Kevin Rudd

Mr Rudd, who was ousted in June, said it had been a difficult time since then but he would join the fight to stop Opposition Leader Tony Abbott winning.

Well, it doesn't matter if you are Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, you or me, how you live your life and manage the difficulties and then what you stand for is who you are. You can listen to tripe and live it. You can let others call the shots but in the end you decide whether you are Nelson Mandela or Mother Theresa. Only yesterday we were talking about how we are totally fed up with the way people are constantly maligned and pulled down in public. We were fed up knowing private things and over the sensationalism of this and that. We just wanted to know whether someone was good at doing what they did, whether they had talent, vision, inspiration, competence. We didn't want to see the personal attacks and the breaking of some pretty decent people because the media just does what it likes and reports what it likes. I guess we were asking for more stability and fairness. The notion of a fair go because we are constantly watching people who are good at their job being brought down, insulted, abused. No one can put up with that and no one should have to...but in the end, in this world , you are what you make yourself and allow yourself to be and  if you still want to contribute you have to develop a thick hide and pursue what you believe is right. 2010 is a big ask.