Paul Keating versus Labor, and other epic political feuds

Paul Keating’s broadsides against Labor were colourful, but there’s plenty of real hatred oiling the engine of Australian democracy. See some of the best.

Where there’s power, you’ll find passion. You’ll also find petty hatreds, rivalries and retribution, mean girls, tricky prime ministers, and once-in-a-generation sociopaths.

To celebrate Paul Keating’s epic spray against the modern Labor Party on Wednesday, here’s a fond look back at some of the finest feuds to ever grace the three-ring-circus of Australian politics.

KEVIN RUDD VERSUS JULIA GILLARD

Kevin Rudd V Julia Gillard. Once a winning ticket for Labor, the relationship went spectacularly off the rails.

The knifing of first-term Prime Minister Kevin Rudd by his then deputy Julia Gillard was arguably the most jawdropping day in the history of Australian politics, but little did we know then that it was but the opening act in a three-act vengeance play that would make Titus Andronicus look like an episode of Bluey. The footage of Prime Minister Gillard and Foreign Minister Rudd trying to appear professional for a press pack photo op in the months afterwards remains one of the most awkward moments in Australian politics – or Australian history, even – ever captured on camera. Rudd went on to recapture the Labor leadership in 2013, the two dropped a few zingers about each other in their respective post-politics memoirs, and the frost has never really thawed. Legendary.

MALCOLM TURNBULL VERSUS TONY ABBOTT

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former prime minister Tony Abbott at NSW Liberal Party event in Sydney, July 2017. The two rivals were never going to be BFFs. Picture: AAP

History never repeats exactly, but it makes a pretty good copy sometimes. And so it was when the Liberals came to power after the turmoil of the Rudd and Gillard years, only to indulge in their own messy leadership games. When Prime Minister Abbott started cratering in the polls, he implored his Liberal colleagues to remember that they were not the Labor Party, but it turned out they were sort of worse in a way, turfing out the Onion Eater in 2015 after just two years as prime minister. His replacement Malcolm Turnbull fared little better, with Abbott accused of sniping, leaking and undermining Mr Harbourside Mansion, ultimately leading to his downfall in 2018.

MALCOLM TURNBULL AND SCOTT MORRISON

Mates. Then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and future Prime Minister (two days later) Scott Morrison holding a press conference during the Liberal leadership tussle of 2018. Picture: Kym Smith

“This is my leader, and I’m ambitious for him!” – Scott Morrison, 22 August 2018

They used to say a week was a long time in politics, but everything’s getting that bit faster in the 21st century. And so it was that ScoMo went from pledging his full support to Malcolm Turnbull during the hazy crazy days of the Liberal leadership crisis in 2018, to replacing him as leader two days later. Good times! Turnbull, of course, has never forgiven, nor forgotten; in recent years he has said Morrison “lied to me on many occasions”, and called Morrison’s multiple ministries manoeuvre “one of the most appalling things I have ever heard in our federal government”.

SCOTT MORRISON AND GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, July 2021. Picture: Getty Images

He was the unpopular prime minister who hung loose in Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires; she was the hardworking and popular premier of New South Wales. But according to Niki Savva in her book Bulldozed, Berejiklian felt “belittled, bullied and patronised” by the PM throughout her premiership.

“Berejiklian believed that Morrison, his office, and his surrogates undermined her during the Black Summer bushfires to shift attention from his own shortcomings,” Savva wrote in her book. The bad blood came rushing back during the 2022 election campaign, when journalist Peter van Onselen presented ScoMo with a text exchange between Berejiklian and an unnamed Liberal cabinet member, in which she reportedly described him as a “complete psycho” and a “horrible, horrible person”. When asked about the text message, Morrison dismissed it as “gossip”, and Berejiklian said she had no memory of it, but didn’t outright deny sending it. Spicy.

THE MEAN GIRLS VERSUS KIMBERLEY KITCHING

Senator Katy Gallagher (left) Senator Kristina Keneally and Senator Penny Wong in the Senate, July 2019. Their feud with Labor’s Kimberley Kitching came to light after Kitching’s death, and was weaponised against Labor. Picture: AAP

This feud was strictly on the down low until after Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching’s untimely death in 2021, when it was weaponised against the women she dubbed “the mean girls”, Labor Senators Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher. While party colleagues, Kitching was stood down from Labor’s tactics committee after she was suspected of briefing Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds about how Labor was going to deal with the Brittany Higgins rape allegations. The “mean girls” accusations were a tricky problem for Labor during the 2022 election campaign, given Kitching‘s death and the need to be respectful. Anthony Albanese noted Kitching “played politics hard”, suggesting the mean girls feud was not necessarily one-sided, and Senators Wong, Keneally and Gallagher denied any wrongdoing.

MARK LATHAM VERSUS LABOR

Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaks to former opposition leader Mark Latham on the campaign trail at the Ekka in Brisbane, August 2010. Mr Latham was making a 60 minutes television segment. Picture: AAP

Paul Keating’s indictment of modern Labor on Wednesday was incendiary, but the ALP has a history of former leaders who turn on their own. Take a bow, Mark Latham, Labor leader for 14 months in the early aughts, and one of the great haters of Australian politics. Now a member of the NSW upper house for One Nation, Latham’s vehemence and vitriol is legendary. He called Kevin Rudd a “crazy bastard” and a “serial leaker”; Julia Gillard lacked empathy and put “politics ahead of policy”. And so it goes. The hate is strong with this one.

JULIE BISHOP VERSUS TANYA PLIBERSEK

Julie Bishop and Tanya Plibersek had their moments, particularly in Question Time.

Theirs was perhaps not one of the defining feuds in Australian politics, but the palpable tension between Julie Bishop and Tanya Plibersek had its feisty moments, for those who like their democracy spiced with drama. As Labor’s spokesperson on foreign affairs between 2013 and 2016, Plibersek frequently tussled with Bishop during Question Time, earning herself many a death stare. Bishop was also accused of mouthing the word “Bitch” after a testy parliamentary exchange with Plibersek in 2015. She denied the suggestion.

JEFF KENNETT AND ANDREW PEACOCK VERSUS JOHN HOWARD

Andrew Peacock, John Howard and Jeff Kennett pictured in 1993. Picture: Gregg Porteous

We saved the best for last. As rivals for the Liberal Party leadership throughout the 1980s, the bad blood between Andrew Peacock and John Howard was plain to see, but were it not for a Melbourne man innocently scanning radio transmissions one day in March, 1987, we would never have known how much Peacock and then Victorian Opposition Leader Jeff Kennett truly hated Little Johnny.

The home radio enthusiast picked up on a car phone conversation between Peacock and Kennett in which the two disparaged the then Federal Liberal leader. The best bit came when Kennett relayed to Peacock a few choice words he had recently said to Howard.

“I said, ‘Howard. You’re a c***. You haven’t got my support, you never will have and I’m not going to rubbish you or the party tomorrow but I feel a lot better having told you you’re a c***.”

The transcript of the conversation made headlines around the country, and Howard quickly sacked Peacock from his front bench. While Howard and Kennett were both in power at the same time between 1996 and 1999, and worked together productively in that time, the pair have never been close.

Originally published as Paul Keating versus Labor, and other epic political feuds