http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 5972416553
DON Farrell told the US embassy a year before the coup that Julia Gillard was "campaigning for the leadership", WikiLeaks cables reveal.
Senator Farrell, one of the "faceless men" behind the political overthrow of Kevin Rudd and a South Australian right-wing factional powerbroker, believes Ms Gillard was gunning for the prime ministership well before Mr Rudd's personal support in the polls collapsed.
The revelation challenges the ALP's version of events surrounding the leadership challenge - that a reluctant Ms Gillard was drafted by her caucus colleagues at the 11th hour to stand as a candidate against Mr Rudd, whose leadership had become terminal as public support was lost.
A WikiLeaks cable names Senator Farrell as telling US embassy staff in June last year Ms Gillard was trying to knock off Mr Rudd.
"Don Farrell, the right-wing union powerbroker from South Australia, told us Gillard is 'campaigning for the leadership' and at this point is the frontrunner to succeed Rudd, conceding that the Right did not yet have an alternative," the cable states.
If correct, this means Ms Gillard was eyeing off Mr Rudd's job before Tony Abbott replaced Malcolm Turnbull as Coalition leader, and before the international climate change talks at Copenhagen had failed and Labor's carbon pollution reduction scheme was shelved.
In the months leading up to the challenge, Ms Gillard ridiculed suggestions she was a potential rival to Mr Rudd, likening her chances of becoming prime minister to playing full-forward for her beloved AFL team, the Western Bulldogs.