|
Kevin
Rudd
was elected as the 26th Prime Minister
of Australia in 2007. He was sworn into
office on December 3, 2007.
Kevin
Rudd was born on September 21, 1957 in
Nambour, Queensland and spent much of
his childhood on a dairy farm before attending
Marist College Ashgrove in Brisbane. Following
his primary education, Rudd attended Nambour
State High School. During his high school
years, when Rudd was only 15, he joined
the Australian Labor Party. He continued
to be a member well past his high school
graduation in 1974.
Following
his graduation, Rudd attended the Australian
National University in Canberra where
he majored in Chinese history and Chinese
language. His studies left him proficient
in Mandarin and his work awarded him First
Class Honours upon graduation. After leaving
the university, Rudd continued his studies
in Chinese language and history at the
National Taiwan Normal University in Taiwan.
Although
he met his future wife, Therese Rein,
at the University in Canberra, Rudd and
Rein did not marry until 1981. That same
year, Rudd joined the Department of Foreign
Affairs which sent he and his wife overseas
to serve in Sweden and later China. Rudd
continued to work with the Department
until 1988 when he returned to Australia
to become Chief of Staff to the Labor
Opposition Leader in Queensland.
The
Leader at the time was Wayne Goss who
later became Premier when the Labor party
won the office the following year. Kevin
Rudd naturally moved up in office with
the win and became Chief of Staff to the
Premier. He continued in this position
until 1992 when he became Director-General
of the Office of the Cabinet. Rudd's position
was of great influence to Australia's
education system and he used his power
to push for better foreign language programs
in schools. He pushed for Asian language
and culture programs which were widely
accepted by both government and non government
agencies.
When
Goss left office in 1995, Rudd became
Senior China Consultant to the company
KPMG Australia where he worked while running
for office. He lost in the 1996 election
but won two years later in 1998. In 2001
he was appointed Shadow Minister for Foreign
Affairs. Although he continued to oppose
the United States war in Iraq, he continued
to support the Australian-American alliance.
His work made him a favorite to run for
party leader, but Kevin Rudd rejected
the idea, choosing to support another
member instead.
Kevin
Rudd was once again a favorite for Leader
when the October 2004 elections came.
He once again decided to maintain his
position. He reconsidered for a short
time when Mark Latham resigned from office
but decided to support a different candidate
instead, one he had supported years earlier,
Kim Beazley. Under the Beazley leadership,
Rudd was once again given extensive responsibilities
including Shadow Minister for Foreign
Affairs, International Security, and the
Shadow Minister for Trade.
Public
opinion for Rudd continued to rise and,
in December of 2006, he decided to run
for party Leader. He won the election
on December 4, 2006. Almost one year later,
on November 24, 2007, Rudd became Prime
Minister-elect after the Coalition
leader, John Howard, conceded the
party's right to govern. Rudd was sworn
in on December 3, 2007. His first act
as Prime Minister was to sign the Kyoto
Protocol.
A
few months later Kevin Rudd fulfilled
yet another promise by apologizing to
the Indigenous Australians for the stolen
generation. Although he received some
criticism for failing to provide monetary
compensation, Rudd promised to help lift
the living standards of the Indigenous
population and provide better education
and health for the people.
Rudd
continued to make history with overwhelming
public support, international relations,
and helping to reform Australia's recognition
of same-sex relationships and legal and
federal benefits to couples.
Kevin
Rudd and his wife Theresa have three children
and live in Canberra.
This Kevin Rudd biography may not
be reproduced online.
Copyright © Woopidoo.com (ek)
|
Bookmark