Bob Carr has opened up about life in office, but what did he say at the time?

BOB Carr said a lot of things while travelling the world. From Gillard to Rudd, Israel to exercise - now we know how he really felt.

Frequent flyer ... Bob Carr and Steve Bracks with the Queen's Relay baton in front of the

WE now know what he was really thinking, but what did Bob Carr tell the world at the time?

The former Foreign Minister has opened up about life in office, in his book Diary of a Foreign Minister.

It reveals an exercise obsessed man who only wanted to fly first class and who believed Julia Gillard was being “selfish” for clinging to power.

We take a look at what he said then and what we have learnt now.

JULIA GILLARD’S LEADERSHIP AND THE ILL-FATED MEDIA REFORMS

Foes ... Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.

Now:

Bob Carr has now revealed the media regulation shake-up being pursued by the former Labor government last year was a catalyst for him to abandon support for Julia Gillard.

“The media package, and how it was adopted, has destroyed any confidence I could have in her office and instincts,” Mr Carr wrote in his diary three months before the successful coup.

“They had been dumped on the cabinet meeting — without warning — and adopted,” Mr Carr says, according to The Australian.

“We are committed to a wholesale war with the newspapers. In that pre-election phase when we should be friends with all.”

The contentious reforms contributed to Ms Gillard’s undoing ahead of the final leadership spill last June.

Then:

But it was a different story at the time, with Mr Carr refusing to be drawn on the “Cabinet processes” around the reforms.

He refuted reports last March suggesting he, and fellow Minister Mark Butler, had lost confidence in Julia Gillard and her leadership.

“The Prime Minister has my unqualified support,” the Foreign Minister declared when embarrassingly asked during a joint media conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

“I wish I’d been asked about — to comment on that article before it appeared,” he told reporters in Washington.

“She has my support, and I think the media’s in a frenzy of speculation and of speculation feeding on itself that generates these stories.”

DIET AND EXERCISE REGIME

Action man ... Bob Carr promoting good health and staying fit walking by the ocean at Clovelly while he was Premier.

Now:

We now know the eccentricities of Bob Carr’s diet and exercise regime and his complaints about plane food.

“Business class. No edible food. No airline pyjamas,” Mr Carr writes about one trip.

Being a man who liked to keep fit, despite the regular travel, his book includes 22 index entries under diet and 36 under exercise.

“I did two hours of Pilates, then to Double Bay for my third meditation lesson; then to the office to read cables; to the gym ...” he notes.

According to the ex-Minister the perfect breakfast also involves three things, “organic steel-cut oats”, lots of berries and two poached eggs.

Then:

The social media savvy Foreign Minister already gave us a glimpse of his fitness regime while in office, tweeting pictures of his diet on the road.

Even when he was in Canberra Mr Carr tried to enjoy home cooked lunches, before sharing a photo.

Amtrak Washington to New York with takeaway turkey & crab cakes from Whole Foods pic.twitter.com/DTqZxWpMAE

— Bob Carr (@bobjcarr) March 19, 2013

Delicious lunch at my desk before going down to Senate - I brought this home cooked from Syd this morn! pic.twitter.com/ReEscZcpSV

— Bob Carr (@bobjcarr) February 26, 2013

Good for environment & you: kangaroo and tomato ginger lemon grass herbs sweet potato fennel broccoli pic.twitter.com/cFF6vA4G1s

— Bob Carr (@bobjcarr) June 3, 2013

When asked whether he would be celebrating with champagne after Australia won a United Nations security council seat last year, Mr Carr revealed he would be enjoying a rather different beverage.

“I’ll be having, as soon as I can, a generous cup of hot water, boiling water, with a slice of lemon,” he said.

ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

Resistance ... Bob Carr accused the pro-Israel lobby of having an “extraordinary” level of influence over Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s office. Pic: AFP PHOTO/DAVID BUIMOVITCH

Now:

Bob Carr has gone so far as to release private text messages between himself and Julia Gillard, accusing the pro-Israel lobby of having an “extraordinary” level of influence over her office.

“I had to resist it and my book tells the story of that resistance coming to a climax when there was a dispute on the floor of caucus about my recommendation that we don’t block the Palestinian bid for increased non-state status at the United Nations,” he told ABC’s 730 last night.

Then:

Mr Carr effectively rolled Ms Gillard on the issue in Caucus, but publicly denied he threatened to speak against her or was launching a numbers campaign behind her back.

“Julia Gillard could not have consulted more painstakingly — not just me, but other members of caucus with an interest in this subject,” Mr Carr told Sky News at the time.

“It’s the way government’s supposed to work — painstaking consultation, talking to all concerned, having a meeting where everyone gets to have a say, and reaching a decision.”

Eventually the government decided to abstain from the vote, but not without heated debate.

SLAVE TRADE

Frequent flyer ... Bob Carr and Steve Bracks with the Queen's Relay baton in front of the 2006 Commonwealth Games Qantas 737 plane.

Now:

Bob Carr has revealed himself as a man who only wanted to travel first class, describing business class seats as being akin to “trans-Atlantic slave trade”.

But he defends the seat snobbery as “good” for voters, because it meant he arrived for top level meetings having got some shut eye.

“The advantage that first-class travel would have afforded would have been good for me but good for Australia,” he told ABC radio this morning.

“I will say that you perform better when you sleep a bit,” Mr Carr explained to reporters in Sydney.

Then:

When in office, Mr Carr gave speeches and penned work calling for freedom from slavery.

“Human Trafficking is modern day slavery and a gross abuse of human rights,” he said in an op-ed piece about the government’s actions in combating human trafficking in Asia.

“It is the business of all good governments to be work to reduce this evil trade in people’s lives.”