It took a long time, and the Government has very successfully spun this as being self imposed and about maintaining standards. Reality is, this was resisted to the very end by the Government.
DPM Julia Gillard was on Insiders today and Barry was doing a good job questioning her on the Jeol Fitzgibbon matter.
Gillard can be a slippery fish, as you may recall with her was she or wasn't she helping defend the Maritime Workers Union during the waterfront dispute of 1998. She claimed she wasn't, but then there was that footage of her hiding behind a tree (!) and handing out documnets on behalf of the Unions to waiting media.
Today she was nearly got caught out as she was called to defend the Defence Minister over what appears to be a sustained evasiveness:
Failed to decalre trips to 2 China on the Register of Members’ Interests at the time
Failed to recall taking the trips when asked directly at a press conference
According to Gillard, they were 'lapses'. Something here stinks, and Gillard might come to regret this interview.
My guess is Fitzgibbon will be asked to move on 'voluntarily' 'for the good of the Governement'. He'll resign, and say something about it being a distraction to the Government. Rudd is too vein to be seen to lose a Minister. It has become one of his unreal benchmarks - like keeping all his promises even when they cannot be afforded - on which he puts his own pride before the national interst.
Update: the transcript is now on the Insiders website. This is probably a textbook example of Labor refusing to answer the question asked:
BARRIE CASSIDY: But nevertheless, why is Joel Fitzgibbon still Minister for Defence?
JULIA GILLARD: Well Joel Fitzgibbon is there doing a major reform task for the Government in Defence. It's hard work and as we've seen, it's going to be some difficult days for the Government working with defence to get the kind of efficiencies we need in that organisation.
So we're working hard on that. Joel's working hard on that. Obviously, (only here does Gillard actually address the question and we get the script) it's been a difficult week for the Defence Minister. He made an error about his declarations of pecuniary interests. He's corrected that error. He apologised to me for it. He apologised to the Australian public for that error and I think that matter is at an end.
BARRIE CASSIDY: So because he's in the middle of important work, he's untouchable?
JULIA GILLARD: (repeat script - you are not getting anything out of me Barrie except the script) He made an error Barrie, he apologised for that error and I think that that matter really is at an end. Did he make a mistake? Yes, Joel made a mistake, he's acknowledged that, he's apologised for it.
BARRIE CASSIDY: He was asked a direct question: have you ever taken trips to China paid for by Helen Liu? A direct question, and he failed to fess up.
JULIA GILLARD: He obviously answered that question incorrectly. And...
BARRIE CASSIDY: But why? Did he choose to avoid the question, or had he forgotten that he'd taken these trips?
JULIA GILLARD: (Barrie, I know I haven't given you an answer, so I will repeat the script in the third person) Well, Joel answered the question incorrectly. During the course of the afternoon it became apparent to him he had answered it incorrectly. He looked at his pecuniary interest statements, it obviously became apparent to him he hadn't made proper declaration of these trips and he immediately corrected that situation.
Obviously, he contacted me and explained the situation to me. I said he needed to correct the public record immediately and he needed to apologise and to make sure that his declaration of pecuniary interest was up to date and all of those steps have been taken.
BARRIE CASSIDY: It still doesn't go, though, to the question of why he answered that question incorrectly, whether he did it quite deliberately.
And this is in the context of Helen Liu's name being all over the papers that morning. So he would have refreshed his memory about the relationship. She went on those trips with him to China. He's asked a direct question and he failed to fess up to the Australian public?
JULIA GILLARD: (Barrie I really am not going to move from script) Well, it's a lapse Barrie. Yes it is and it's an error that...
BARRIE CASSIDY: But a deliberate one?
JULIA GILLARD: (repeat script, use the words lapse of judgement again - this is a judgement issue, not an issue of integrity or possible corruption Barrie - let me just repeat the script) Well, you're making that assumption. I think it's a lapse. It's a lapse in judgment. Joel's acknowledged that. Something he should have recalled, something he should have made proper disclosure of at the time. But let's remember...
BARRIE CASSIDY: But it goes to his character as well, doesn't it?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, you're putting an interpretation on why he made that error that I'm not agreeing with Barrie. (Barrie, incase you haven't noticed, I'm setting myself up for repeating the script again)
BARRIE CASSIDY: So you're prepared to accept that he simply forgot?
JULIA GILLARD: Well I think it's just an innocent lapse which occurred. (yes lapse, we thought about what words to use, and lapse of judgement was agreed downplayed the significance of what has happened here) There we are several years back when Joel is not a minister, he's a shadow minister in Opposition. He's taken some travel. He should have declared it, obviously (it's obvious now that it is in the public, no so obvious when it was not declared, not put on the register, not spoken about when asked at the press conference) that didn't occur.
We then have the events that started off, and I think we should remind ourselves Barrie, started off with a front page story about a Defence investigation into the Minister, an alleged defence investigation into the minister. That's all being looked at now through a series of inquiries. Joel is responding to questions about that and is asked this question, and clearly he doesn't answer it correctly. (I'm just going to repeat lapse and judgement again Barrie) That was a lapse in memory, a lapse in judgment. He goes back, he works out he's made an error, and he corrects it.
BARRIE CASSIDY: But as I said before, given the context of this and given the fact it was all over the papers and he had time to refresh his memory it doesn't say a whole lot about his recollection?
JULIA GILLARD: I think it says he's made an error he's apologised for. (Bugger! Forgot to mention lapse and judgement)
No comments:
Post a Comment