Mr Bornstein was a vocal critic of Mr Rudd as prime minister,declaring he had reached his “moral limits of political affiliation” when he returned to lead the former Labor government in 2013 and introduced a hard-line policy on asylum seekers arriving by boat. He tweeted at the time he would not vote Labor at that election.
Mr Rudd said his criticism was not about Bornstein’s past personal attacks on him,but about his commitment to Labor. He remains a close friend and political ally of Senator Carr,a cabinet minister in his governments and the longest-serving current member of the Senate.
“I couldn’t give a damn about Bornstein’s personal attacks on me. Water off a duck’s back. What I do give a damn about is that if Bornstein couldn’t stand with the last Labor government,why would party members have any trust that when the going gets tough,he would not give up again?” he said.
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Victorian ALP records show Mr Bornstein resigned at least twice since he first became a member in 1992. He rejoined in September 2006 but by June 2011 he was no longer on the membership roll. Current records show he has been a member since June 21,2016.
Several senior Labor figures said his “performative” resignations forced a party membership rule change,nicknamed the “Bornstein rule”,which meant a member needed to wait at least 12 months before rejoining the party.
Mr Rudd said when Australia was “staring down the barrel of Tony Abbott’s prime ministership”,Labor members and senators,branch members and volunteers worked together to do everything to stop an Abbott government and,at least,“keep as many seats as possible out of his hands”.