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Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today vowed to support Labor’s re-election campaign, saying that he couldn’t bear to see Tony Abbott win office.
Watching someone else take your job is painful enough without having to watch it happen twice in as many months.
Senior ALP sources say that while Mr Rudd’s support is welcome, two weeks from polling day is a little late to still be winning over your own MPs.
But with Labor now assured of votes from all 83 of their MPs, they only need another 6½ million to get across the line.
The absent Mr Rudd came to dominate Labor’s campaign after undergoing surgery this week. The former leader’s gall bladder was blamed for a series of damaging leaks and was stood down.
The Australian reports that yesterday Ms Gillard telephoned her recovering predecessor to ask for help with her troubled re-election campaign. The Daily Grind understands that the first 10 minutes of the call was just awkward small-talk, followed by a full minute and a half of silence.
Mr Rudd appears willing to put aside his suspicions about Ms Gillard, who now has the numbers to seize his current role as former prime minister.
Mr Rudd is bullish about his ability to improve Labor’s prospects, claiming that he has “tens of thousands” of supporters nationwide. Coincidentally, the move to unseat him in June came after Newspoll reached a similar conclusion.
