Chris Johnson National Political Correspondent
July 7, 2013
Kevin Rudd: The comeback. Photo: Andrew Meares
Kevin Rudd has a personality bigger than Ben-Hur and the Labor Party has Kevin Rudd. And that is what it has all come down to.
The Labor Party goes into this year's election with all its hopes pinned on one man and his ability to woo the public. As good a campaigner as he is, and he is a politician of some brilliance, it says a great deal about modern Labor that it will all but live or die according to how Rudd does, come the federal poll.
Without him, the government was gone at the election. With him, who knows?
It seems a necessary thing for the party to do, but somewhat sad it has come to this.
So much talent has deserted the government's frontbenches this year that the proven performers can be counted on one hand - and they all pale in the popularity stakes when compared with Rudd.
The Prime Minister's new cabinet is full of shell-shocked ministers, some disgruntled at the portfolios assigned to them. His outer ministry is on training wheels and the backbench is mostly a white-knuckled crew clinging to their seats.
Yet, none of it matters too much because they have Rudd. At least that is the desperate sentiment quietly expressed by some in government ranks.
The government now has the appearance of one of those old western movie sets where the sheriff's office (and every other building in town) has an impressive facade but only a couple of flimsy wooden struts behind propping it up.
The ministry the Prime Minister announced last Monday is most notable, however, for the so-called campaign portfolios and who is serving in them.
Move beyond the rewards, paybacks and the balancing of factions, genders and states, and it is clear Rudd has what is left of his best talent in key election-issue portfolios.
If we can also move beyond the fact we had this past week an Acting Prime Minister named ''Albo'', who is sometimes seen as a bit of a larrikin, it is evident that Anthony Albanese is in the right role as perhaps the next best performer after Rudd himself.
Giving Albanese responsibility for broadband was Rudd's way of telling the electorate that the national broadband network is a priority and he has his best man on the job.
In fact, five ministers in Rudd's team have responsibility in some form - and to greater and lesser degrees - for broadband. It is a campaign portfolio.
Tony Burke in immigration (not his dream job) is another proven performer in a campaign portfolio.
A number of seasoned hands and high-profile ministers are running ministries covering key election issues.
But the list is short because so much of the experience has gone.
That is why Rudd should also look beyond the election if he is serious about reforming the Labor Party or even saving it from more large-scale self-inflicted wounds. The Prime Minister has stepped in to intervene in the diabolical NSW branch of the party and is shutting down its political machine by replacing it with the national executive.
The sentiment is good, but the irony is that we now have a bunch of factional heavyweights trying to clean up a mess created by factional heavyweights.
And when it comes to choosing the best candidates, if ever there was an argument for a captain's pick it would be regarding some key NSW electorates.
Rudd should insist on the very best people, for the long-term good of the party.
Instead, we have the example of Matt Thistlethwaite, a newbie NSW Labor senator who is putting his hand up for the lower house electorate of Kingsford Smith being vacated by Peter Garrett.
Thistlethwaite is not a great performer, but he is a former union boss and a former NSW ALP general secretary.
Sounds ''perfect'' for such an important seat as Kingsford Smith - and it smells like ''same old, same old'' when it comes to talk of party reform.
