Opinion | Australia’s Kevin Rudd well qualified as envoy to US, but may find diplomatic life constricting
- In his new role, he will have to refit his controlling leadership style to suit working for political masters who once served as his ministers
- As Australia grapples with a stronger China, Rudd has the special advantage of being a leading authority on China and its leader Xi Jinping
Rudd possesses expertise in abundance. But he’ll have to make sure he refits his style to what can be the restraining corset of the job of ambassador, in his case working for political masters who once served as his ministers.
Albanese has always been a supporter but in government, Rudd was a highly divisive figure. His controlling leadership style, micromanagement and temper outbursts were publicly and harshly condemned by various colleagues.
When a reporter, mining the old descriptions, asked Albanese on Tuesday whether he was worried about essentially having a second foreign minister in the US, it was not an entirely unreasonable question.
Rudd will parade his knowledge and opinions with the utmost verbal force to the PM, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and the bureaucracy.
Wong can be a tough cookie but even she must wonder whether the appointment will come, over the long haul, with challenges.
