HOST:
I'm just wondering David, did you have any sense of what was ahead of you when you were speaking to Linda yesterday?
BRADBURY:
Well, no I didn't. Obviously things have been fluid and moving around for quite a while so you never know what to expect in politics, but it obviously ended up coming on a bit quicker in the end than perhaps even those who thought it might happen had predicted. Look, it's obviously been a very momentous 24 hours. I think it's been a very difficult period for people that had to take decisions within the Party room, there's no question about that. In the end, I think the Party room has taken the view that Kevin Rudd represents the best person to lead the Labor Party into the next election and to take on Tony Abbott, to preserve the important reforms that our Government has put in place and to also make sure that they can have a long-lasting impact for the Australian community; to give us, as a Labor Government, the very best opportunity to continue to represent the community.
HOST:
David, do you understand how weird that sounds? You know, that the Party has decided, the Caucus has decided, that Kevin Rudd is the best man to take us to the next election, when only three years ago, after winning the election, he was told by the Party that, in fact, you're not the right man to lead this Party and to get things done – but now suddenly he is. It's almost like the politics is sort of giving way to the opinion polls as we've seen many times before, and then what happens after if he manages to come through and win the election, what happens then? Does the Party then decide again that, no, he's not the right man because none of us can work with him?
BRADBURY:
I can understand why people might put the sorts of views that you've just put. I guess when we look at what has occurred over the last few years, I think this particular period of Government, through minority Government, we have achieved enormous things for the country. We've put in place some major, long-term reforms but we are also, and have been in a position, where we're facing a prospect of an electoral defeat of a magnitude that would mean that an incoming Abbott Government could simply just wipe away all of those reforms. Now, every single person that sticks their hand up to run for Parliament does so because they want to make the country a better place, they want to make a difference. Now when you have been a part of a Government that has done that, and I think that this is a Government that has a very proud record in terms of the achievements and the reforms that we've put in place, then you also have an obligation to make sure that you give the country the very best chance of being able to retain and to preserve those achievements, rather than simply going to an election where you face the prospect of having such a one-sided result that you have no chance of winning; but not just of winning, it's also a question of whether or not the important reforms you've made can survive and have the positive benefit for the community that you desired, and we went through all the political pain that we have gone through as a Government to put these reforms in place.
HOST:
David, did you ever see the phantom petition in the end?
BRADBURY:
No, I didn't.
HOST:
Did anyone?
BRADBURY:
Look, I don't know and I wasn't overly concerned about whether there was a petition or not. The truth of the matter was that there were a range of views within the Party room but there was also a strong view amongst a majority of people in the Party room that to not do anything in terms of the Leadership at this point in time would have been to virtually hand over Government by default to Tony Abbott. Now, for those of us who have worked so hard to deliver the big reforms, things like DisabilityCare through to education reforms through to rolling out the NBN, the prospect of going into an election where we face the notion of not only losing but possibly losing control of both Houses of Parliament, so that he can simply skate on in without any scrutiny – and he's been able to avoid scrutiny because of the one-sided nature of the political debate, largely driven by our lack of competitiveness in the polls – then it would be heartbreaking to face that prospect as well.
HOST:
Okay, so let me just pick you up on that because you say it would be heartbreaking and that brings with it all sorts of senses of emotion and that in some ways there was a bit of an emotional choice here, but tell us, when you were in that room and you were faced with making your vote, as was everybody else in the room, what was going through your mind? How much of the personality and the personal feeling for either Julia Gillard or Kevin Rudd did you have to ignore and just look at the cold, hard facts in this? Did any emotion come into it?
BRADBURY:
Well, emotion will always be a part of a decision you take such as this. Can I say, this is the hardest decision I have ever had to take –
HOST:
Why is that?
BRADBURY:
Because I have enormous admiration for Julia Gillard. I think that she is the only person in the country that could have held together a minority Government through the sorts of difficult global economic circumstances we faced and to deliver the sorts of reforms that have been delivered under this minority Government. I don't think anybody else could have done the job through that period the way she has done it, and I also think she's a great person at a personal level. I have great admiration for her and she is someone that I would consider to be a friend. To face the prospect of having to vote against someone in those circumstances is an incredibly difficult thing to do, but in the end, I spoke to the Prime Minister before the ballot and I indicated to her that I believed that this was something that we had to do and it's not about her, it's not about me, but it's about the country and whether or not we, as a Labor Government, that have done many good things need to take this very difficult decision to maintain our competitiveness as we head into what is going to be a crucial election because all of the significant long-term reforms that Prime Minister Gillard oversaw, they face the prospect of being washed away like a sandcastle with a wave coming into the shore. This is the prospect of what we've been facing and it was only in those circumstances that I could take the decision that I took. Now, it was an incredibly difficult one but in the end we are elected to represent our communities and to represent the country and as hard as it can be, sometimes you have to put the personal issues and the personalities to one side and to make a hard decision based upon what you believe to be the right thing and in the best interests of the country.
HOST:
David Bradbury, thanks for your time today.
BRADBURY:
Thanks very much Tracey.