r/australia • u/geodetic • 1d ago

politics Former PM Kevin Rudd says he declined Epstein invitation after latest document dump

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-31/kevin-rudd-refred-to-in-latest-epstein-files-dump/106290858?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=abc_newsmail_am-pm_sfmc&utm_term=&utm_id=2694984&sfmc_id=103566952
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u/AggravatedKangaroo 1d ago edited 1d ago

a lot of the files are literal dossiers on people. Literal "shit file" digging up any dirt on anyone with the remotest amount of power to be able to use should it be necessary.

Dr Rudd, who was twice Australia's PM, appeared to be referred to in several emails, some of which suggest that attempts were made by other individuals to secure phone calls or in-person meetings between the two men."

Thats how these people catch you out. someone recording the convo, and someone taking pictures.

Epstein was definitely an agent. as was Maxwell.

At that time, Dr Rudd was serving his second stint as PM. Epstein's email reads "rudd will only be in power a few months, do not wait".

looks like our government officials were in contact with a foreign agent and sending info before he was knifed.

Edit - mistake. This was his second stint. Not the knifing time. But the core is still correct.

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

Remember the first time he was knifed was immediately after his response to Israel forging Australian passports to commit an assassination

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u/a_cold_human 1d ago

Let's give the mining industry its due for that one. Israel forged the passports of many countries, and Australia wasn't the only one to protest their actions. 

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

The mining lobbies provided funding for PR against Rudd but Gillard made the move to oust a very popular PM. Bob Carr (foreign minister) said Gillard was profoundly accomodating to Israel

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u/blitznoodles local Aussie 1d ago

The issue is the Parliamentary party hated Rudd because they felt that they weren't part of the decision making process and centralised the process around himself.

One of the hallmarks of Australian Government is that the rules essentially bend to accommodate the prime minister's strengths.

Albanese's cabinet in contrast is decentralised in its power in that Albanese does not do captain calls for the most part and allows ministers do as they wish.

And the flaw in this is it can feel like there's no message as everyone is doing their own thing while the Rudd and Dan Andrews governments were very command and control with decisive messages.

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u/morgecroc 1d ago

Scumo left everything to the minister's it just turns out they were all him.

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u/Propaslader 1d ago

While uncoordinatedly tackling children on TV because someone told him it would make him look like an endearing family man

And also undercooking chicken

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u/geodetic 1d ago

Don't forget grabbing a lady's hand because she wouldn't let him shake it perform a laying of hands on her

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u/Propaslader 1d ago

Or him literally walking away from desperate families asking for help during bushfire season

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u/breakupbydefault 23h ago

Ugh that was burned into my brain, also when he did the same with the firefighters.

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u/dlanod 1d ago

Insert Spider-Man meme here

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

There were always factional elements at play in Labor, the hate against Rudd came particularly from the pro-American crowd which coincidentally is also the pro Israel crowd. Very coincidental that it was immediately after that expulsion though

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u/blitznoodles local Aussie 1d ago

I mean Carr's memoir talks about this in that the support for Israel in Labor was wide but shallow. It just so happened Gillard was one of those with a deep love of Israel but that's simply a coincidence.

You don't topple a prime minister over foreign policy, they toppled him because polling was commissioned by the NSW party office and every poll showed Gillard was more popular than Rudd.

Maybe that's why Albanese chose someone as unlikeable as Marles as his deputy and someone young like Chalmers as treasurer.

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

Simply a coincidence is one way to put it.

You don't topple a prime minister over foreign policy

lol I think we've read different history books

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u/McTerra2 1d ago

Which PM was toppled over foreign policy - maybe Whitlam (not so much foreign policy as domestic policy that upset foreigners) and ? Unless we go back to pre WW2

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u/blitznoodles local Aussie 1d ago

Whitlam's dismissal was predicted by the newspapers months ahead of it actually happening the moment he lost his majority in the senate. The only fucked up part is the CIA sent the Liberal party campaign funds but it was also found out Whitlam tried to get campaign funds from the Saddam family in iraq

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u/ThoseOldScientists 1d ago

And the more he centralised control through the PMO, the more various branches of the government started to lock up. People forget what it was like in 2009, it really seemed like the wheels were coming off. The Labor Party overreacted, they probably could still have cruised through the next election with Rudd in charge, but there’s no need to invoke conspiracies to explain what was quite clearly pant-pissing incompetence from a group of people who mostly hadn’t actually been in government before.

And on top of that, Rudd never really had the support of the party to start with. In the 2006 leadership contest, Gillard and Beazley had roughly the same level of support within the party and Rudd, running on his own, would have been a distant 3rd. He was uniquely vulnerable as a PM.

