In an emotional announcement made Monday morning, former Australian Labor Party leader Simon Crean make it known that he is quitting politics after 23 years of political career.

"I came in the ascendary of Gough (Whitlam), it was time then and I think it's time for me now. If I stood again I would be 67 by the time the next election came around. I think the best thing I did was being part of the Accord mechanism that change this country. That set it up for 22 consecutive years of economic growth. You have got to give it to get. I have given it - haven't always got it."

"I didn't come into politics for personal advancement. I came in to change things, to make a difference, and to use the strength of the party structure, the collective if you like, to make those changes."

Mr Crean admitted that the decision to quit dawned on him after his unsuccessful attempt to prompt a leadership ballot in March.

"It would have been a lot harder to have done it then... after the ballot that wasn't... Now that we had a ballot that was, and the result as it has been, I thought it appropriate to call it a day."

He sincerely admitted that he felt vindicated after the dramatic turn-around of prime ministership last week.

"I feel vindicated in the sense that it was important to make the call and to show the lead... that's now happened, it's happened. We are now in a stronger position."

Mr Crean clarified that his decision to quit was not because he refused to serve under the leadership of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

"It was about the party and putting the party in a position where it could win office. I welcome the fact that the party finally made the change."

He admitted being offered a position in Mr Rudd's cabinet but that he refused.

"I welcomed that, but I indicated him I had come to the decision not to contest the next election and he should take that into account. I left him essential the option to use the position to regenerate or if he needed me to plug a gap until the election, I was happy to."

Mr Crean is a son of a Whitlam-era treasurer Frank Crean and brother to Tasmanian politician David Crean. Indeed, his family was a political name in the country for over 70 years now.

He was the president of ACTU in the years of 1985 to 1990. His proudest achievement according to him was when he became instrumental in the signing of the Accord between the Hawke government and the ACTU as vice-president in 1983.

Before his job in the Parliament, Mr Crean was the head of the Federated Storemen and Packer's Union for six years.

He won the seat of Hotham in 1990 and thereby served as a minister both to the Hawke and Keating government.

He was the opposition leader in the period of 2001 and 2003 though he refused to take the party to an election.

When Labor was back in the political arena in the year of 2007, Mr Crean worked in the trade, education, employment and workplace relations, regional development and the arts.