Phillip Adams and Kevin Rudd

Late Night Live 04/08/2010

KEVIN RUDD: The bottom line is I can't just stand idly by at the prospect of Mr Abbott sliding into office by default. I mean elections are really important things Phillip. They're about who governs the country affects the lives, in a very direct way of every one of your listeners, every family in the country, every business in the country, every community, every school, every hospital. I mean we've got too much at stake here, we spent a long time keeping the economy strong despite the global financial crisis, we've come through that. Mr Abbott opposed those measures. We spent a long time getting a deal for the future funding of our hospitals in place - Mr Abbott opposed that. We spent a long time negotiating a national broadband network in place and Mr Abbott says he's going to tear that down. And I think we do know where he stands on the reintroduction of WorkChoices. So there's big stuff at stake for the country and I suppose my message more broadly is, the future of K M Rudd is one thing, the future of the country is actually much bigger because it affects 22 million of us, not just one.

... I think it's pretty important that the team comes, ah comes first. I'm always concerned about being some sort of side show to the main event because the main event is what's important. The main event is the country's future and that will be what the Prime Minister has to say.

But look, what's my predisposition? I will be there but on the condition that I don't have a major relapse before then and secondly, that I'm not a distraction from what I think is a pretty serious debate about what sort of future we want for our country and I don't think it's a debate which we can allow - with only two and half weeks to go before D Day, that we can't allow to be trivialised. It's too important.

PHILLIP ADAMS: So without compromise or qualification, you will be campaigning for Gillard?

KEVIN RUDD: Absolutely, because it's really important for the country's future. No government's perfect, no prime minister's perfect, I wasn't, Keating wasn't, Hawke wasn't, Gillard's not. But you know something? When it comes to the fundamentals of economic policy settings, general policy settings, the country's heading in the right direction and if anyone doubts that just for one moment, think about what's going on the moment throughout Europe and North America. And what I do know for a fact is that it's hard to build things up, it's very easy for people like Mr Abbott to tear things down. So I'm not about to stand idly by to allow Mr Abbott to just cruise into office, without scrutiny, without proper examination given that there are big, big things at stake for every Australian.

PHILLIP ADAMS: When I got back from New Orleans a couple of weeks ago there were a vast accumulation of emails, mainly concerning you, and it's taken me weeks to answer them and one of the points I've made again and again was - don't forget that at the same time in the election cycle, that is towards the end of his first term, Howard's ratings were pretty dreadful, in fact they were pretty like your own - but I seem to recall perhaps I'm wrong here that he went on to win a few elections on the trot. Do you think you would have won?

KEVIN RUDD: You know something Phillip, there is no point in woulda, coulda, shoulda. What's done cannot be undone. The key question here is the future. Let me just give you one little anecdote. When I was in hospital contemplating wounds, (laughs) this lovely lady - wounds delivered by surgery - this lovely lady came in and she was doing the breakfast round, serving breakfast, she kept calling me Kevie, and she just reminded me afresh of how much ordinary families depend on the government of our nation having their interests first and foremost. They are petrified about the rules in their workplace being changed, they are petrified about cutbacks to things like social housing, petrified about cutbacks to building libraries in our poorer state schools.

So, to answer your question, I don't think woulda, coulda, shoulda is useful. I think what's useful is, there's a big debate out there, and we need to have it, and it's about whether the country's got a future which cares for people, includes people, keeps our economy strong. Or one which at the end of the day in spite of all the window-dressing, is still about the survival of the fittest.

PHILLIP ADAMS: Now there's an awful lot of people out there including many of my listeners who are very fond of you and they'd like to see you as Foreign Minister at the very least. Is that what you would like out of the new government?

KEVIN RUDD: You know something Phillip, I am completely relaxed about all that. The first challenge is, in what right now is a knife-edge election for the government to be returned and we just don't know that. If the government's returned as I have said repeatedly, from day one when the leadership changed, that I'd be prepared to re-contest and to serve again in the government. Both decisions are ultimately for the Prime Minister. I've got to say, two and a half weeks out from an election our focus has to be on something much more fundamental than that - which is making sure that when people go to cast their ballot that they know, whatever their feelings are about recent developments and recent events related to me, that that's of second and third and fourth level importance, what's at first level importance, absolute first level importance is the future direction of the country. And we've got to be very clear-sighted about that.

About what Mr Abbott offers, and I think that there is a great drift back to the past and all the things we rejected in '07, as opposed to what this government has done in the economy and hospitals and schools and the work which remains still to be done to complete those projects, those tasks and the overall reforms for the business of government. That's the number one thing and how I fit into the show is frankly way down the list.