Rudds' new team: Some old faces make their Cabinet comeback. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tonight announced a number of key appointments, many of whom will reprise roles from the first Rudd government. A senior bureaucrat has been chosen to run Mr Rudd's office. Until today, John Murphy, was a deputy secretary at the department of Treasury. Mr Murphy played a key role in advising the first Rudd government during the Global Financial Crisis. Mr Murphy's appointment came as a surprise. It had been previously reported that Philip Green, Mr Rudd's chief of staff as foreign minister, had accepted the job. Fiona Sugden will serve as Mr Rudd's communications director. Ms Sugden had worked with senior press secretary Lachlan Harris in the first Rudd government. But more attention has been given to his choice of press secretary. Until he took a redundancy last year, Matthew Franklin was the chief political correspondent for The Australian newspaper, a News Limited publication. The Australian endorsed Mr Rudd in 2007. But later into his term as Prime Minister it became a staunch critic of the government, particularly its Building the Education Revolution school-building program. "It's no secret that over the years Rudd has had his ups and downs with The Australian," said former Rudd press secretary, Lachlan Harris. Mr Harris said it was possible that the appointment signalled an attempt to improve relationships with the conservative press. "Rudd's always tried to make sure he covers off every base," he said. Whether that's FM radio or News Limited newspapers. Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard's communications director, John McTernan, was reported to have made overtures to the conservative media. Mr Franklin will be joined by Gillard's media adviser, Eamonn Fitzpatrick, and longtime Labor adviser, Tim Gleason, who recently left the NRL In a television interview earlier tonight, Mr Rudd repeated his challenge to opposition leader Tony Abbott to engage him in a debate. "Mr Abbott, I think it's time you demonstrated to the country you had a bit of ticker on this, I mean, he's the boxing Blue, I'm the, you know, the glasses-wearing kid in the library, come on," he told the ABC's 7.30 program. It's time we had a properly moderated debate, by the National Press Club. Mr Abbott has said he will debate Mr Rudd when he calls an election.