The “Rashomon effect” infused the ABC’s The Killing Season, a mini-series on the political turmoil inside the Australian Labor Party between 2007 and 2013, with its compelling, multiple accounts of a more recent case of political murder and betrayal. Whose “truth” best explains the implosion of the Rudd-Gillard Labor governments?

In the final episode, aired on Tuesday night, Kevin Rudd asserted that: “Julia has always had a bit of a problem with the truth”. Throughout the series, Julia Gillard’s testimony flatly contradicts Rudd’s.   

Truth and reality also merged throughout. Gillard was backed to remove Rudd, in part, because of her ability – and his inability – to deliver policy outcomes. Yet, in office, Gillard quickly shifted the mining tax “off the agenda”, only for it to rebound with disastrous effects.

The Killing Season, like the burgeoning memoir industry, is strong on the personality politics that destroyed the ALP, but can’t capture wider systemic issues. What is striking – particularly during Rudd’s first term – is the many non-decisions by Rudd and his cabinet to tackle their growing woes. Rudd, in part, lost his political capital due to a complex network of non-decision-making by him, his party and others around him.

There is also the vexed question of what the Labor Party stands for. Under Rudd, at least, this was clear. Rudd sought to re-animate the ALP with a brand of social democracy arguably not seen since Gough Whitlam’s time. Gillard – at least initially – was reluctant to offer her own “light on the hill” vision, preferring (and hoping) to be judged on her pragmatic gains. When she did try and articulate her vision it was widely judged as “anaemic”.

Despite claims that ideology is dead – or, for Rudd, a “straitjacket” – it continues to exert a key influence on Australian politics. How the ALP navigates its traditions is not internal navel-gazing, but central to its future ability to shape Australia.

Finally, The Killing Season reminds us of both the stability and fragility of the Australian political system. In Rudd’s first term, the system was creaking under pressure. There is dispute about a growing presidentialism, which is ill-suited to Australia’s Westminister system. Rudd’s expansion of his office, his micro-managing and his “Kevin ‘07” campaign are all key exhibits here.

But the flaws in Rudd’s leadership – and his later “wrecking” tendencies – obscure the systemic vulnerabilities of cabinet, the weakened ability of the public sector to deliver “frank and fearless” advice, and the marginalisation of parliament. It took Gillard’s minority government to accelerate legislative change and to partly rebuild these core institutions.

For all its merits, The Killing Season does not address the ALP’s damagingly narrow use of polling. Despite its increasing frequency, and the 24-hour news cycle, this perhaps masks a growing gap between the political class and the public. Ultimately, as we continue to pick over the debris of the Rudd-Gillard era, we are still trying to make sense of its multiple – often contradictory – truths.

- By Rob Manwaring, Flinders University politics and public policy lecturer