My name is Kevin Rudd and IamA former Australian Prime Minister. AMA!

Hi Mr Rudd,

Do you think there should be a Royal Commission into the NBN debacle to hold those accountable?

Cheers

Yes. Abbott and Turnbull have so far got away with blue murder on this. The cost to the taxpayer as a result has been beyond belief.

Is Abbott as awful in person as he is on TV?

About the same.

I still have my Kevin 07 tshirt. Can we be real life best friends?

Absolutely. I'm thinking of printing more T-shirts.

What would you do differently if you had your time as PM over again?

As I said just before, I'd be less trusting of some of the folks I worked with.

Hi Kevin, In your opinion, what's the best decision you made as PM?

To intervene radically in 2008 to stop Australia from falling into a deep economic recession.

Kevin, What's your favourite flavour of meat pie? Love you heaps

• Andy

4&20

Hi Mr Rudd,

Are you as disappointed with the state of current politics as we are? Where constant blame games are played instead of actual problem solving? Where each side picks on each other instead of focusing on policies? Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us btw!

Yes. But the Murdoch media don't provide a fair platform for a policy debate on the future. Their interest is to conduct personal campaigns against individual labor politicians.

Hi Kevin, what suprised you most about life as PM and the roles it entailed?

The GFC. It meant we had to work 16 hour days just to survive.

Nearly ten years on from your Sorry speech, what do you feel has changed for Indigenous Australians over that time? How do we get to constitutional recognition?

Aboriginal education has improved in many areas, and we now have many young Aboriginal kids at our universities.

Mr Rudd,

How deep does the rabbit hole go in terms of media moguls influencing policy?

Is there a reasonable solution to get the NBN back to a standard that Labor proposed and started, or are we going to be held back for another 10 years+?

Murdoch's fox news network in the United States is one of the biggest reason for the emergence of Trump. Murdoch also campaigned in support of Brexit in Britain. Murdoch's control of 70% of the Newspapers in Australia is a major problem for us all.

What was your biggest regret as PM?

Being a little too trusting of others :)

Why do you think the NBN, a $50B nation wide project, has barely been covered or properly discussed in the media?

Please read the transcript of my interview with Leigh Sales on Monday night.

Kevin, why did you wait until your autobiography was being released before telling us what you really think about Murdoch's involvement with the LNP in ruining the NBN?

I have said this many times before publicly. It's just, surprise surprise, the Murdoch media weren't keen on printing it.

What are your thoughts on Canada? Friend or Foe?

BFF's

Do you still hit up Yarralumla Turkish Pide when you are in the area?

Not only do I visit for a kebab when I'm in town my son Marcus has been one of their biggest customers in history.

KRudd, big fan of your cats Mei Mei and Qing Qing on instagram. What do you say to all those cat haters out there who think dogs are the superior pet?

The truth is we have almost always had dogs and cats together, and if they can get on together, surely cat lovers and dog lovers can get on together.

Hi Kevin,

What made you change your stance on marriage equality to a yes? How did it come about and who/what made the realisation real for you?

If you go to my website you will see a 3000+ word essay written in 2013 well before I returned to the Prime Ministership on why I had changed my position.

Neoliberalism is looking increasingly out of favour in many parts of the world, and both the UK and New Zealand labour parties have recently become much more critical of capitalism.

Do you think the Australian Labor Party should join them?

Read the article I wrote on this in the monthly over one decade ago. My views on this have not changed.

Kevin,

Do you feel that covert Chinese intervention through its citizen's in Australia, prominently through curricular groups within our Unis is a legitimate concern? And is it emblematic of the broader approach that the Chinese take to foreign affairs? Is China utterly uncompromising or do you think we can establish a truly effective and productive working relationship?

Not really. But we should ban all foreign donations to political parties like I tried to do in 2009. The Libs opposed.

What do you think is the way forward for the ALP and central-left politics in Australia and other western nations?

The capitalist project has to be adjusted in order to provide a bigger slice of national income to lower and middle income Australians.

G'day! Politics aside, what's your favourite thing about Australia?

The beaches. Just extraordinary. Best in the world.

Hi Kevin.

Has your perspective on Australian politics changed from your recent time in the United States?

