Kevin Rudd resigns as FM, condemns Julia Gillard's silence

Kevin Rudd has resigned as Foreign Affairs Minister saying he believes he no longer has the confidence of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Rudd said he had "no choice" but to depart his role on the front bench after attacks from senior colleagues and "faceless men". "It's time for some plain speaking on this," he said. "The truth is I can only serve as foreign minister if I have the confidence of Prime Minister Gillard and her senior ministers.

In recent days, Minister Simon Crean and a number of other faceless men have publicly attacked my integrity and thereby my fitness to serve as a minister in the government," he said.

He said Gillard had failed to repudiate colleagues who had attacked him.

"I can only conclude that she shares these views," he said.

Rudd said Australia must be governed by the people, not the factions.

"But I can promise you this, there is no way, no way, that I will ever be party to a stealth attack on a sitting Prime Minister elected by the people," he said.

"We all know that what happened then was wrong and it must never happen again." Rudd said the Labour Party "must change fundamentally its culture to end the power of faceless men".

He said the leadership speculation had become a "soap opera" and a distraction for the government.

Courtesy: Herald Sun