Mr Rudd and his wife, Therese Rein, were to throw the party at their house in the Canberra suburb of Yarralumla to mark the first anniversary this Friday of Mr Rudd's ousting as prime minister.
But, as media interest in the event grew, the pair decided to postpone the party until a later and quieter moment.
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The timing just isn't right ... Kevin Rudd will have to celebrate his ousting another time. Photo: Alex EllinghausenOne guest who declined the invitation said they thought this was more the reason for the postponement.
Some former staff are interstate or overseas and others were angry at comments Mr Rudd made in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday in which he said he should have surrounded himself with a few more experienced staff, or ''greybeards''.
When Mr Rudd was dumped in a coup on June 24 last year, he and his staff held a party at the Lodge that night during which most people ended up in the swimming pool fully clothed.
Mr Rudd promised a return event. The invitations stated: ''Last year we all got together to celebrate our collective achievements. As promised, it's time we once again got the broader family back together to celebrate.''
Like last year, Mr Rudd's son, Marcus, was to have been DJ.
His old chief of staff, Alister Jordan, and chief press secretary, Lachlan Harris, did not plan on attending the weeknight shindig because it was inconvenient.
The federal Opposition will celebrate the event and last night released a new version of the ads they ran just before Mr Rudd's ouster, which portrayed him as a lemon, or Kevin O'Lemon.
The new ads extend the citrus analogy by portraying Julia Gillard as a lemon alleging Mr Rudd is trying to replace her. It depicts the Greens leader, Bob Brown, as a lime, and claims he is the one really running the show.
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