Kevin Rudd vs Tony Abbott Best Political Gaffes and Quotes for Australia Federal Election 2013
Just 24 hours before the Australian Federal Election 2013, rivals for the prime minister seat, Kevin Rudd and Tony Abott, were both busy as bees going here and there and everywhere, doing their last hurrahs for each other's campaign trail.
Voters, on the other hand, might be bombarded with politically charged election campaign pledges that they might feel like just getting their votes done and over with.
To help voters out to a quick recall on why and why not they should vote either of Mr Rudd and Mr Abbott, here is a quick rundown of their best election quotes and viral political gaffes.
Kevin Rudd Best Quotes
On Galaxy Poll results revealing he and Labor party is set to lose for Sept 7 election as told in ABC 1 Kitchen cabinet Sep 6 episode:
"I don't die easily, do I?"
"I'm pretty relaxed about that. I'll say yes, they'll say no, they'll say I want Kevin or they want Tony. Fine, matter for them. My job is simply to take the argument up. It's the Labor Party that brought in things like the age pension, the Labor Party who pioneered the equality of women, it's the Labor Party that's been out there caring for the homeless since goodness knows when."
On Family and losing to Julia Gillard back in 2007 (still in Kitchen Cabinet):
"It's not gilding the lily to say it was a very hard time and those hours were very hard, not just on me but on Therese and the kids. We actually function as a family unit very closely ... and we're not just family, we are friends and so we look out for each other big time. My mother was a big influence on me and she was a phenomenally strong person. So her influence, I think, as I reflect back on it, would have been very simply one of pick yourself up, dust yourself off, get back into it."
In July 2013 as he addressed the issue on asylum seekers arriving by boat to PNG:
"I deeply believe that if the Australian Labor Party, a party of which I have been a proud member for more than 30 years, is to have the best future for our nation, then it must change fundamentally its culture and to end the power of faceless men. Australia must be governed by the people, not by the factions."
In June 2013 after being reinstated as prime minister, ousting Julia Gillard and promising to still continue the Sept election:
"The Australian Labor Party is committed to turning the country into a republic. We've not stipulated a timeline for doing that."
Kevin Rudd Political Gaffes
Mr "Rude" and Hitler:
Mr Rudd, in a short time, was dubbed as "Mr Rude" because of his make-up artist's controversial Facebook saying he was the worst client she had ever dealt with. Day after the controversial Facebook post, "Mr Rude" was pictured in a heated pose while expressing his political ideas with a backdrop showing photos of the dictator and feisty Hitler.
As how The Sydney Morning Herald put it, "It was the sort of disastrous photo opportunity that political advance parties are supposed to do everything to avoid."
Surviving Kokoda Track in 1942:
During World War 2, Australian forces lost 2,200 of its men at the Kokoda Track. But, there were veterans whom survived the ordeal and were alive to hear Mr Rudd's speech at a Moresby press conference.
According to Mr Rudd:
"I was one of them way back then and I am a survivor of the Kokoda Track."
What Mr Rudd means was that he was with some of the foreigners who had recently braved the same track in memory of the heroes of WW2.
But he has chosen his words poorly which lead one 93-year-old veteran from reacting harshly:
"It was a stupid thing to say, he wasn't there. Instead of saying stupid things he should spend more money on health and education for our friends in PNG.''
Tony Abbot's Best Quotes:
In June 2013, in an attack of Mr Rudd's asylum seeker policy:
"We do not want educated women, at the higher degree level, to deny them a career. If we want women of that calibre to have families - and we should - well we've got to give them a fair dinkum chance to do so."
In May 2013, in an announcement of Liberal's $4.2 billion paid parental leave scheme:
"Gillard won't lie down and die and where there's life, there's fight."
Tony Abbott's Political Gaffe:
It seemed like Mr Abbott had fresher and viral list of gaffes to date.
During a photo opportunity, Mr Abbott sent chills to everyone's backbones when he was heard telling a group of young netballers that "a bit of body contact never hurt anyone."
His comment came days after he made another controversial comment about Liberal candidate for Lindsay, Fiona Scott, saying she had "a bit of sex appeal" when asked about Ms Scott's political capability.
And of course, who will forget the globally viral "the suppository of all wisdom" gaffe he committed in front of a large audience in Melbourne. He actually meant "repository."
"No one, however smart, however well-educated, however experienced, is the suppository of all wisdom."