Ten Memorable Moments From Kevin Rudd’s Career

“There comes a time in our lives as parliamentarians when our families finally say enough is enough. And my family has reached just such a time.”

Such began our ex-Prime Minister’s tearful ‘Farewell Address to Parliament‘, made yesterday evening to the surprise of the Parliament, his party and the country. Everyone, it seems, except Albanese, who’d invited their colleagues around for dinner that night without telling anyone why.

Love him or hate him — blame him for the demise of the Labor Party and Abbott’s rise… or don’t — one thing is undeniable about Kevin Rudd: the man is a giant dork.

As he prepares to leave Parliament before the week is out, let’s revisit some of his best/worst moments.

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That Strangely Terrifying Thankyou Video

“Oh. Good morning. I’m Kevin Rudd. I’m your federal member. I’m here with my pet Polar Bear this morning. His name is Ted.”

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That Time He Cut Himself Shaving

…and made the bizarre decision to post a photo of it on Instagram.

He was the Prime Minister of Australia at the time.

For more of KRudd’s Instagram highlights, click here.

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That Time He Ate His Own Earwax In Parliament

Julia Gillard was sitting right in front of him in prime back-stabbing position, but Rudd had other things to do:

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That Time He Called Himself ‘KRudd Dog’

In August this year, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took part in a Reddit Ask Me Anything. He fielded questions about Syria, Murdoch, privacy laws and beer, and — to the delight of Redditors everywhere — even answered a question about drug legalisation.

But the best moment came when addressing the NBN.

For the rest of the Ruddit highlights, click here.

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That Time He Was In A Bad Mood On Camera

“You can tell these dickheads in the embassy to just give me simple sentences. I’ve said this before … This fucking language just complicates it so much, you know?”

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That Time He Changed His Mind About Marriage Equality

On May 20 2013, a month before snatching the Prime Ministership again, Kevin Rudd uploaded a post to his blog: ‘Church and State are able to have different positions on same sex marriage‘. In September the previous year, Rudd had voted with the majority of Parliament against legalising same sex marriage — but in the blog post, he reversed his position.

The piece argued that a literal interpretation of Christian scriptures would be a deeply troubled one. He said that people are born gay, and should be treated equally. He pointed out that the ability of same-sex parents to raise their children should no longer be a concern, especially in an age where 43% of Australian marriages end in divorce, and 27% of Australian children are raised by one parent only. And then he said this: “If we truly believe in a separation of church and state, then the church must be absolutely free to conduct marriage ceremonies between a man and a woman only.”

And then, remember this guy?

That’s a screen shot from four months later, when the then-Prime Minister appeared on Q&A to answer questions about paid parental leave, the plight of the farmer, and the aged care sector. It was an impressive performance, and in some parts exhilarating — particularly during his response to the last question, delivered by the pastor of a local church.

It reminded us a little of this.

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That Time He Sung Like A Cow

In 2011, Rudd went on stage at Perth’s Belvoir Ampitheatre in front of 4500 people, for the End Of Polio Concert.

He may or may not have been pretty drunk at the time.

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And here’s some footage of him saying “I sing like a cow”, which is just an excellent thing to say.

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That Time He Didn’t Say ‘Eat Your Heart Out Bill Glasson’

Remember when he responded to losing a Federal Election by giving a 22 minute speech that sounded like he’d won it?

“It would be un-prime ministerial of me to say, ‘Bill Glasson, eat your heart out,’ so I won’t.”

Bill Glasson wasn’t very happy.

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That Time He Apologised to Aboriginal Australians

In his farewell speech last night, Rudd named his 2008 apology to the Stolen Generations as a career highlight.

“Nothing has brought me greater joy in political life than the smiles I have seen on the faces of our Aboriginal brothers and sisters, young and old, country and city, as a result of the apology,” he said. “I hope though that we have achieved some healing of the soul, although it will only be through the final closing of the gap that we achieve a healing of broken bodies as well.”

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That Time His Hand Gestures Got Named 

There were these ones from The Guardian‘s Mary Hamilton:

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And these ones from the ABC:

THE CASUAL DARTS THROW:

THE CAT PAW DOUBLE SWIPE:

THE DOUBLE DEAD SPIDER:

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Also, of course, this one from us.

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