KEY POINTS:
- Kevin Rudd's official portrait has been unveiled at Parliament House.
- At the unveiling ceremony, the former PM drew parallels between anti-Voice arguments and pre-Apology warnings.
- Anthony Albanese echoed Rudd's comparison and praised his predecessor's wording of the Apology as "a verbal hug".
Warnings before the Apology to the Stolen Generations were proven untrue, Kevin Rudd said at the unveiling of his official portrait earlier today, as the former leader drew parallels with current fears over the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
And in a thinly veiled swipe at Opposition leader Peter Dutton, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Rudd's 2008 apology as a "moment of national unity" backed by the "leadership" of the Opposition at the time.
Within months of taking office, Rudd delivered the government's formal apology over the forced removal of Aboriginal children, something his predecessor John Howard consistently argued against.
Speaking at the unveiling of his official portrait at Parliament House - something he compared to being the "after dinner speaker at your own wake" - Rudd stressed the lead-up to the apology also came with warnings it could set the reconciliation process back and even spark a wave of litigation.
"We proved them wrong," he said on Wednesday.
Australians at the end of the year and, if successful, it would be the first time a Labor-led referendum would pass without support from a Coalition Opposition.
Kevin Rudd is depicted with a beard in the portrait, in a move the artist says reflects a man 'still developing his legacy'. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
"I would reflect on this: fears were raised 15 years ago, about why we should not do this thing called the apology. Fears are being raised today," he said.
"I simply ask Australians to reflect on the fundamentals, about whether those fears are well founded or not. The arc of history bends slowly towards justice."
Anthony Albanese hugs Kevin Rudd after speaking at the unveiling of his official portrait at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
"That apology was spoken about for a long period. It was said that it would result in litigation, that would result in reparations, and that it would be the month of division," he said.
"Instead, what it was was a moment of national unity. And I pay tribute ... [to] Brendan Nelson, at the time the leader of the Liberal Party, who showed leadership at that time."
Albanese, who was deputy prime minister during Rudd's second period in 2013, said his leader worked tirelessly to ensure that every word of the apology was "perfect".
"Indeed it was. Every word, every word. Leaping out from the page, as a demonstration of compassion and reconciliation," he said.
"[It was] a verbal hug, the way that you embrace people who needed it. A beautiful piece of work, I believe, [which is] only matched by the one-page Uluru Statement From the Heart."
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd's portrait has been unveiled at Parliament House. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
Rudd has a beard in the official portrait
A copy of the apology appears behind Rudd in his official portrait, which also depicts him with the beard he has sported since leaving office.
Rudd was clean-shaven while in parliament, but artist Ralph Heimans said he had decided to depict a man who was "still developing his legacy" even after leaving office.
"Do we set it in the past, back in the time when you were in office, or do we embrace the moment? Essentially that means: Are you clean shaven, or with the Hemingway beard? That was the main question at hand," he said.
Kevin Rudd's cat appears in the bottom right of the painting, having repeatedly interrupted his portrait sittings. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
"He was determined to annoy us during the sitting and constantly interrupted. So ... we I decided to include [him] in the painting," Heimans said.
Former prime ministers are honoured by official portraits hung in public areas of Parliament House.
Rudd's was finally unveiled over a decade since he left office, a delay he attributed to his schedule living in the US and the COVID-19 pandemic.
A portrait of his successor, Tony Abbott, was unveiled in November.
Albanese's job harder than mine: Rudd
Rudd came to office as the Global Financial Crisis gripped the international economy, and was also credited with driving efforts at the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit.
But he argued "huge structural challenges" - including rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, an accelerating climate crisis, and the rise of artificial intelligence - meant Albanese faced tougher challenges upon entering office.
"Prime minister, you have [a] harder job than I did. I mean that," he said to Albanese.
"We're in a region where the risk of crisis conflict and war is real, not a theory."
Rudd's appointment to the US ambassadorship in March 2023 raised questions about how he would handle the return of Donald Trump, who he once labelled a "traitor to the West" on X.
But he warned challenges to democracy were broader than one county, saying the "democratic project around the world is under threat".
"For those of us who assume that democracy is a natural state of things, reflect for a moment on history," he said.
"This delicate flower we call democracy is something to be nurtured like a flower in the garden, because the raw, wild wilderness of raw politics can devour all unless we're careful."
