Rudd, clearly wasting no time in getting into the swing of things, took a swipe at the opposition leader in his first TV appearance since he ousted Julia Gillard as PM last week.
He said Abbott has been misleading the Australian population on issues of immigration and the economy and wanted a proper debate between the two to set the record straight.
“What I would say to Mr Abbott, you’ve been doing this for a long time,” he said on ABC’s 7.30 programme.
“It’s time we had a properly moderated debate .. on his chosen topics.
“It is time you demonstrated to the country you have a bit of ticker on this.”
Rudd then went further and took to Twitter to challenge his opponent further to a one-on-one debate, saying “National Press Club next Thursday I’ll be there. Over to you… “
Photo: Getty.