Gillard: ‘I shouldn’t have done that’

In her first major interview, Ray Martin and Julia Gillard like you've never seen her.

New admission ... Julia Gillard has spoken about the night she knifed Kevin Rudd in a bitter leadership challenge, admitted she gave him false hope his position was safe. Source: Getty Images

JULIA Gillard has admitted that on the night she deposed Kevin Rudd she gave him the false impression his leadership was safe, and then launched her own challenge.

The explosive revelation is one of many in a wide-ranging interview with Ray Martin airing on Monday night on Channel Nine.

The former prime minister also breaks her silence about radio host Alan Jones' remark about the death of her father, describing it as "disgraceful" and "unforgivable".

A transcript of sections of the interview — the first Ms Gillard has done since she herself was toppled by Mr Rudd last year — has been obtained exclusively by News Corp Australia.

During the interview Ms Gillard is asked about the night she knifed Mr Rudd in June 2010 and concedes a moment of hesitation falsely gave him hope he would not be challenged.

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Breaking her silence ... Julia Gillard with journalist Ray Martin in her first interview since losing the leadership last year. Picture: Supplied Source: Channel 9

"The reputation I have from that night is one of political brutality. Actually in the moment, I was hesitant. A conversation went too long (and) I certainly fed (Mr Rudd) hope. I shouldn't have done that."

Giving him a false sense of security is something Ms Gillard still feels a "sense of self-recrimination over", she said.

In the years that followed, before Mr Rudd resumed the top job after his own challenge, he was repeatedly accused of destabilising Ms Gillard's government by perpetuating leadership speculation.

Mr Rudd is credited by many in the Labor Party with "saving the furniture" at last year's election, by avoiding a sharper swing than might have otherwise occurred.

Same position ... Julia Gillard believes she could've delivered Labor to the same election outcome if Kevin Rudd had gotten out of the way. Picture: Getty Images Source: Supplied

But Ms Gillard disagrees. "If I'd had a clear run … with no challenge … with him having absolutely knocked off any destabilising, with him and his supporters genuinely putting their shoulder to the wheel … I could have out-campaigned Abbott," she said.

"I would have run a better campaign and I could have landed us in around about the same spot."

When broadcaster Alan Jones told a Sydney University Liberal Club dinner in September 2012 that Julia Gillard's father "died of shame", all sides of politics united to express their outrage.

At the time Ms Gillard, whose father John had passed away just weeks prior, refused to comment on the incident.

For the first time, she addressed Mr Jones' remarks in the interview, commenting "there's nothing I can say that would be kind about Mr Jones".

Disgraceful, unforgivable ... Julia Gillard has spoken for the first time about the comments broadcaster Alan Jones made about her deceased father. Source: NewsComAu

"There was something so cruel about that … It was a disgraceful thing. Unforgivable."

The comment and furore that followed intruded on her family's grief, Ms Gillard said.

"What on earth explains anyone getting up in front of an audience and for comedy reflecting on the loss of someone's parent?" she said.

In the wake of toppling the first-term Prime Minister and assuming the top office, Ms Gillard admitted she underestimated Mr Rudd anger at being replaced.

While she expected Mr Rudd to feel "very, very battered and bruised", Ms Gillard also expected he would feel "relief that he was free from the weight of it" given the turmoil he had faced in the months prior.

"Obviously I was wrong about that," Ms Gillard said.

Angry man ... Julia Gillard thought Kevin Rudd would feel "relief" after she deposed him, and underestimated his level of anger. Source: News Corp Australia

But she categorically denied her office was behind the leak of an expletive-laden video of Mr Rudd, which emerged in 2012.

"It wasn't my office, so let's just lay that to rest right here," Ms Gillard said.

While she had witnessed that type of behaviour from Mr Rudd, she said "Kevin was careful to not direct that kind of tirade at me".

Speaking out ... Julia Gillard's interview with Ray Martin for Channel Nine covers a variety of topics, from her relationship with Tim Mathieson to Tony Abbott and misogyny. Picture: Supplied Source: Channel 9

On being toppled herself last year, Ms Gillard remarked that politics will "end in tears" for most who are part of it.

"The day after I finished being Prime Minister, (I was) starting to pack up my office (when) I took a call from Paul Keating who said to me 'We all get taken out in a box, love. Sorry, sorry to hear about you.'

"And never a truer word spoken."

A Nine News Special: Julia Gillard — The Whole Truth airs at 6.50pm on Monday on Channel Nine.

Originally published as Gillard: 'I shouldn't have done that'

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