Kevin Rudd’s final speech as PM, part one. His mask finally slipped

At his final Press Conference as Prime Minister last Thursday, Kevin Rudd initially joked about the large size of the gallery, to hide the enormity of his anguish. He tried to hide himself with his innumerable ‘I’m proud of the fact’ statements. This was his final chance to catalogue, technocrat style, his achievements – to, in effect, say, ‘look at all I’ve done for you. . .why don’t you appreciate this . . .why am I being dumped’, but his voice, eyes and face weren’t playing along.

The man who relied on fact, after fact, after fact, finally had no more facts, no more ‘I’m proud ofs’ left. With no more words he turned to his wife for what else he should say, as if there must be something that could be said to salvage this situation. But no salvage was available. His mask had finally fallen.

What Kevin Rudd found out, was what many people already knew –  that he was a phoney. All the ‘fair shake of sauce bottle’ cliches were phoney – simply attempts to ingratiate himself with the electorate because he thought they would play well. 

Rudd might still be Prime Minister today if he had learned earlier in his career to have the courage to reveal himself through his voice, face and body, and not to hide behind his words.

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Regarding the machine men and their ‘political hit’ on Rudd, in light of the following George Orwell quote, it is not that surprising:

‘Everyone is dishonest and everyone is utterly heartless towards people who are outside the immediate range of their own interest. What is most striking of all is the way sympathy can be turned on and off like a tap according to political expediency.’  George Orwell