Sky News Australia presents a special investigation, Men In The Mirror: Rudd & Turnbull.
Presented by Sky News Host and The Australian’s associate editor Chris Kenny, the one-hour special investigation examines the parallel lives of two former Australian Prime Ministers – Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull.
Once rivals, Rudd and Turnbull saw each other as the main barrier to each other’s ambitions, defining one of the most turbulent times in Australian politics.
Today, they’re united as unlikely allies. They have thrust themselves back into the spotlight as they speak about their time in politics and the role that the media – in particular News Corp media organisations – had in their demise.
Sky News investigates the story behind their success and failures.
A former chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull, Chris Kenny explores the former Prime Ministers’ lives, probing the shared narrative that binds the two. From boys suffering loss to leaders of their country, they were both shaped by childhood trauma, rose rapidly in brilliant pre-politics careers, and married strong women before leading their parties and their nation.
The documentary hears from people who know these men well and have seen them in close quarters. Interviewees include Kevin Rudd’s brother and Canberra lobbyist, Greg Rudd, former Labor party leader Mark Latham, former Liberal party minister Sharman Stone, former QLD Premier Peter Beattie, political commentator Tom Switzer, former Liberal senator Nick Minchin, veteran cartoonist Warren Brown, former editor in chief of The Australian Chris Mitchell and Sky News Anchor and former Turnbull staffer Peta Credlin.
Chris Kenny said: “I have known and watched these men for all of their federal political careers and the parallels between them are extraordinary; they share similar talents and skills, were embraced as Messiah figures by the public and their parties, and brought themselves undone with the same fatal flaws. A key question remains about what influence these brilliant but bristling former Prime Ministers will have on our nation.”
Men In The Mirror: Rudd & Turnbull premieres Sunday 2 May at 8pm AEST. Sky News on Foxtel and Sky News on WIN