Gillard says Combet's leadership 'was not to be'

Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard has confirmed she offered to stand down from the country’s top role for her then-cabinet colleague Greg Combet during the 2013 Labor leadership struggle.

Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard is embraced by Greg Combet after officially launching his memoirs titled, The Fights of My Life, in Sydney. (AAP Image/Paul Miller).

Ms Gillard’s admission comes less than a week after the former climate change minister broke the news that he had been offered her support ahead of the June spill.

Addressing the audience at today’s launch of Mr Combet’s memoir, titled The Fights of My Life, Ms Gillard said it had become clear that her leadership was “very likely to come to an early end”.

“My belief that the nation and my political party should be led by a person of good values and clear sense of values remains strong,” she said.

I wanted to see the next fight of his life being for the support his colleagues to lead the Labor government into the 2013 election.

“My view was that the best person at that time was Greg Combet. I wanted to see the next fight of his life being for the support his colleagues to lead the Labor government into the 2013 election.

“It was not to be.”

Ms Gillard also expressed support for the current Labor leader Bill Shorten, describing him as having “remarkable talents and fierce passion”, and called for a new generation of Labor members to help the party.

'I'll be stuffed if I'll be tweeting'

Ms Gillard also showed the lighter side of politics during the launch of the memoir, published little more than a year after Mr Combet tendered his ministerial resignation following last year’s leadership ballot.

Quoting the politician who helped pass the carbon tax, Ms Gillard said he had once told her he’s “stuffed if I’ll be tweeting”.

“Actually the word used and recorded in the book is a little more earthy than ‘stuffed’,” she said.

“Perhaps this is a very good moment to issue a general warning – if bad language causes you to blush, then have a cold compress at hand… Some might suggest that Greg’s aversion to tweeting is just because he couldn’t fit all the swear words in.”

She also spoke on some of his political achievements, reading aloud from a chapter detailing Mr Combet’s campaign to secure compensation for the asbestos victims of James Hardie.

“I sometimes feel a flame flickering in my guts and when I see an injustice like this it flares up,” it read.

“I remember being about as angry as I have ever be and determined to fight.”