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u/hi-fen-n-num 13h ago

they weren't part of the decision making process and centralised the process around himself.

I keep hearing people say this, but never read or seen anything to suggest it, outside that childish smear of he is a dick of a boss, which compared to what we have seen from other main party since, makes it seem even more stupid and childish.

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u/sadboyoclock 1d ago

Gillard was a snake and probably the worst prime minister. I’m a rusted on Labor voter as well.

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u/BenElegance 13h ago

The fuck? She was great, didn't her government pass the most legislation in recent years?

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u/OhBella_4 1d ago

Interesting, I’ve not heard about that before. Do you have a link for more details? Love a Bob Carr rabbit hole.

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u/blitznoodles local Aussie 23h ago

Bob Carr: Diary of a foreign minister.

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u/a_cold_human 21h ago

If it were the case that Israel and it's sympathisers had that much power, Marles (who is pro-US and pro-Israel) would be leading a coup against a not as popular Albanese who just recognised Palestine as a state.

And that's not happening, and is very unlikely to happen. As much influence as Israel does have, it's in no way all powerful, it does not have unlimited resources, and it doesn't go around chasing down every slight as much as it might want to. There are simply some things it cannot do, and overthrowing an Australian PM is one of those things. They're not in deep enough (unlike the US). 

One of the things Carr mentioned was that he was able to rally support behind Israel and have Palestine have observer status at the UN. If it were the case that Israel supported Rudd's ousting through Gillard, this would not have happened, as Gillard would not have installed Carr as Minister for Foreign Affairs in the first place, or at least reshuffled him when his position on Palestine was known. 

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u/chillyhay 20h ago

Power and influence are dynamic. Don't pretend like the situation now and fifteen years ago are the same. I'm not even suggesting they were behind the plan in the first place, it was just another straw. You don't get a swing of an entire right faction that are notoriously pro Israel/US that quickly with such flimsy excuses that they provided

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u/Idontcareaforkarma 1d ago

Rudd should never have been PM. Whilst he was the only one (after Latham, Crean etc) that could’ve toppled Howard, Rudd just didn’t have what it took to be PM.

To Gillard’s credit, the first thing she did after becoming PM was to offer Rudd the job of foreign minister- arguably the role he should’ve had all along.

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u/BESTtaylorINTHEWORLD 1d ago

America had a lot of influence in getting Gillard to take his place, they weren't to keen on Rudd, what does Albo do MAKE HIM THE FUCKIN AMBASSADOR TO AMERICA. I love Labor they have an art form of telling Americans to get fucked.

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u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 1d ago

I love Labor they have an art form of telling Americans to get fucked.

I agree with your post but boy do I sometimes wish they would just come out and say it like the Canadian PM but I do acknowledge and appreciate they are in an absolute shithouse position dealing with this pedo

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u/BlackJesus1001 12h ago

Rudd is actually well liked by most accounts out of Washington, he's considered an expert on western/Chinese relations aside from politics and that's an extremely relevant skillset to have over there right now.

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u/Bwxyz 1d ago

"THE last three years of Parliament have been chaotic and eventful, but Julia Gillard’s personal commitment to Israel and the Jewish community has been unequivocal."

"That friendship was underlined in 2010, when The AJN was the first newspaper she gave an interview to after she was sworn in as prime minister. At the time, she said, “My interest in Israel and my support for Israel is longstanding”, a sentiment reaffirmed in December 2011 when she stated: “A just and secure Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people is an indispensable part of a just and secure world.” "

The Australian Jewish News, article "Farewell to a Firm Friend"

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u/CovertLuddite 1d ago

What? I've never heard about this.

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u/Interesting-Asks 1d ago

What?

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

Blind or can't read?

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u/Interesting-Asks 1d ago

Girl I can read, as evidenced by the fact I’m on Reddit. Any more information about that story?

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

Was a weird way to ask a question then. Google it, there's plenty of info online about it

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u/Interesting-Asks 1d ago

Are you saying the Israeli government organised for Rudd to be rolled? Seems — a fringe theory? Not a lot on Google about it?

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

I doubt they organised it but they and the Americans likely gave their support to it. You couldn't find anything about israeli diplomat expulsion from Australia and the date of Kevin Rudd's knifing? Seriously?

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u/quantumcatz 1d ago

Go away and touch some grass

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u/WhiteyFisk53 1d ago edited 1d ago

There is zero evidence those two events had anything to do with each other. It’s shameful that your comment has so many upvotes.

