Former Australian PM Drops Bid For UN Top Job

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has withdrawn his bid to become the next UN Secretary General, after the country's government refused to back his candidacy.

Conservative leader and current PM Malcolm Turnbull rejected a request to nominate Mr Rudd and claimed that the former Labor leader is not fit for the position.

Mr Turnbull said: "Does the government believe, do we believe, do I as prime minister believe that Mr Rudd is well suited for that role?

"My considered judgement is that he is not, and I've explained to him the reasons why."

The Prime Minister denied suggestions that the move was politically motivated.

He said: "This is not a partisan issue, this is a considered judgement.

"This is a judgement about Mr Rudd's suitability for that particular role."

Mr Rudd flew to Sydney to request a meeting with Mr Turnbull, but was only able to speak to the prime minister by telephone.

In a statement Mr Rudd said that if he had been nominated it "would have reflected well on what our nation can offer to the world".

He said: "It would have been the first time in the United Nation's 70 year history that Australia offered a candidate for UN Secretary General."

Mr Rudd's office added that a nomination "would simply have enabled (Mr Rudd) to stand alongside the 12 other candidates from across the world, to compete on his merits".

It said: "That is now not to be."

Mr Rudd, who was considered an outside bet for the UN top job, served as Australian Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010 and again briefly in 2013.

Among the contenders for the job are Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra, Slovenia's ex-president Danilo Turk and New Zealand's former prime minister Helen Clark.