Rudd, Kevin Michael (1957-…), served as prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again briefly in 2013. Rudd first became prime minister following the victory of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the November 2007 parliamentary general election. Rudd had been elected ALP leader in 2006. Rudd became the first Australian prime minister born after World War II (1939-1945). Rudd is an expert on Chinese history and government and can speak fluent Northern Chinese, also called Mandarin Chinese.
Early life and family
Kevin Michael Rudd was born on Sept. 21, 1957, in Nambour, Queensland. He was the youngest of four children born to Albert and Margaret Rudd, a farmer and a nurse. Young Kevin grew up on a rented dairy farm near Eumundi on Australia’s Sunshine Coast, roughly 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Brisbane. Albert Rudd died in February 1969, and the family was forced to leave the farm. For several years, the Rudds lived under difficult circumstances. Nevertheless, young Kevin read a number of books and developed a fascination with China at an early age.
Rudd attended the Eumundi Primary School, Marist College Ashgrove, and Nambour State High School. He joined the Australian Labor Party at the age of 15 in 1972. In 1976, he enrolled in Asian language studies at the Australian National University in Canberra. In 1981, Rudd graduated with honors in Chinese language and history. He then began working for the government in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Rudd married Thérèse Rein (1958-…), an Australian psychologist and businesswoman, on Nov. 17, 1981. The two had met at a meeting of the Australian Student Christian Movement during their university years. In 1986, Rein founded an international employment services agency now known as Ingeus. The agency specializes in helping long-term unemployed people reenter the workforce. The Rudds have three children: Jessica (1984-…), Nicholas (1986-…), and Marcus (1993-…).
Political career
In 1988, after holding diplomatic posts in Sweden and China, Rudd shifted his attention to politics, becoming chief of staff to the Queensland Labor leader, Wayne Goss. After Goss was elected premier of Queensland in December 1989, Rudd became director-general of the Queensland Department of the Premier and Cabinet, the highest executive office in the department. With his newfound power and influence, Rudd developed a national Asian language and studies strategy for Australian schools. He also helped to introduce land rights legislation in Queensland.
House of Representatives.
In 1996, Rudd ran for the federal seat of Griffith (Queensland) in the Australian House of Representatives, but he was not elected. Rudd formed a consulting agency before mounting another attempt at the Griffith seat in 1998. He won the seat and quickly became chair of the ALP’s Committee on National Security and Trade. He also served on several other committees and took on additional responsibilities in foreign affairs, international security, and trade. He was reelected to Parliament in 2001 and 2004.
On Dec. 4, 2006, Rudd became leader of the ALP. He spent the next year campaigning and preparing for the upcoming federal election. On Nov. 24, 2007, Rudd and the ALP defeated the sitting coalition government headed by Prime Minister John Howard of the Liberal Party.
Prime minister.
Upon taking office, Rudd quickly broke from the more conservative policies of Howard’s government. He introduced efforts to improve education, health care, and workplace conditions. The Rudd government ratified (approved) the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement aimed at limiting global warming (see Kyoto Protocol). In 2008, Rudd issued a formal apology on behalf of the Australian government for the Stolen Generations. The term refers to thousands of Australian children, mainly of mixed Aboriginal and European descent, who were taken from their homes by Australian governments between 1870 and 1970 (see Stolen Generations).
Loading the player...Kevin Rudd delivers apology to Indigenous Australians
In a break from ALP tradition, Rudd chose his own Cabinet ministers rather than submitting choices to a caucus (group discussion and vote). He held community Cabinet meetings in a “town hall” style, allowing members of the public to speak to government officials on a variety of topics. In response to the worldwide financial crisis that began in 2008, Rudd oversaw large increases in spending on schools and infrastructure, which helped him to maintain record popularity for an Australian prime minister.
Rudd became prime minister during a time of heightened concern over conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, international terrorism, and the spread of nuclear weapons. In December 2008, he presented Australia’s first National Security Statement to Parliament. The statement described the scope, interests, principles, and priorities for a reformed national security structure.
On May 4, 2009, the Rudd government announced it would create an Australian Carbon Trust to reduce carbon pollution and promote energy efficiency. Rudd has also written extensively on Chinese politics and foreign policy, Asia-Pacific relations, and globalization—the trend toward increased economic, cultural, and social connectedness across national borders.
In 2010, Rudd’s popularity waned. He had pushed for an emissions trading program as part of his environmental strategy but was forced to abandon the plan. He proposed additional taxes on Australia’s prosperous mining industry, which met with criticism. In June, Rudd’s deputy, Julia Gillard, successfully challenged him for the leadership of the party. She became ALP leader and Australia’s first female prime minister on June 24.
Continued political career.
Gillard quickly called a general election. During the campaign, she promised to keep Rudd in her Cabinet if the ALP remained in power. The ALP secured a narrow victory over a coalition of the Liberal and National parties. Gillard remained in office as prime minister and named Rudd as her foreign affairs minister. In February 2012, Rudd stepped down as foreign minister. He challenged Gillard for the leadership of the ALP but was unsuccessful.
Return as prime minister.
Rudd again challenged Gillard for the ALP leadership in June 2013. His challenge was successful, and Gillard stepped down from her post. Rudd was sworn in as prime minister on June 27.
One of the first issues Rudd addressed after he returned to the prime ministership was that of people seeking political asylum (shelter and protection). In the early 2000’s, an increasing number of people from such countries as Afghanistan, Iran, and Sri Lanka attempted to sail to Australia from Indonesia. Many of these refugees traveled in overcrowded wooden boats that were not sturdy enough to handle the rough waters between the two countries. The Royal Australian Navy diverted many of the refugees to processing centers on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. Other refugees were sent to processing centers in the Pacific Islands nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea. The refugees were kept at these centers until their asylum claims could be processed.
During Rudd’s first term in office, he ordered the Nauru and Papua New Guinea centers closed. The number of refugees continued to climb, and Julia Gillard ordered the Pacific Islands centers reopened. After Rudd returned to power in 2013, he announced that asylum-seekers arriving in Australia by boat would be resettled in Papua New Guinea rather than in Australia.
In September, a coalition of the Liberal and National parties defeated the ALP in a general election. Tony Abbott, the coalition leader, became prime minister. Following the election defeat, Rudd announced his resignation as the leader of the ALP. In November, Rudd announced his retirement from politics.
In 2019, Rudd was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. The Order of Australia is the country’s highest award for service to the country or to humanity. In March 2023, Rudd became Australia’s ambassador to the United States.
