Rudd eases back into PM role

27 Jun 2013, 1:50 pm   -   Source: AAP

Kevin Rudd is facing his first Question Time since regaining the prime ministership, after being sworn in by the governor-general this morning.

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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has begun his first day back in the job calling for a kinder and gentler approach to politics.

Governor-General Quentin Bryce swore in Mr Rudd and his deputy Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Chris Bowen in a brief ceremony at Government House in Canberra on Thursday morning.

It came after Mr Rudd's 57-45 caucus vote victory over Julia Gillard, who ousted him in June 2010 and narrowly held onto power with the backing of the Greens and independents after the 2010 election.

Mr Rudd went straight from the ceremony to Parliament House, where his commission was accepted without a "no-confidence" motion by the federal opposition.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said he was not going to play "parliamentary games" by moving against Mr Rudd's government but urged the incoming leader to call an election as soon as possible.

Mr Rudd could announce an August 24 election, replacing the September 14 date set by Ms Gillard, but strategy discussions were continuing.

He still has to fill five vacancies in his cabinet with an announcement due on Friday.

Mr Rudd used his first speech to parliament since re-taking the Labor leadership to acknowledge political life is "a very hard life indeed".

"Occasionally it can be kind, more often it is not," Mr Rudd told the lower house.

"So let us try, just try, to be a little kinder and gentler with each other in the deliberations of this parliament," he said.

Mr Rudd praised Ms Gillard for her achievements on workplace reform and education funding and for being a "standard bearer for women" as the nation's first female prime minister.

Mr Abbott agreed politics was "sometimes far more brutal than it should be" before asking Mr Rudd why Ms Gillard had been "dragged down".

Labor's new Senate leader Penny Wong revealed she voted for Mr Rudd after previously backing Ms Gillard.

"I had to decide who I thought would offer the best contest at the next election against Tony Abbott," she said. Former Gillard backer Bill Shorten revealed he had been thinking of switching his vote to Mr Rudd for weeks and his final decision had been "incredibly difficult".

"But I also know the cause which I serve ... is more than just about individuals," he added. Former Labor leader Mark Latham likened Mr Rudd to a "snake in the pit".

"The saboteur of 2010 (federal election) is now the leader of the 2013 election campaign," he said.

Mr Rudd is still to announce any policy changes but Foreign Minister Bob Carr has already said Labor needs to take a more "hard-edged" approach to people-smuggling.

Mr Rudd's still to confirm whether he will travel to Indonesia next week for scheduled Australian government talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on July 5.

Rudd eases back into PM role | Rudd parliament | SBS World News