Rudd wasted opportunities, says Swan

23 Feb 2012, 8:43 am   -   Source: AAP
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Treasurer Wayne Swan says Kevin Rudd wasted the opportunities the Labor Party gave him.

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Treasurer Wayne Swan says Kevin Rudd wasted the opportunities the Labor Party gave him.

"For too long, Kevin Rudd has been putting his own self-interest ahead of the interests of the broader Labor movement and the country as a whole, and that needs to stop," Mr Swan said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr Swan's statement was scathing.

He said he and Prime Minister Julia Gillard had refrained from criticising Mr Rudd for the sake of the Labor movement, the government and Australian people.

"The party has given Kevin Rudd all the opportunities in the world and he wasted them with his dysfunctional decision making and his deeply demeaning attitude towards other people including our caucus colleagues," the fellow Queenslander said.

"He sought to tear down the 2010 campaign, deliberately risking an Abbott prime ministership, and now he undermines the government at every turn.

"He was the party's biggest beneficiary then its biggest critic, but never a loyal or selfless example of its values and objectives."

The former schoolmate of Mr Rudd said there was too much at stake in the economy and in the political debate for the interests of the Labor movement "to be damaged by somebody who does not hold any Labor values".

"Prime Minister Gillard and I and the overwhelming majority of our colleagues have been applying our Labor values to the policy challenges in front of us and we're succeeding despite tremendous political obstacles," he said.

He repeated Environment Minister Tony Burke's view that Ms Gillard had the overwhelming support of the caucus.

"Colleagues are sick of Kevin Rudd driving the vote down by sabotaging policy announcements and undermining our substantial economic successes," Mr Swan said.

"The Labor Party is not about a person, it's about a purpose.

"That's something Prime Minister Gillard has always known in her heart but something Kevin Rudd has never understood."

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