Australia: Kevin Rudd’s Colourful Words & Deeds

Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has a reputation of creating ripples with his irreverent words and deeds. Now a storm has broken out over Rudd’s use of four-letter words while arguing with some Members of Parliament. Interestingly, Rudd defended his outburst.

The PM said in the presence of three female MPs: “I don’t care what you f***ers think,” News Limited has reported, says AAP report. Rudd later told another senator: “You can get f***ed.”

Later, Rudd was unapologetic: “”It’s fair to say, consistent with the traditions of the Australia Labor Party, we’re given to robust conversations. I made my point of view absolutely clear.”

The incident happened when a number of MPs visited the prime minister’s parliament house office to object to plans to cut politicians’ annual printing allowances by 25 per cent to $75,000.

“These entitlements needed to be cut back,” Rudd maintains. In a random survey of printing allowance use, the auditor-general found that in 74 per cent of instances the entitlement was at risk of being misused.

During the 2007/08 financial year – which covered the 2007 election – the auditor-general found some MPs were using the printing allowance primarily for re-election purposes. More here…

The Telegraph once published an irreverent profile of Rudd: “Nibbling one’s ear wax and spending a boozy night in a strip joint could be expected, in normal circumstances, to spell disaster for a politician….”… For more irreverent Kevin Rudd snippets, please see my earlier post here…

And for my post “Australians Are A Different Pedigree”, please click here…

(Photo above shows Kevin Rudd with the book that details his criminal lineage.)