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'''Kevin Rudd''' is the [[Prime Minister]] of [[Australia]], and leader of the federal parliamentary [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]] (ALP). At the federal level, the ALP won the 24th November 2007 election after 11 years of [[John Howard|John Howard's]] [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]-National coalition government.
'''Kevin Rudd''' is the [[Prime Minister]] of [[Australia]], and leader of the federal [[Parliament of Australia|parliamentary]] [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]] (ALP). At the federal level, the ALP won the 24th November 2007 election after 11 years of [[John Howard]]'s [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]-National coalition government.
==Public Service and Political career==
From 1981-1988 Rudd served in the Department of Foreign Affairs, mostly posted overseas at the Australian embassies in [[Stockholm, Sweden]] and later in [[Beijing, China]].
He was accused of copying some of his policies (in particular economic policies) from his more conservative predecessor John Howard in a bid to win office, believing that the electorate found those policies appealing. However, his first act as Prime Minister was to ratify the [[Kyoto Protocol]], something Howard had refused to do.
In 1988, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Labor Opposition Leader in Queensland, Wayne Goss. When the Labor party won office in 1989, he became Chief of Staff to the Premier. In 1992, Goss appointed him Director-General of the Office of Cabinet. When the Goss government lost office in 1995, Rudd became a Senior China Consultant in the accounting firm KPMG Australia. He continued in this role while unsuccessfully contesting for election to the federal electorate of Griffith at the 1996 federal election, which he also at the 1998 election and won. Rudd served as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs (2001-2005).
In December 2006, Rudd became Leader of the Opposition after deposing the previous leader of the ALP, [[Kim Beazley]], in a leadership ballot. Since that time, he has enjoyed unprecedented public popularity having campaigned successfully on issues such as the environment and climate change, education and industrial relations policy.
During the election campaign, Rudd was accused of copying some of his policies (in particular economic policies) from his more conservative predecessor, John Howard, in a bid to win office, believing that the electorate found those policies appealing.
The ALP won the election on 24 November 2007, and Rudd was soon affirmed as the leader of the parliamentary wing and therefore Prime Minister elect. The new federal Cabinet was sworn in by the Governor General of Australia on 3 December 2007. Among his first acts as Prime Minister was to ratify the [[Kyoto Protocol]], something Howard had refused to do.
==Personal life==
Rudd grew up in a house steeped in conservative politics. His father was a dairy farmer on the Sunshine Coast of [[Queensland]], and member of the [[National Party of Australia|Country Party]]. After his father was killed in a car accident, when Rudd was 11 year old, the family was forced to leave the farm. Rudd joined the Labor Party at age 15.
For a time he boarded at Marist College Ashgrove in [[Brisbane, Queensland|Brisbane]]. He was dux of his state high school at Nambour, and went on to study at the [[Australian National University]] in [[Canberra]], the national capital, gaining First Class Honours in Arts (Asian Studies), majoring in [[China|Chinese]] language and history, became proficient in [[Mandarin (language)|Mandarin]], and acquired a Chinese alias, Lù Kèwén (the latter a similar sound to his given name, Kevin.)
Rudd met his future wife, Therese Rein, at a meeting of the [[Australian Student Christian Movement]] while studying at university. They married in 1981 at [[St John]]'s [[Anglican Church]] in Canberra, and have three children.
Rudd has attended the Anglican church with his wife and family, without formally taking up membership<ref name="light">[http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/more-than-just-a-light-on-the-hill/2007/12/21/1198175342004.html More than just a light on the hill], Fairfax Digital, 22 December 2007, accessed 27 December 2007</ref>. He is credited with being an active member of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship, attending not only lectures but also Bible studies. He is said to carry a Bible when he travels.
Rudd has given various speeches about his faith, and quotes the German [[theologian]] and [[martyr]] to the anti-[[Nazi]] cause, [[Dietrich Bonhoeffer]], as his hero<ref name="light" />.
==References==
<references/>
{{Australian Prime Ministers}}
{{Australian Prime Ministers}}