Why on earth would a back bencher with no portfolio be flown around the world at tax payer expense on a grand tour of self promotion?
----------------------------------------- "Meanwhile, Kevin Rudd has begun a four-nation trip starting in the South Korean capital, Seoul.
Mr Rudd last week ruled out ever standing again for the Labor leadership after one minister was sacked and three others resigned over their roles in an aborted tilt against Ms Gillard.
The former prime minister and foreign minister will speak in Seoul at the Asian Leadership Conference on Tuesday, addressing foreign and security policy challenges arising from Sino-Japanese tensions in the South China Sea.
He then heads to Beijing, where his daughter Jessica, her husband Albert and their daughter Josephine live.
Mr Rudd will later deliver three keynote speeches in the United States, dealing with China and the implications of the United States' renewed foreign policy focus on the Asia-Pacific region.
In Canada, Mr Rudd will address the British Columbia Agenda for Shared Prosperity Summit on Australia's business relationship with Asia.
