Senior figures in Australia’s ruling Labor Party yesterday rallied behind embattled leader Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd amid speculation of a challenge from his female deputy.
Rudd won 2007 elections by such a big margin that commentators dubbed it a “Ruddslide,” but voters have turned against the center-left leader in droves ahead of polls this year, according to surveys.
A series of broken election promises, including the shelving of an emissions trading scheme designed to tackle climate change, have contributed to Rudd’s slump in the polls.
PHOTO: AFP
Rudd, a bookish former diplomat with an image as a policy wonk, is also facing a well-funded campaign by major mining companies angered by his plans to impose a 40 percent tax on their “super profits.”
Labor frontbenchers including Foreign Minister Stephen Smith leapt to Rudd’s defense following mounting media speculation of a pre-election revolt against him in favor of his more popular female deputy, Julia Gillard.
“Let’s have a Bex and a good lie-down,” Smith said, referring to the analgesic Bex powders popular in the 1950s and 1960s and traditionally associated with a cup of tea.
Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner denied a leadership challenge was imminent, while Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said Rudd’s position was “absolutely secure.”
“We’re leading up to an election, obviously that’s leading to a bit of tension around the traps, but the prime minister’s doing a great job and we’re moving forward on that basis,” Griffin said.
Gillard herself sought to scotch the rumors when they surfaced over the weekend.
“I read the newspapers, then put the newspapers aside and I get on with the job,” she said on Saturday.
A Nielsen poll last week showed Labor six percentage points behind the conservative opposition, while a Newspoll survey found concern over the mining tax could cost the government enough marginal seats to lose power.
If the polls are borne out, Rudd’s government would be the first since before World War II not to secure a second term.
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