Australia's Washington envoy to step down early

Australia's Ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd will end his tenure a year earlier than scheduled, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday.

Rudd, a former Australian prime minister and an expert on China, will assume the role as head of the US think tank Asia Society, where he is expected to contribute to fostering better relations between the West and China.

Albanese praised Rudd's contribution during his time in Washington and said the decision to leave the job early was made by Rudd himself.

"It is with deep appreciation for his tireless contribution to our national interests over the last three years in Washington that we today announce the Hon Dr Kevin Rudd AC will conclude his posting as Australia's Ambassador to the United States at the end of March 2026," Albanese said in a statement on Tuesday.

James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, said the implications of Rudd's departure are limited.

"Rudd is widely regarded as an authoritative voice on China. It is unlikely that the next Australian ambassador (to the US) will bring similar credentials," he said.

"But these days any Australian ambassador in Washington ... has their hands full just trying to manage an increasingly disjointed Australia-US relationship."

Albanese said Rudd will take the role of global president of Asia Society, and will also head the think tank's Center for China Analysis.

This will mark Rudd's second stint leading the organization, which has focused on Asia-Pacific affairs since its founding in 1956.

Rudd served as prime minister from 2007 to 2010, and again in 2013. He previously served as an Australian diplomat in Beijing in 1984.

Albanese hailed Rudd as "one of the world's most eminent and sought-after experts on China and US-China relations".

Rudd said on Tuesday that his future work would focus on US-China ties.

"I will be remaining in America working between New York and Washington on the future of US-China relations, which I have always believed to be the core question for the future stability of our region and the world," he said.

"As a 'think and do' tank, Asia Society's formidable Center for China Analysis will be an important platform to that end."

Looking ahead, Laurenceson said Australia's approach to China and its management of the China-US-Australia relationship would remain broadly consistent.

"On China, the Albanese government's stance won't change — dialogue, diplomacy, trade and people-to-people exchanges will be prioritized, and the new Australian ambassador will urge the US to follow suit," he said.

"But equally, they will be charged with gaining US support for balancing China in the strategic realm," he said. "To that end, the new Australian ambassador will be working hard to facilitate progress on AUKUS and vulnerable supply chains, just as Kevin Rudd has been doing."

AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership formed in 2021 by Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Past comments

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said in a report that Rudd had in the past severely criticized Trump in a series of social media posts, including calling him "the most destructive president in history", "a traitor to the West" and a man who "drags America and democracy through the mud".

After Trump won the US presidential election in November 2024,Rudd deleted the comments.

This had been done "to eliminate the possibility of such comments being misconstrued as reflecting his positions as ambassador and, by extension, the views of the Australian government", a statement on his personal website said.

The Australian government said on Tuesday that an announcement regarding the country's new ambassador to the US will take place in due course.