Fed: Rudd says he couldn't lift vote above 20s

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-2003
Fed: Rudd says he couldn't lift vote above 20s

CANBERRA, Dec 1 AAP - Federal Labor frontbencher Kevin Rudd opted not to run in tomorrow's
Labor leadership ballot because he could not lift his vote above the 20s and he wanted
a clear-cut outcome, he said today.

Mr Rudd also said part of his reason for pulling out was because he believed firmly
Labor could win the next election, and that party divisions therefore needed to be sorted
out quickly.

Former Labor leader Kim Beazley and Labor's treasury spokesman Mark Latham will battle
for the party's top job after Mr Rudd, the opposition foreign affairs spokesman, yesterday
decided not to stand.

His decision came despite some opinion polls putting him ahead of Mr Latham.

"Plainly, the amount of support that I was receiving in the Australian community, as
demonstrated through the opinion polls, wasn't being reflected within the parliamentary
party because I couldn't lift my vote beyond the 20s within the caucus," Mr Rudd told
ABC radio.

"For that reason I decided that it was in the best interests of the party for there
to be a clear cut resolve when the ballot is held on Tuesday."

Mr Rudd said he would back Mr Beazley because with only months to go before an election
Mr Latham did not have the experience.

"I have indicated I will vote for Kim," he said.

"The reason for that is that I believe at this late stage in the parliamentary cycle
he's got the experience that's necessary to take on (Prime Minister) John Howard with
only perhaps three or six months to go before an election.

Earlier, Mr Rudd said he would never say never in terms of contesting the leadership
in the future.

"I certainly will be a future candidate for leadership of the party but that depends
entirely on future circumstances, it depends entirely on when the leadership may be vacant
at some time in the future," he told the Seven network's Sunrise program.

He said he had pulled out partly because of "the need tomorrow to deliver a decisive,
clean cut result so (Labor) can represent a united, credible alternative".

AAP sm/sd/drp

KEYWORD: LABOR RUDD DAYLEAD

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