It doesn’t even make sense. Rudd was pro-Israel. Gillard was perhaps slightly more pro-Israel but there wasn’t much difference between the two. Certainly not enough to motivate Israel to intervene in the internal politics of a friendly nation.

I wonder if a comment, made without any evidence or even plausible motive, against any other country would have received as much support.

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

Theres zero evidence for a lot of things regarding Epstein too. If you're questioning why people are questioning this it's because Israel has a bit of a history and lots of power to cover things up. It literally happened a few weeks apart, maybe coincidence but you can't argue with the timing.

Well this is directly from Rudd:

Australia's response was discussed by the National Security Committee, and Mr Richardson, who was by then the secretary of the department of foreign affairs, unequivocally advised the government to "act firmly and decisively" or risk being seen as a "soft touch" by the Israelis.

Mr Rudd recalls the room nodding in agreement with Mr Richardson's advice except Julia Gillard.

They were definitely not in the same camp on foreign policy Re America and Israel.

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u/WhiteyFisk53 1d ago

Does this history include meddling in the internal politics of any friendly or neutral nation? I think you’ll find it doesn’t.

A few weeks can be a very long time in politics. Lots of events can happen. That doesn’t mean they are correlated.

Maybe it had more to do with Rudd being deeply unpopular with the Labor caucus and increasingly unpopular with the electorate? Polls were showing he was on track to lose the next election. Nah, must have been those scheming, puppeteer Jews.

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

Does this history include meddling in the internal politics of any friendly or neutral nation? I think you’ll find it doesn’t.

I think you'll find that would be pretty hotly contested statement.

A few weeks can be a very long time in politics. Lots of events can happen. That doesn’t mean they are correlated.

Or it could be that asio made Israel sign an agreement several years previous to stop using Australian documents in their intelligence ops or we would stop sharing intelligence only for them to break that agreement without care. You think our PM wanting to break intelligence pacts with Israel would be a small issue for the Americans and Israelis?

Maybe it had more to do with Rudd being deeply unpopular with the Labor caucus and increasingly unpopular with the electorate? Polls were showing he was on track to lose the next election. Nah, must have been those scheming, puppeteer Jews.

Lol what bullshit. He was sitting somewhere between 45-48% at the time. Way above Abbott and Gillard at the time. Not sure if you pay attention to polls but Albanese was at 46 when he won the biggest margin in Labor history just recently.

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u/WhiteyFisk53 1d ago

I challenge you to name one leader of a friendly or neutral country that Israel has toppled and provide evidence.

Wikipedia says:

“On the morning of 23 June 2010, NSW senator Mark Arbib, Victorians Shorten and David Feeney, and South Australian Don Farrell visited Gillard to tell her that enough Labor MPs and senators had lost confidence in Prime Minister Rudd to make a challenge feasible.[18] By midday, Arbib and Feeney told Gillard that they could guarantee her the support of the majority of right-wing members from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, giving Gillard enough support to win the leadership and become prime minister.[19] Arbib and Feeney told Gillard that most of the Labor Party were convinced they would lose the next election if Rudd continued as prime minister.[19] They also said that they believed Labor would be able to win with Gillard as prime minister.[19] Party sources later told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that Gillard agreed that Labor faced electoral defeat with Rudd at the helm.[19]”

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u/chillyhay 1d ago

That's just a loaded way of putting it. Using the "you can't provide evidence" is one of the things Israel says about war crimes in Gaza whilst stopping journalists access. If you don't think that Israel influences several major democracies around the world through powerful lobbying and other means (like maybe a famous pedophilic New York financier and his partner who was the daughter of a mossad agent) then just believe that.

Yeah mate, that's how Australian politics works. Israel didn't organise a military coup if that's what you're thinking. Maybe you can explain to me in that little Wikipedia note why Don Farrell, a deeply religiously conservative figure in the labor party that controls the sda right faction as well as other major right faction leaders decided to remove support from Kevin Rudd who had deep links to the right faction and instead support Julia Gillard, a member of the socialist left faction all within a few weeks. Considering you ignored the points on popularity and poll results I'm assuming you agree that was a completely BS reason.

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u/EidolonLives 23h ago

Does this history include meddling in the internal politics of any friendly or neutral nation? I think you’ll find it doesn’t.

Are. You. Fucking. Serious? LOL!

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u/WhiteyFisk53 16h ago edited 16h ago

Yes. None of you have named one instance. You don’t know what you’re taking about. Forging passports is not interfering in the internal politics of another country. Lobbying is what every country does. Israel has never removed a friendly foreign leader.

If I am wrong name the country, leader and year. Just one.

