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. Yet he has just quit national politics at age 56 because he has no future in it. Sadly, he exhausted a huge fund of goodwill from the party and public.

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.