Who is the real Rudd?


Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun Columnist

October, 2007

KEVIN Rudd will be Prime Minister by December. Or, to be more accurate, our new Prime Minister will be "Kevin Rudd".

This "Kevin Rudd" will say just what you want, but may in fact be nothing like the real Rudd, who's now playing him and will take over after the election.

Two more curious incidents this past week demonstrate just how constructed this "Kevin Rudd" is, and what an extraordinary chameleon, too.

Talking to Christians, for instance, "Kevin Rudd" is almost as devout as a Pentecostal fiery-eyes would want.

To the Australian Christian Lobby he said: "Mine is a very garden personal faith for which I have made no apology these last 30 years or so."

But on SBS television this week, in front of a less religious audience, "Kevin Rudd" couldn't even say the name of the man who inspired the faith for which he's "made no apology".

Question: "Mr Rudd, do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?"

Rudd: "Well, I'm a -- I'm a, a person who attends church regularly."

In front of Christians, he's devout. In front of non-Christians, he's not that devout. Or only as devout as you'd like. This is, after all, just "Kevin Rudd", and not a real Rudd with real beliefs.

Episode two came when he spoke to the Australian Jewish News, read by many Jews who'd like him to stand up to Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who not only wanted Israel "wiped off the map", but is widely suspected of developing the nuclear weapons to do so; leading even France to warn us to prepare for war.

So, while he woos the Left as a man who'll pull out of any real confrontation with Islamist fascists, "Kevin Rudd" also wants to woo the Jews as a man who'll get tough on Iran.

So he said: "We would like to initiate legal proceedings against President Ahmadinejad (in the International Court of Justice) on a charge of incitement to genocide."

Sounds almost tough, in a peaceful way. Except it's pure spin.

First problem, the ICJ doesn't try individuals, but states. Second problem, the ICJ's rulings are merely advisory, unless the states involved have agreed to make them binding, and Iran hasn't agreed and won't. Third problem, how would Rudd get Ahmadinejad to court? By sending our police to Tehran to arrest him?

Here were just more nice-sounding promises, which the real Rudd could never implement, even if he wanted to.

How Rudd-like this is. This same "Kevin Rudd" also vowed to fix up the 750 public hospitals run by the states by, if necessary, holding a referendum to get voters to agree to bring them under federal control instead.

The chances of the real Rudd wanting to actually carry the can for running hospitals from Broome to Coffs Harbour are zero, and the chances of any referendum approving a Commonwealth takeover are less. Tell me, do you think Canberra bureaucrats would do a better job of running our Royal Children's Hospital than the state bureaucrats just up the road in Melbourne?

Same with the announcement by "Kevin Rudd" that he hated pokies and would do something about them. In fact, the states control the pokies, which earn them a fortune. "Kevin Rudd" may pose as the man with a social conscience, but the real Rudd won't take on the states on this, even if he could and had the cash to make good their losses.

On it goes. "Kevin Rudd" appeals to the green vote by promising to slash our greenhouse gases by 60 per cent by 2050, but also reassures the brown vote by refusing to release a single plan likely to achieve a target so ludicrous.

Who knows what the real Rudd behind this finely spun mask will really do once he's won power and steps out from behind?

But, wait: here I am assuming there really is someone behind this "Kevin Rudd".

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