PS miss you!

Yes. What I see in the US, UK and Australia is the Murdoch empire harnessing the forces of the far right in every country. It is a national and international disgrace.

whaling. How come Austrailia does not pressure Japan about their illegal "research" whaling in the antarctic?

Good question. I took them to court. We won the case in the international court of justice. Turnbull has done bugger all since.

You are a notable proponent of a Big Australia. What do you say to people who claim that extremely high population growth has lead to the housing affordability crisis and stagnant wages within a growing economy?

Our government had a housing policy to reduce the cost of housing and to boost the supply of social housing. This government doesn't even have a housing minister.

Hey Kevin. What's your opinion on the NBN's current state?

Adding to this: given that it seems a lot of damage has been done with the FTTN rollout, would it be possible (or worth it) to go back to the original FTTP model as soon as possible?

I have always supported FTTP.

Mr Rudd, how important is it we re-think our relationship with the US in its 'pivot towards Asia'? And should we be aiming to form an alliance with China at the expense of ours with the US?

We need to wait out the Trump administration and see what the next administration does. This guy is right out there.

Much has been made of the alleged story of the NBN being dreamed up on the back of an envelope. How did Senator Conroy & others actually communicate the concept to yourself and have it signed off?

The envelope story is bullshit. The NBN was the recommendation of a committee of senior Commonwealth Treasury officials after 6 months examining all the financial, economic and technical options.

Hi Kevin,

During the Howard years, the ALP struggled quite awhile in opposition. What do you believe were the reasons the ALP weren't able to return to office sooner?

As I mention in my book, "Not For the Faint-hearted", Howard was a master of the politics of fear - fear of refugees, fear of muslims, fear of deficit. We weren't able to counter those arguments effectively.

Hi Kevin. Who's idea was the Kevin 07 campaign? It was absolutely brilliant in design!

A combination of Tim Gartrell, the then national secretary of the ALP, and the late Neil Lawrence.

Why did you cop out of taking an ETS to a double dissolution election when you were killing it in the polls?

We had already had our ETS legislation knocked over in the senate twice by then. By the time Gillard and Swan had conducted their coup in June 2010, there was still time to call a DD. Gillard had opposed one from the get go.

I have to ask, how much do you miss The Chasers?

Quite a lot. With no Chasers and the loss of John Clarke there's a big hole in Australian political satire.

G'day kev, are you aware that in schools all around this great country of ours you are viewed as a handball god? How do you feel about this and do you have intentions to hit the squares again any time soon???

Yes I know I am seen as the handball champ of the Southern Hemisphere. In fact I have challenged one of our local schools here in Brisbane to a match on Monday.

How long do you give Turnbull and why?

Mid 2018. That's because the Liberals as a political beast do not have a history of being sentimental towards leaders about to take them over a cliff.

Dear Mr. Rudd,

I admire you overall because you are one of the few Western leaders who can actually speak in fluent Mandarin and understand Chinese culture. I wanted to ask you: with the rise of China in the world stage, as well as the election of Donald Trump as President of the US, what can we expect in the next 10 years as China moves on to be more prominent?

The Chinese president has said he wants to shape the new international system with much greater Chinese input. The key challenge for all of us, is to ensure we still have a global rules-based system. And we need America to re-engage the world.

Hi Kevin,

Do you regret shelving the CPRS in early 2010?

What I regret most is the greens siding with the libs to vote down the CPRS twice in the senate.

Do, aliens exist? I mean honestly, what's the harm. Less and less people are religious these days, you've got to know something. We all know that some debriefing said if you let the people know, that your secret service will make it very hard for you but seriously, we've got to know. lol

Do aliens exist? Haven't you met Tony Abbott.

Hey Kevin, what moment or achievement in your time as Prime Minister are you most proud of?

Keep Australia out of recession during the GFC. The only major economy in the world to do so. Saving hundreds of thousands of jobs and small business's in the process.

Kevin, I'm a member of the ALP, and want to enter politics (NSW). Any suggestions?

My key piece of advice is, as I write in my book Not for the Faint-hearted, what the country needs is people of deep experience, professional knowledge and judgement before they stick their hand up to be an MP. All the best.