Former Australian prime minister raises questions about 2010 coup
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who dramatically resigned as foreign minister in Washington on Wednesday morning, today launched a challenge to the leadership of Julia Gillard. Gillard replaced Rudd in a backroom coup in mid-2010. - On his arrival back in Australia this morning, Rudd revealed new details of what he termed the “midnight coup” of 2010—revelations that raise key questions about the events of June 23-24 and the forces that orchestrated them. At an airport media conference, Rudd said he had been given no notice of the move against him, despite the evidence that emerged last week that Gillard’s office had been preparing for his removal for two weeks. Rudd went on to confirm that on the evening of June 23, 2010 Gillard had initially made an agreement with him, witnessed by an “independent person,” to allow him four months to “work through” the complaints she had raised about his leadership. Ten minutes later, however, Gillard returned to his office and declared that “all bets were off” and she would move immediately against him. [...] Whoever prevails, the government will be bitterly split, with leading figures camped in exile on the parliamentary backbenches. The outright character assassinations and full-blown battle are symptoms of a profound and systemic crisis wracking the entire ruling establishment.
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