Gillard dumped Rudd over policy shift on uranium exports

Australian foreign minister, Kevin Rudd, said yesterday he was never consulted over prime minister Julia Gillard's shift in policy stance to sell uranium to India. The move overturns a ban he introduced while prime minister.

As prime minister, Rudd overturned an in-principle agreement by his Liberal predecessor John Howard to sell uranium to India with bilateral safeguard agreements in place, similar to those struck by the US, Canada and other countries.

Rudd barely waited ten minutes after US president Barack Obama left the country before revealing that prime minister, Ms Julia Gillard, hadn't even taken consulted her cabinet or her own foreign minister, which is Rudd himself.

This is one of the biggest diplomatic decisions Ms Gillard has taken.

Rudd was asked on television if he was consulted about the appeal to Labour members at the party's national conference next month to change the party's platform to allow sales of uranium to India for civilian purposes.

"In terms of when the prime minister communicated with the Indian government ... no, I was not consulted," Rudd said.