Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

 from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)

In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In common with international practice, the office is often informally referred to as Foreign Minister...

 since 2010. A member of the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, Rudd has served in the House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 since the 1998 federal election, representing Griffith, Queensland

Division of Griffith

The Division of Griffith is anAustralian Electoral Division in Queensland.The division was created in 1934, when the old seat of Oxley was abolished, and is named for Sir Samuel Griffith, 9th Premier of Queensland and principal author of the Australian Constitution...

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Rudd was born in Queensland and grew up on a dairy farm. He joined the Australian Labor Party at the age of 15 and was dux

Dux

Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....

 of Nambour State High School

Nambour State High School

Nambour State High School is a co-educational, state high school located in Nambour, Queensland, Australia.Established on 2 February 1953, in 2006 the school had enrolment figures of 1,367, including adult students...

 in 1974. He studied an arts degree in Asian studies at the Australian National University

Australian National University

The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...

, majoring in Chinese language

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 and Chinese history

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

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