Kevin Rudd has been left out of new Prime Minister Julia Gillard's reshuffled front bench, but she has left open the option of a senior cabinet role for him after the election.
As expected, Ms Gillard opted to make only minor changes when she made the announcement this afternoon.
''I have decided it is best to have as limited a reshuffle as possible to keep the maximum stability amongst the team and to keep our focus on the work that Australians need the Government to be doing,'' she said.
Simon Crean will take over Ms Gillard's previous portfolios of education and industrial relations. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith will take on Mr Crean's former portfolio of trade.
Ms Gillard kept Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner in the Cabinet, despite his shock announcement last week that he would resign at this election.
Having indicated shortly after he handed over the leadership to Ms Gillard that he was happy to serve the party in any way she wanted, Mr Rudd was left out of the Cabinet.
However, Ms Gillard said she would welcome him back if the Government won this year's election.
''I would be absolutely delighted to see him serve as a senior cabinet minister in the team, if the government is re-elected,'' she said.
There had been some speculation that he would be given the foreign affairs portfolio, which he held in opposition before taking over the party leadership from Kim Beazley.
Mr Rudd issued a statement shortly after the announcement saying he respected Ms Gillard's decision to omit him from her front bench and said he would ''take a break''.
He stood by his comments from Thursday when he said he would contest the next election and was ''prepared to serve the Government in an appropriate way in the future and that I would do so in the interests of the Government and the country''.
''I have indicated to the Prime Minister in subsequent discussions that this remains my position. Ultimately, decisions on Cabinet appointments are a matter for the Prime Minister. I respect that,'' he said.
''For the immediate future, my family and I have decided to take a break. Following that, I will be working in my own electorate of Griffith and in any other way deemed appropriate to support the re-election of the Government.''
Source: The Canberra Times
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