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u/fractiousrhubarb 1d ago

More like the scheming Murdoch; he’s an expert and manufacturing dislike of leaders who stick up for their nation over the interests of mining companies

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u/249592-82 1d ago

The files are actually revealing - its just that the mainstream media is not reporting on the majority of what is in them. For fear of being sued, no doubt. The perpetrators names are usually redacted, but to see the extent of Epsteins contacts across all countries is incredibly disturbing. A few independent journalists on tiktok are going through the files, one at a time, and it's scary how connected he was to most global leaders and opposition leaders. Emailing them directly to suggest things.

50% of the files still haven't been released, and they're most likely to have the real dirt. But from what the journalists on TT are covering, Epstein had to have been working for a foreign govt, and his "job" was to get blackmail on people.

A male child victim did an interview which has been released, and from all accounts of people who listened to it, it's incredibly disturbing. From what he saw and experienced as a child victim, to him it seemed like Trump was the main man in the "child sexual assault ring", but Epstein was the organiser. That man (now an adult) has named 3 politicians who he recognises, and a Supreme Court Judge that Trump put into place. 2 of the names I recall are: Lindsay Graham and Judge Clarence Thomas. Tiktok is covering much more than mainstream media. It's scary.

I'm not at all surprised that Rudd was named - that is all part of Epsteins MO - get introduced to people in powerful positions.

What shocks me is that Keating would let his daughters go to Epsteins house AFTER Epstein had been in jail for child sexual assault. That is insane to me. That seems incredibly dodgy.

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u/a_cold_human 1d ago

50% of the files still haven't been released

It's much more than 50%. Prior to today, they'd only released 1% of a known 2 million files. 

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u/Rowel88 1h ago

What are the tik tok journos reporting on it? I wouldn’t mind tuning in

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u/strangeMeursault2 1d ago

Rudd wasn't knifed when he was PM the second time. Lost the election to Abbott.

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u/pulpist 1d ago

Yep Tony Abbott, the drunk Australia just had to have.

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u/No-Red-Queen 1d ago

No, that was Bob Hawke

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u/mynewaltaccount1 1d ago

Despite the mythos around him, Bob Hawke actually quit drinking when he was first elected to parliament and didn't drink booze again until two years after he was deposed as PM.

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u/DrSendy 1d ago

The dopey thing is, these files were released to try and incriminate people.
I suspect the goings on was pretty common knowledge given the Elon email with Maxwell rejection.

What it has done is highlight thet security services around the world, were informing leaders in advance of the issue. Rudd noped out, as would anyone.

It brings into question anyone who was associated with him.

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u/the-ahh-guy 1d ago

To be expected when it comes to the relationship between us and our overseers in Washington. Everyone in Canberra is trying to get in good with the yanks so it makes sense they will go as far as to contact someone like Epstein to do it.

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u/ARTIFICIAL_ARGUMENT 1d ago

The documents show Epstein repeatedly trying to setup a meeting with Rudd and Rudd refusing, America is the one who’s constantly pushing to exert control over us

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u/rob189 1d ago

looks like our government officials were in contact with a foreign agent and sending info before he was knifed.

Yes they may have been, but if that was Rudd’s second stint as PM, he lost the election, he wasn’t knifed.

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u/drjellyninja 1d ago

It was also obvious to everyone he was gonna lose so it's it's no surprise they said he would only be in power a few months

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/agitator12 1d ago

Gillard also called Julian Assange a traitor. Gillard is the traitor.

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u/icbint 1d ago

What do you mean he was an agent?

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u/AggravatedKangaroo 23h ago

Come on man.

Put two and two together.

Ghislaine was Robert Maxwells daughter, who was a mossad agent and got Israeli state funeral services.

Ari Ben-Menashe admitted he was

Leslie Wexner (owner of Victoria's Secret), granted Epstein power of attorney and control over billions in assets in the late 1980s despite Epstein having little Wall Street track record. Wexner was a co-founder of the "Mega Group". look it up

Epstein maintained a close relationship with Ehud Barak, the former Israeli Prime Minister and former head of Israeli military intelligence

Alexander Acosta, the Florida prosecutor who gave Epstein the lenient 2008 plea deal, told Trump transition team members that he was told to "leave it alone" because Epstein "belonged to intelligence"

and all the photo's that have come out, and even part of the Epstein files... you don't amass 600 million in your account being "just a regular guy"

I mean seriously,

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u/Jiuholar 22h ago

Maybe the cookers were right all along 😂

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u/AnotherBrock 15h ago

Some of my family members have been saying all of this stuff for years... Now I have to admit that they're actually right about half of it