By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
LEADERSHIP challenges were reportedly far from ex-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s lips during his visit to Hallam Senior College this morning.
Mr Rudd seemed to be king of the kids as he accompanied ALP ally and Holt MP Anthony Byrne at the opening of the $10.4 million Hallam Valley Trade Training Centre.
Media were excluded from the ceremony, coinciding with plunging opinion polls for Mr Rudd’s successor Julia Gillard and her government.
In recent days, Mr Rudd had been repeatedly telling the media to take ‘ice baths’ and ‘cold showers’ when asked to comment on leadership speculation.
As to why Mr Rudd was there – rather than federal School Education Minister Peter Garrett?
There were no answers from Mr Byrne’s office, which didn’t return calls to the Journal.
According to Hallam Senior College principal Anne Martin, Mr Rudd attended because the Trade Training Centre program was his ‘‘brainchild’’ while he was leader of the nation.
‘‘[Mr Rudd] wanted to have a look at the facilities. He said it was his brainchild. Apparently the idea came from a visit to Hallam in 2007 or 2008.
‘‘He moved through the crowd and seemed to really talk with the kids,’’ Ms Martin said. ‘‘I thought they may not know him but they did.’’
She said Mr Rudd made no mention about leadership tensions in his speech to students but ‘‘spoke a great deal on the roll-on effect of excellent training facilities for all Australians’’.
And of the need of students to ‘‘work hard for a better future for themselves and the country’’.
However, Anthony Walsh, principal of St John’s Regional College in Dandenong, tweeted this afternoon: ‘‘Today at the opening of the Hallam TTC, Kevin Rudd launched what I believe was his Labour [sic] Leadership challenge. Biggest political speech.’’
Mr Walsh was unavailable to elaborate on his comments.
As for the TTC itself, Ms Martin was enthusiastic for its ‘‘state-of-the-art’’ training facilities provided for year 10-12 students from seven schools.
Students would learn trades such as automotive, construction, hospitality and engineering.
