OpinionAustralia’s Kevin Rudd well qualified as envoy to US, but may find diplomatic life constricting

In his new role, he will have to refit his controlling leadership style to suit working for political masters who once served as his ministers

As Australia grapples with a stronger China, Rudd has the special advantage of being a leading authority on China and its leader Xi Jinping

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at a Labor Party rally during the federal election campaign in Brisbane, Australia, in May. Rudd will be the next ambassador to the US. Photo: AP

Published: 12:00am, 23 Dec 2022Updated: 1:25am, 23 Dec 2022

In appointing Kevin Rudd as ambassador to the United States, Anthony Albanese is sending someone with all the qualifications, and more, for what is a highly demanding diplomatic job in extremely uncertain times.

Twice prime minister, and a former foreign minister, Rudd has the special advantage of being a leading authority not just on China but on that country’s leader, when China’s assertiveness is the biggest story in our region. This year he received a doctorate from Oxford for a thesis on the world view of President Xi Jinping.

Rudd possesses expertise in abundance. But he’ll have to make sure he refits his style to what can be the restraining corset of the job of ambassador, in his case working for political masters who once served as his ministers.

Albanese has always been a supporter but in government, Rudd was a highly divisive figure. His controlling leadership style, micromanagement and temper outbursts were publicly and harshly condemned by various colleagues.

When a reporter, mining the old descriptions, asked Albanese on Tuesday whether he was worried about essentially having a second foreign minister in the US, it was not an entirely unreasonable question.