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CANBERRA: An emotional Kevin Rudd Thursday said "I've given it my all" and was proud of his achievements as prime minister after being deposed in a sudden party ballot.
Rudd, flanked by his family, repeatedly paused to choke back tears as he listed his achievements in less than three years in office since winning landslide polls in 2007.
"I was elected by the Australian people as prime minister of this country to bring back a fair go for all Australians and I have given my absolute best to do that, I've given my absolute all," Rudd said.
"What I'm less proud of is the fact that I have now blubbered," he added.
The former diplomat was uncharacteristically emotional as he delivered his final address as prime minister, describing his proudest moment as his apology to Aborigines, Australia's most impoverished minority, in February 2008.
"The apology was unfinished business for our nation," Rudd said of the apology for wrongs since the arrival of British settlers in 1788.
He also lamented the failure of his government to pass emissions trading laws, widely seen as key to his slump in the opinion polls and central to his fall as leader.
"If I had one point of future policy it must be our ambition to pass a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in this parliament -- the one to follow I mean -- so that we can make a difference, a real difference, to climate change," he said.
Rudd said his time at the helm had been a "very busy two-and-a-half years" and his government had given their "absolute all".
"And I believe when we look back at this these reforms will endure into the future and make Australia, I believe a fairer and better place than it had otherwise been," he said.
Rudd's reputation as a verbose policy wonk had earned him the moniker "Ruddbot" among the Australian press, but he cut a sympathetic figure in his lengthy farewell address.
"We chose to make a difference," he said, his voice wavering as he blinked back tears. "That's the thing about politics isn't it? It has an effect on you." - AFP/jy
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