A last, long, wrenching goodbye
"The party Kevin Rudd had led out of the wilderness 31 months ago had deserted him. Kevin07 was no more. Now, he knew, there were no more than 35 of his 115 colleagues who might be prepared to stick with him. Maybe fewer or a few more, depending on whose version you might believe, all of which would likely be suspect.
He had declared the night before he would fight; he would call a ballot and he would put himself in the hands of the party. But as the night wore on, it became apparent there was no point. A ballot would leave on the books a dreadful truth. He had no mates, or too few to matter.
And so he was a dead man walking. The destination was a party meeting that was nothing more than a formality; a ritual changing of the guard. No ballot.
The Australian people had elected him. The Australian Labor Party's fear of the Australian people had executed him.
Within two hours, a spectral Kevin Rudd - his security detail already moving from his office to that of Julia Gillard around the corner - stood for the last time in the prime minister's courtyard.
A couple of hundred journalists crowded close, intent on capturing the words of the extinguished leader.
Rudd's staff, all those exhausting days and nights behind them, their future uncertain, marched as a battalion in ranks of three across the cobbles, a guard of honour.
Rudd's family stood with him. Wife Therese, her eyes betraying a sleepless night. Daughter Jessica and sons Nick and Marcus. Solidarity, all of them wishing themselves elsewhere.
''I was elected by the Australian people as prime minister of this country to bring back a fair go for all Australians and I have given my absolute best to do that, I've given it my absolute all,'' declared Rudd.
He set off to list his pride in seemingly endless achievements. Keeping Australia out of recession, getting rid of WorkChoices, infrastructure building, the National Broadband Network, the education revolution, early childhood education, more university places, reforming the health system …
And then, as he spoke of building 20 regional cancer centres, his bold facade went to pieces. The voice cracked, stopped. The shoulders twitched. Rudd's eyes went to the sky. A silence settled over the entire courtyard, interrupted only by the click and whirr of camera motor drives and the cawing of a magpie.
Rudd pulled himself together, soldiered on. But he was struggling, the pauses becoming longer. His wife and daughter looked at him, forced smiles to their faces, willed him on. Therese edged a little closer, nodding in time with her husband's words.
Rudd reached the memory of the day he offered a national apology to the stolen generations, which he said was the moment of which he was most proud.
''What I remember most about it, for those of you who weren't here, was as the stolen generations came in from over there [he gestured across the courtyard], they were frightened,'' he said.
''Our job was to make them welcome.''
He could barely utter the words. The eyes welled, the silences grew, the crowd stood transfixed.
Someone bumped a large metallic sculpture in the courtyard. It tolled like a bell. But the bell had already tolled for Kevin Rudd, vanquished prime minister.
Rudd sought to rescue himself with forced jocularity. ''What I am less proud of is that fact that I have now blubbered,'' he said.
His wife and daughter reached and touched his arms, and son Marcus laid a hand on his father's shoulder. It got him through, and when this last long goodbye was finished, the media was so swept up in the moment there was spontaneous applause. Perhaps there was relief in it.
Within two hours, Rudd would attend question time in the House of Representatives. He sat at the back of the backbenches, determined to stay, hoping for redemption.
Julia Gillard stood as Prime Minister at the dispatch box.
There was not a tear to be seen. In politics, you cry alone - or, at the least, dry your eyes quickly."
So bitter sweet, a female PM...for a few moments...becoz already teh nation is pissed; and little ruddkipz...gone...the most popular PM in oz history.
Rudd reached the memory of the day he offered a national apology to the stolen generations, which he said was the moment of which he was most proud.
''What I remember most about it, for those of you who weren't here, was as the stolen generations came in from over there [he gestured across the courtyard], they were frightened,'' he said.
''Our job was to make them welcome.''
He could barely utter the words. The eyes welled, the silences grew, the crowd stood transfixed.
I wept a lil today; reminded me of Queen Esther 'born for such a time as this'
