K-Rudd fiasco: Winners and losers after the Australian ambassador smear campaign

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the United States, has faced a rising storm of media scrutiny regarding his past comments about returning US president Donald Trump.

Rudd has previously publicly called the US president a “traitor to the West”, “not a leading intellectual force” and the “most destructive president in history”.

He has since deleted or retracked some of those opinions, the change of heart resoundingly spurred by the pro-Trump result of the US presidential election in November this year.

“Here at the embassy, we’ve been working hard through the course of the last year to ensure that we were well prepared for this moment ... We’re ready,” ambassador Rudd said during a pre-recorded televised speech to the Sydney International Strategy Forum hosted by the United States Studies Centre on 20 November.

“The team here at the embassy and the government of Australia are ready to work closely with the new Trump administration to continue to realise the benefits of what is a very strong economic and security partnership.

“Australia’s plans to purchase nuclear power submarines from the United States will represent a large-scale purchase from American industry.

“That’s a significant defence deal, and on top of that, we’re already investing into the US submarine industrial base to expand the capacity of their shipyards.

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“Put these things together, and it represents a strong, positive message for America.”

An earlier interview between then-presidential candidate Trump and British politician Nigel Farage originally brought the conversation into the spotlight.

During the interview, Farage detailed Rudd’s comments as saying the “most horrible things” about Trump, after thanking “friends at Sky News Australia” for providing the discussion.

Unsurprisingly, the exchange featured Trump’s obvious resentment at being insulted by Australia’s ambassador. This was later followed by weeks of news coverage and opinion calling for the sacking of Rudd by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (which owns Sky News Australia).

Former secretary of the Department of Defence and Department of Foreign Policy and Trade Dennis Richardson, speaking at the US Studies Centre conference in November, said this kind of political manipulation does Australia no favours in the US.

“We are in for a rocky period in the relationship between Australia and the United States because of the politics in Australia,” he said.

“People are already playing with the Australian ambassador in Washington ... (the strategy) which is beyond me.

“We require discipline from both sides of Australia’s political aisle (to work with the new US administration under President Donald Trump).”

Dan Scavino, named as deputy chief of staff for the US president, has echoed this disruption in a post on social media network X (Twitter).

Scavino responded with a foreboding hourglass to the Australian ambassador’s official statement congratulating Trump on his election victory.

United States Studies Centre chief executive officer Michael Green, also speaking at the conference, confirmed the sentiments put forward by Richardson.

“Kevin Rudd has been very effective [as the Australian ambassador to the US ... it would be a shame if he was undermined,” he said.

“(Australia’s approach to the new US administration should be to) talk a about the future, not the past.

“Don’t virtue signal, it’s not the way with this new administration ... be open-minded.”

The blame game

The primary cause of this discussion is undoubtedly Rudd’s own public comments about Trump after perhaps an ill-advised internal wish on the continuing competitiveness of the US Democratic political party.

Secondary to this is Rudd’s own turbulent past with the Murdoch-owned News Corp behemoth.

The former prime minister has previously called for Australian residents to resist and investigate the “Murdoch media monopoly”. During 2020–21, he called for an inquiry into Rupert Murdoch’s media dominance in Australia and abuse of media monopoly nationally, as well as advocating for improved market diversity in the media industry.

At that time, Murdoch owned 14 of the 21 metropolitan daily and weekend newspapers, as well as radio stations, Sky News Australia and news website News.com.au as well as the only metropolitan newspapers in Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Since leaving the prime ministerial office, Rudd has made public statements regarding an alleged “culture of fear” from politicians regarding their relations with News Corp.

“When did I stop being fearful? Probably when I walked out of the building in 2013,” he said publicly during the inquiry.

“The truth in this building is that everyone’s frightened of Murdoch.

“The Murdoch media empire has campaigned viciously against one side of politics.”

It sounds like the higher powers at News Corp are now keen to re-engage that fear in Rudd and grab a few quick website clicks along the way. In addition, it doesn’t sound like there is a lot of room for objectivity on this topic from either side.

For now, the federal government is putting on a brave face regarding this vendetta-style campaign against Australia’s ambassador to US.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, speaking to Sunday Agenda on 17 November, said the federal government is confident of cooperation between Australia and the US.

“Kevin has done an outstanding job in advocating on behalf of Australia as the ambassador of Australia to the United States,” he said.

“He’s a person of very significant substance. He’s a former prime minister of Australia, he is taken very seriously in Washington and, for that matter, around the world.

“He is taken very seriously in Washington, and that includes with people across the political spectrum, including Republicans.

“And so Kevin is somebody who’s got a long history, for example, in terms of understanding China. He has experience and wisdom, and that is something which has been sought by people across the political spectrum in the United States.

“So, I think Kevin is well placed to advance our interests, to help us build relationships, and I’m really confident that he will be able to do that ably when the Trump administration is sworn in.”

Final thoughts

The situation now facing Australia regarding its ambassador to the US in such an unstable period in the world’s history defies reason, it is beyond common sense.

We are doing ourselves no favours in trade or defence by volunteering to trash our own ambassador to the US on the international stage before the new US administration can even take office.

At a time like this, I can’t help but recall the admittedly lame but appropriate marketing phrase from the 2004 science fiction film, Alien vs. Predator (a movie that’s severely underrated in my opinion): “Whoever wins ... we lose.”