Kevin Rudd says Julia Gillard has provided the ABC series with a “creative reconstruction of political memory”. Source: ABC
JULIA Gillard has accused Kevin Rudd of physically intimidating and bullying her in revelations that smash the idea the pair were ever a “dream team”.
Ms Gillard, Australia’s first woman Prime Minister, was the victim of an “angry performance” by Mr Rudd when in Opposition, she tells the new ABC series The Killing Season.
One of the most explosive revelations from the series comes when Ms Gillard discusses her role as leader of Labor’s tactics meetings.
“Kevin was always very anxious to strut his stuff in Question Time,” she tells the ABC’s Sarah Ferguson.
“And tactics hadn’t gone his way. I’d taken a view about something else forming the issue of the day.
“And after the tactics meeting broke up, he very physically stepped up into my space and it was quite a bullying encounter. It was a menacing, angry performance.”
Her accusations are rejected as “utterly, utterly false” by Mr Rudd, who was ousted by Ms Gillard and in turn removed her from the prime ministership during six years of Labor turmoil.
He insists they had good relations, even when Ms Gillard arrived at his office to “announce the coup”, which saw him cast out in his first term.
However, the two disagree on critical points — with Mr Rudd challenging what he calls Ms Gillard’s “creative reconstruction of political memory”.
Mr Rudd tells the series it was like a nightmare to recall those years.
“Well, I’m a human being, just like you,” he says to the ABC’s Sarah Ferguson.
“I sleep, I dream and, as a result, a lot of these things come back in more vivid ways than either of us would like.”
He says the most painful recollection is of “the active sense of betrayal, betrayal by people who were very close to you, betrayal by people you thought you could trust.”
The bitter dealings are covered in the three-part ABC TV series, which begins next Tuesday night. The series title comes from the final sitting weeks of a parliamentary session, when leadership challenges are often launched.
The program is the descendant of the 1993 series Labor in Power, which covered the Hawke and Keating governments. The stark difference is that Labor was returned in 1993. This series ends with Labor losing in 2013.
Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard were the powerful and ambitious team who replaced Kim Beazley in the Labor leadership late in 2006 and were headed for government at the 2007 election.
Julia Gillard accuses Kevin Rudd of bullying her. Source: ABC
They were billed as close and friendly, with Ms Gillard telling an interviewer at the time: “We’ve never had a cross word or a difficult moment.”
However, she told a different story to The Killing Season, with her accusations of Mr Rudd’s “menacing” and “bullying” behaviour.
Mr Rudd said there were “never” angry exchanges between the two “including on the night that she marches into the office to announce the coup”.
“I said to her repeatedly, ‘But Julia, you’re a good person’,” recalls Mr Rudd.
It is not the only point of clashing recollections by the two, who took the Labor leadership in what former leader Simon Crean calls “a marriage of convenience”.
They also disagreed over the so-called Gang of Four — the powerful group that essentially ran government, made up of Ms Rudd, Ms Gillard, Wayne Swan and Lindsay Tanner.
Ms Gillard recalls for the program her doubts about the “four-person central committee” and the view she put at the time of needing to move to “a more regular decision making style”.
“It wasn’t disbanded because, I think, in Kevin’s view in particular he preferred to do business that way,” she said.
Mr Rudd replied: “That is the most creative reconstruction of the political memory that I’ve ever heard.
“I remember Julia in particular enjoyed and liked the relative secrecy of that small gathering.”
The ABC’s Sarah Ferguson grills Julia Gillard on the tumultuous years when she was in power. Source: ABC
The program will remind viewers of the Rudd successes as prime minister, including the emotionally powerful apology to the Stolen Generations of indigenous Australians.
Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry praises Mr Rudd for spotting early what later became known as the global financial crisis. Former British prime minister Gordon Brown and former US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson agree.
In March 2009, Australia recorded modest economic growth for the quarter, the only industrialised nation to avoid recession.
However, the Rudd Government’s competency was being undermined by criticism of elements of its stimulus strategy, such as the schools building program, and handling of asylum seekers. Australia had been humiliated by Sri Lankans, who had refused to leave the Customs ship Oceanic Viking until given special treatment.
It was at this time Ms Gillard was paired with Mark Arbib to implement the stimulus measures. The ambitious team of the woman from the Victorian left and the influential figure from the NSW right would cause Mr Rudd trouble.
Ms Gillard also developed a political relationship with Treasurer Wayne Swan. These two new partnerships would lead to the dumping of Mr Rudd as prime minister.
source:news.com.au
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