Crean calls for spill of Labor leadership - Sydney Morning Herald

Labor frontbencher Simon Crean announces he has asked Julia Gillard for a spill of the party leadership. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Senior ALP frontbencher Simon Crean has asked Prime Minister Julia Gillard to call a spill of the Labor leadership.

Mr Crean 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''.

''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.

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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 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

15%

Kevin Rudd

49%

Simon Crean

17%

Bill Shorten

8%

Greg Combet

11%

Total votes: 1115.

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