Crean asks PM for leadership spill
Labor MP Simon Crean says he will encourage his party members to spill the leadership, saying "this is not personal, this is about the party".
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Julia Gillard has heeded Simon Crean's call for a spill of the Labor leadership.
''For the information of the House I have determined that there will be a ballot for the leadership and deputy leadership of the Labor party at 4.30. In the meantime, take your best shot.''
Labor frontbencher Simon Crean announces he has asked Julia Gillard for a spill of the party leadership. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Ms Gillard said Anthony Albanese would answer questions in question time today in Mr Crean's porfolio.
Earlier on Thursday ALP frontbencher Simon Crean asked the prime minister to call a spill of the Labor leadership.
In question time, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott asked: ''Does the Prime Minister agree with former prime minister Bob Hawke that if you can't govern yourselves, you can't govern the country?''
Ms Gillard replied: ''I certainly believe that as a government you've got to keep your focus on the things that matter to the Australian pepole and that's where my focus is.''
Mr Abbott then sought to move a motion that the House of Representatives had no confidence in the Prime Minister.
During Mr Crean's press conference earlier in the day said: "Something needs to be done to break this deadlock . . . for once and for all."
''I am asking her to call a spill of all leadership positions,'' Mr Crean told journalists in Canberra. ''I will not be standing for the leader. I will be putting myself forward in the leadership team for the deputy leader.''
Mr Crean, who is the Arts and Regional Australia Minister, said former prime minister Kevin Rudd had no alternative but to stand for the leadership. He said he would be supporting Mr Rudd.
To win a ballot, Rudd needs a majority of votes in the 102-member caucus. Last February, he could only muster just 31 votes to Julia Gillard's 71.
Mr Crean said he did not expect Ms Gillard to agree to a spill. ''I think I know what her response will be, I urge her to reconsider that,'' he said.
He said if she did not reconsider then the caucus should ''act in accordance with its rules''.
He said if Ms Gillard was elected in a leadership ballot he would not contest the ballot for deputy and would resign from the cabinet.
Asked if Mr Rudd had enough support to become leader, Mr Crean said: ''I wouldn't be doing this if I did not believe there was the mood and the need for change within the party.''
Mr Crean said he had not spoken to Mr Rudd in the past 48 hours. He said he had spoken to Mr Rudd over a long period of time and believed Mr Rudd could be a ''changed Kevin'', ''a more disciplined
asset''.
Mr Crean reaffirmed that he had concerns about the way in which the former Rudd government was run, but he believed Mr Rudd could change.
''That's a discussion I've continued to have with him. I'm satisfied that this can change but I want to be there to ensure it is changed,'' he said.
Asked whether the September 14 election date was shaky, Mr Crean said he believed the government should run full term.
''I do not believe the position we find ourselves in the polls for example is just due to destabilisation [by the Rudd forces],'' he said.
''I think it is true a number of decision which obviously in hindsight should have been approached differently.
''There is no ticket between me and Kevin. I think he has another view as to who his deputy should be. I
disagree with that view,'' Mr Crean said.
He said if the caucus wanted to see a ''change of leadership, not just a change of leader'' they should support him for deputy.
''It seems to me the party . . . is in a stalemate position,'' he said. ''Something must be done to resolve this issue once and for all.''
''We can't win from the position we're in in the polls,'' he said. But he said Labor's woes were not only about leadership.
''People have got to believe that we have conviction. What we have to do is to take people with us. That means being prepared to argue the case.''
He said the caucus needed to act ''expeditiously, decisively and conclusively''.
''I am urging Mr Rudd to put his name forward in the interests of breaking the deadlock.''
''We've got to reclaim the success of the Labor mantle. What I am challenging the party to do is to look beyond the prism of the two individuals.
''Some will say this is just rewarding the destabilisers . . . but I do not believe that the position we find ourselves in in the polls is just due to destabilisation.''
He said the party's poor standing was partly due to ''a number of decisions'', which he said had been approached poorly. He would not detail these.
He said his decision had been ''very difficult''. He said colleagues had urged him to nominate for leader but he had resisted these calls.
Mr Crean finished his media conference by declaring: ''I'm going to be in question time at two o'clock as I'm required to be.''
Labor Senator Ursula Stephens has tweeted that she hopes Kevin Rudd will nominate for the leadership, after retweeting a tweet from a fake Rudd account suggesting the former prime minister would challenge.
''Sorry folks that was a phony Kevin Rudd tweet, but I sure hope the real one will step up!'' Senator Stephens tweeted.
Victorian Labor MP Richard Marles said that he believed Mr Rudd could lead the party to an election victory.
''Frankly it needed to be brought to a head,'' he told Sky News.
''I think our best chance of winning at the next election is with Kevin Rudd. I think that is the fact of the matter.''
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"I think I know what her response will be, I urge her to reconsider that."
He said if she did not reconsider the caucus should "act in accordance
with its rules"
He said if Ms Gillard was elected in a leadership ballot he would not
contest the ballot for deputy and would resign from the cabinet.
Poll: Who should be the leader of the Labor party?
- Julia Gillard
18%
- Kevin Rudd
52%
- Simon Crean
14%
- Bill Shorten
8%
- Greg Combet
8%
Total votes: 15194.
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