Two Halves of a Whole: Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and the Politics of Prime Ministerial Vulnerability

Abstract

The extraordinary experiences of the Rudd–Gillard Labor governments, which lasted less than six years but saw not only the overthrow of two prime ministers but the resurrection of the first in a counter coup, tell us more about the limits of prime ministerial power than the opportunities for its extension. They also highlight the degree to which personal disposition, and the ability to manage relationships and recognise mutual interdependencies, are vital not just to the success of a prime minister, but to his or her survival. The story of these leaders, which started with such promise, became an unexpected and remarkable one of vulnerability, a saga of individual and mutual destruction. It is also a narrative of political ‘pairing’, of which we see many in politics. These often end badly, but usually with fewer spectacular twists than in this case.