Forget the unity spin, they hate each other

THE Labor Party's self-immolation over who should lead it to the next election has exposed the fraudulent way that national leaders present themselves to the Australian public.

Suddenly we can see the spin politicians engage in for the sake of unity despite private reservations about one another.

Cynical voters have always been alert to this but the extent of the divergence between truth and spin has become alarming.

The paper-thin facade covering this gap between what politicians say and what they truly think was shredded on Wednesday evening by Wayne Swan's frank character assessment of Kevin Rudd - the man he served as treasurer for 2 1/2 years while spruiking his worth.

Swan served as part of the Gang of Four - the key decision-making arm of the Rudd government - and yet this week described Rudd as "somebody who does not hold any Labor values" and as a "dysfunctional" prime minister with a "deeply demeaning attitude towards other people".

And yet on May 16, 2010, on the ABC's Insiders program, for example, he described Rudd as someone with a "great commitment to this country and a fantastic work ethic".

He lauded Rudd's achievements in government: "Just look at the record. What we've done in a very short period of time - saved this economy in the middle of a global recession, saved tens of thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of small businesses."

Not bad for a dysfunctional leader lacking in Labor values.

At a doorstop interview back on September 9, 2009, the now Trade Minister Craig Emerson said: "There's no substitute for governing in the national interest. That's what Kevin Rudd is doing."

And yet Swan's press release noted: "For too long, Kevin Rudd has been putting his own self-interest ahead of the interests of the broader labour movement and the country as a whole."

Yesterday, Emerson joined Swan in condemning Rudd's skills as prime minister - "he became a poll-driven prime minister and we saw the consequences of that".

Which invites the question why Emerson, in 2010, publicly declared his support for Rudd on the very day Gillard was due to challenge in the partyroom.

Back then, Emerson was one of the last Rudd backers left standing, yet he now tells Australians Rudd was an incompetent PM.

Emerson in 2010: "My own view is that under Kevin Rudd we would win the election . . . If we're going to have a look at opinion polls, I saw one on Tuesday which had Kevin Rudd more popular than Julia in Queensland.

"Now I don't make my decisions on the basis of it being in polls but if people are saying we should make our decisions on the basis of opinion polls, they might want to have a look at that one."

Emerson now: "You cannot implement reforms if every time you get up in the morning you roll out of bed and you take an opinion poll on what you should do."

And let's hear it from Simon Crean.

On July 4, 2010, the former Labor leader said: "Kevin was a great prime minister. He delivered Labor the victory that enabled us to lay the foundations."

On Monday, Crean laid bare Rudd's "12 months of relentless behind-the-scenes campaigning . . . Mostly it would have been denigration of the Prime Minister".

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told the Nine Network's Today show yesterday morning that "Kevin Rudd had contempt for the cabinet. Contempt for the cabinet members. Contempt for the caucus. Contempt for the parliament."

Perhaps, but wasn't Conroy deeply mired in that contempt for good process when he and Rudd agreed to go ahead with the multi-billion-dollar National Broadband Network during a flight, without first taking the idea to cabinet?

The difficulty for the Labor Party is that the Gillard and Rudd camps have mortally wounded each other: Gillard supporters in the past 48 hours with their vicious attacks, Rudd supporters with months of backgrounding, contributing to the government's inability to pull itself out of its deep rut.

While frontbencher Martin Ferguson came out in favour of Rudd yesterday, he also warned colleagues not to engage in negative commentary about one another.

The warning came too late for the man he is backing. Rudd used his hastily convened press conference before leaving Washington as an opportunity to point out problems with Gillard's leadership, policy mistakes and to declare that she cannot win the next election.

Gillard supporters are hoping to use attacks against Rudd by senior ministers to reduce his numbers in a ballot.

With 103 members of caucus, Gillard's supporters would like to see Rudd achieve no more than 30 votes.

The Rudd camp is aiming for at least 35 votes so it can claim a critical mass that justifies ongoing campaigning for a second strike.