Kevin Rudd gets mobbed by fans as he walks down Forest Rd in Hurstville / Pic: Tim Hunter Source: The Daily Telegraph
KEVIN Rudd has called for an end to the political name-calling following Prime Minister Julia Gillard's misogyny speech.
"This sort of stuff frankly doesn't add up to a row of beans and the sooner we get past the deeply personal attacks on both sides of politics the better," Mr Rudd told ABC's Lateline.
And rather than Ms Gillard's speech being a watershed for women's equality, Mr Rudd said the real watershed came with the passing of legislation which made it illegal for someone to discriminate on the basis of gender.
He said Australians are more interested to know what will happen to the economy after the mining boom ends, and what the policies of the major parties are on matters such as education, health, infrastructure and foreign policy.
"That's the debate people would like, a policy-based debate on the alternatives for Australia's future," he said.
"There's a certain terrible familiarity between whack, whack, whack and whack, and, of course, it takes to two to tango.
"I believe the appetite of the country is, for God's sake, I want to know what the future of our economy is."
It came as Mr Rudd launched a broader counterattack on those in the government vowing to "crush" him.
In a bold declaration that he would continue to do what he likes, the former PM turned up on the streets of southwestern Sydney yesterday with the man who spectacularly resigned as chairman of the Labor caucus last week, Daryl Melham. Two weeks ago, a senior Labor figure was anonymously quoted as saying Julia Gillard would need to "crush" Mr Rudd before the next election.
But, after being mobbed in the main street of Hurstville yesterday, Mr Rudd said he would not be intimidated by threats and would continue to campaign alongside fellow MPs when invited to.
"I've been around long enough to not take seriously statements like I am about to be crushed," he said.
"I'm about how do we seek re-election of the Australian government, how we prevent Tony Abbott from being elected. The bottom line is that it should be all hands to the pump rather than saying other, frankly negative and internally divisive things."
But the prime minister's backers were having none of it, accusing Mr Rudd of a deliberate campaign to try to promote himself and his ambitions to retake the leadership. Mr Rudd has visibly stepped up his public appearances with backbenchers in their electorates in recent weeks. But he said he would continue to campaign for Labor's re-election, claiming the country was crying out for a discussion on the future.
"(People) would like a discussion on the different plans, not a rolling character analysis of each other," he said.
"What I sense in the community is they want us to get back to basics. The other mood I am picking up is that people are sick and tired of the backbiting in politics."
Mr Melham, who holds his seat of Banks by just 1.4 per cent, defended Mr Rudd's appearance there, saying said the Mandarin-speaking former prime minister was hugely popular with the 15,000-strong local Chinese community - despite the odd punter appearing from the crowd to sound off at both Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard.
"It's all hands to the deck, the Labor Party has to use all its assets, he is an asset," Mr Melham said of his colleague.
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