Scott Morrison has made it clear that he does not support Kevin Rudd’s nomination for the position of secretary general of the United Nations.

Cabinet is due to discuss the nomination after the former Labor prime minister asked the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, for the government’s support.

Labor has suggested it would be extraordinary if the Australian government did not support an Australian candidate and that it would set a precedent for future appointments if one major party did not support the other. But Morrison disputed that it would set a precedent.

“Back in 2011, Peter Costello made it pretty clear that if there was interest in supporting him to be the new head of the [International Monetary Fund] then he was interested and got nothing from Wayne Swan or Labor,” Morrison told Ray Hadley on 2GB.

“Now the only difference between Peter Costello’s condition here and that of Kevin Rudd is I think Peter Costello would be eminently qualified to take on that role.”

Asked whether this meant Morrison did not consider Rudd eminently qualified, the treasurer used a House of Cards quote to confirm that was his position.

“You may well say that Ray, I couldn’t possibly comment,” Morrison said.

When asked whether Rudd had his confidence in leading the United Nations, Malcolm Turnbull said: “The question about Australia supporting him to lead the UN will be considered by the cabinet.”



Ban Ki-moon currently occupies the role but his term expires at the end of this year. Rudd has previously played down his chances of winning the position because the job is usually decided on a rotation system and it is Eastern Europe’s turn to nominate the secretary general.

On Monday. Arthur Sinodinos acknowledged the potential of the Coalition nominating Rudd “grated” with some of his cabinet colleagues.

“I’m not spilling any secrets to say there would be a lot of people on our side of politics to say they have reservations about supporting Kevin,” he told Lateline.

“The politics of that era are still pretty raw and the idea that he could be on the world stage seeking to overshadow Australia in other ways does grate with some of my colleagues.”

However, as prime minister, Rudd appointed Costello to the board of the Future Fund after Costello asked to be appointed. It was just one of a number of appointments of former Liberals by Rudd, which often upset some of his Labor colleagues.

Among others, Rudd appointed Brendan Nelson as ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the European Union and Nato and appointed Tim Fischer as the ambassador to the Vatican.

The shadow treasurer and Rudd loyalist Chris Bowen has said that the former Labor government was not approached by Costello for support for the IMF position.

“This should be an easy choice for the cabinet,” he said on Sunday. “Support the Australian. I reject that precedent, in fact the opposite.

“There was an op-ed by Julie Bishop saying Peter Costello would be a good candidate for the IMF. There was never an approach to the Rudd government to support Peter Costello, he was never a candidate ... if it had been a candidacy, the Rudd government would have very very seriously considered it, I am sure.”