Analysis: Why Rudd as US ambassador will either be inspired or chaotic

Anthony Albanese’s relationships with Kevin Rudd and Stephen Smith were forged in the heat of Labor’s leadership battles.

Now he is sending them to be his eyes and ears in Australia’s closest allies.

The emissaries to the US and UK are posts traditionally filled with people with close and high-level political ties.

Indeed, former prime ministers George Reid, Andrew Fisher, Joseph Cook and Stanley Bruce were four of the first five high commissioners to the UK.

In Washington, the White House, Pentagon and Foggy Bottom need to have confidence Australia’s ambassador speaks with the authority of the Prime Minister — or close enough to it.

This is even more so now than in recent years with the sensitive and complex negotiations to make AUKUS more than a flashy new acronym underway.

Rudd — with his political experience, close ties to Albanese and deep knowledge of foreign affairs — could be an inspired choice.

But Rudd — with his record of micromanaging, short temper and big ego — could also be a chaotic choice.

It’s almost a decade since Wayne Swan, fellow Queenslander and loyal lieutenant to Julia Gillard, decried Rudd’s “dysfunctional decision-making and his deeply demeaning attitude towards other people”.

Swan declined to comment about Rudd’s appointment on Tuesday.

And when a reporter put it to Albanese that other colleagues had “described Kevin Rudd as a psychopath, a micromanager, a control freak” the PM responded that it was “an outstanding appointment”.

Since leaving Parliament, Rudd has pursued a career in foreign policy think tanks and written a PhD thesis on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s global outlook.

He’s also pursued a vendetta against Rupert Murdoch and News Corp which included getting more than half a million people to sign a petition calling for a royal commission into media diversity.

On Twitter and in the media, Rudd vehemently defends his record as prime minister and offers opinions on foreign affairs including calling Donald Trump “the most destructive president in history” and “a traitor to the West”.

Shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham issued a carefully-worded statement about Rudd’s appointment, noting the development of the AUKUS partnership would “require discipline, sensitivity and drive and “the unqualified support and attention of our ambassador”.

It didn’t include the word “welcome”.