Kevin Rudd left waiting at the altar after Malcolm Turnbull rejection

Illustration: Eric Lobbecke

After cabinet finished meeting on Thursday afternoon, Malcolm Turnbull and Barnaby Joyce ­adjourned to the Prime Minister’s office to discuss the unsettled matter of Kevin Rudd.

There was a firm resolve between the two leaders of the Coalition not to endorse the former prime minister for the role of UN secretary-general.

“It’s like a wedding,” Joyce said. “You don’t say, ‘You should marry this guy even though he’s not the right choice and it’s going to end badly.’ You don’t marry someone just because you’re scared of hurting their feelings.”

Rudd has been left at the altar, denied the blessing of the Turnbull government to woo the UN in his quest to lead the world.

The discussion had divided the cabinet between a majority who did not want to appoint Rudd under any circumstances and those who believed it was right to back the Australian candidate. “It was personality versus protocol,” Joyce said later, summing up the dilemma.

The attacks on the character of the two-time prime minister by his former Labor colleagues played a big part in the decision.

Turnbull had decided he would make the final call and as the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister reflected on the merits of the debate, they were certain that any nomination for Rudd could only be seen as endorsement of the man and require active support they were not prepared to give.

As Turnbull would say later: “Do I, as Prime Minister, believe that Mr Rudd is well-suited for that role? My considered judgment is that he is not.”

And Joyce: “The assessment by so many of Mr Rudd’s former colleagues basically ruled him out.”

There could be no nomination and then washing their hands, as Rudd himself confirmed in letters he later released that he had sought a senior Foreign Affairs official with a support officer to co-ordinate the campaign out of New York, plus logistical support from Australian embassies and missions overseas for the quest Rudd would run himself.

Turnbull’s decision to take it to cabinet, instead of sticking with Tony Abbott’s already announced rejection, required Julie Bishop to present a formal submission.

The submission by Frances Adamson, the new secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, endorsed Rudd as eminently qualified to run, particularly compared with previous secretary-generals and the current field of 12 candidates. The department said Rudd should be nominated so he could simply enter the race, a view backed by former Liberal ministers turned diplomats Alexander Downer in London and Joe Hockey in Washington.

Bishop was particularly supported by George Brandis and Sussan Ley in her advocacy for the principle that Rudd should be afforded the opportunity to enter the contest.

The Foreign Minister also told cabinet it was her assessment that Rudd would not win as the UN wanted to choose an eastern European and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had told her Rudd would not be selected. Russia is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council and has a veto.

But it was the view of Joyce, Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton and others that a nomination was an endorsement, and Rudd’s past poor treatment of public servants and the harsh criticism by his former colleagues, who removed him as prime minister, was raised.

In particular, the comments by Kristina Keneally on Sky News in the days before the meeting were cited in cabinet. “The man is a psychopathic narcissist and that’s not just my opinion, that’s the opinion of a whole range of people who are currently sitting in the parliament,” the former NSW Labor premier said.

“I can think of 12 Australians off the top of my head who would be a better secretary-general and one of them is my labrador, so let’s be blunt here, she has a lot more empathy than Kevin Rudd.”

Others recalled Labor ministers accusing Rudd of “sabotage”, “contempt” and “undermining” and said such character assassination by those who knew him best made it impossible to give Rudd what amounted to a character reference. It was unmistakably a verdict on Rudd the man. “If this was about Kim Beazley, or even Julia Gillard, we would have given support. But Rudd was not fit for the job,” according to one minister.

When Rudd released his letters to Turnbull on Friday night, some ministers said it proved their argument that he could not be trusted. The Rudd camp insists the letters were circulated only in response to briefings against Rudd.

Bishop was collateral damage and ministers are mixed in their views about her role. One of her long-time critics comes to her defence, saying she had no choice but to present the submission and “argued as she should”. Others believe she was too close to Rudd and being rolled by the PM will bring her down a peg.

There’s no suggestion the rare loss has any wider ramifications for her position as deputy or power in the government, although she has learned, as Scott Morrison did earlier this year on his advocacy for the GST, not to get too ahead of Turnbull on a hot issue.

The leaked letters provide only Rudd’s version of events but raise questions for Turnbull about his three secret meetings with Rudd last year and endorsements, including the claim he sent at least one message to Rudd through the PM’s “preferred” encrypted Wickr system where he said he was “as one” with Bishop in supporting Rudd.

Rudd believes he had Turnbull’s support until May this year. According to the letters the two men met last year at Rudd’s house in New York where Turnbull allegedly said the government would be “mad” not to support his candidature.

They also met on November 11 at Parliament House in Canberra and two days before last Christmas in the PM’s Sydney office.

Rudd admits at that Christmas meeting Turnbull said it would be a decision by the cabinet, claiming this was to avoid the perception of a “captain’s pick”, but the former PM still believed he had Turnbull’s blessing. This is the key point of dispute. The government says it was made clear to Rudd the cabinet would decide and it was unlikely he would be supported.

According to Rudd’s version of history, as written in one of his letters to the Prime Minister, it was not until Turnbull phoned him in New York on the evening of May 1 — Monday, May 2 in Canberra and the day before the critical election-eve budget — that he was “shocked” to be told “neither you nor the cabinet would be supporting my nomination”.

Rudd won’t simply fade away and Turnbull must offer his full version of events.