The conference, at Sydney’s Darling Harbour, is the first Labor has had in government for 15 years.

It was a low-key start to the conference.

Interest groups gathered in small clusters outside the venue championing their causes.

A man and a woman dressed as a mermaid and King Neptune were among the most colourful as they championed large marine sanctuaries.

Mr Rudd ran through Labor’s achievements since it won government just under two years ago, particularly its economic record during the global recession.

As a result of the government’s stimulus measures, Australia was the only major advanced economy not in recession, he noted.

“Australia has the fastest growth, the second lowest unemployment, and the lowest debt and deficit of any of the major advanced economies,” Mr Rudd said.

“These results are not a random event. They are, in large part, the direct product of government policy intervention.”

But there were still risks.

“The road to recovery will be long, hard and uneven with many twists and turns,” Mr Rudd said.

“Unemployment will continue to rise for some time to come.”

After recent suggestions from some of his team that young Australians should take any job they could get, Mr Rudd acknowledged they were caught in a situation not of their own making.

“The government I lead will not stand idly by while thousands of young Australians have their hopes crushed by a global recession not of their own making,” he said.

He highlighted the case of 18-year-old Matthew Jenkins, who was jobless after leaving school last year but persevered to find an apprenticeship, which he took up at the start of July.

AAP