-cabinet?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jul 2013 02:15:48 +0000