Revolutionary Socialist Party federal election candidate Van Rudd, June 25, outside newly sword-in Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s electorate office in the south-western Melbourne suburb of Werribee. ABC News Online reported the same day: “Former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s nephew says he now has more reasons for fighting Julia Gillard in her seat at the next election. Van Rudd is running for the Revolutionary Socialist Party in the new Prime Minister’s Melbourne seat of Lalor. Ms Gillard became Labor leader yesterday after former prime minister Kevin Rudd was ousted in a Labor leadership coup.

“Van Rudd says the ascension of Ms Gillard marks a more conservative path for Labor because it was the NSW right faction that pushed for the leadership change. ‘We feel that we need to make a stand against the policies of the Labor Government’, he said. “Julia Gillard is a member of the Labor Party, so we chose the seat of Lalor because it’s quite close to where we live and it also represents to us an increase in migrants and asylum seekers, refugees who move to Australia. Julia Gillard has been influenced a lot and has been in the trajectory of right-wing politics. She’s been influenced by the mining magnates, the conservative unions, so what it says to me is we have to stand up and fight against this’.”

The RSP has also decided to stand Refugee Action Coalition member Kerry Vernon against federal Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott, in his Sydney north-shore seat of Warringah.