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Monday, 08 June 2009 |
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faced his first political crisis since taking office when his defense minister resigned Thursday over travel and lobbying activities involving family and friends.
The development is a blow to Mr Rudd, as outgoing Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon was a factional supporter and senior minister from the most populous New South Wales state, a key to winning national elections.
While the controversy surrounding Fitzgibbon, who was portrayed as politically clumsy, had led to a series of damaging headlines, analyst Nick Economou said his resignation would allow Mr Rudd to draw a line under the affair and so keep open the option of an early election in late 2009 or early 2010.
"I suspect Rudd is thinking seriously about an early election. They needed to clear the decks, and Fitzgibbon had to go," said Economou, from Melbourne's Monash University.
"There was more and more coming out about Fitzgibbon, which was hurting him and hurting the government."
The resignation gives Mr Rudd the option of reshuffling his Cabinet, although Mr Rudd told Australian television his ministry was functioning "exceptionally well" and he "would not be foreshadowing any major changes".
Possible replacements include former union leader Greg Combet, currently a junior climate change minister, another former union boss Bill Shorten, or veteran minister John Faulkner, currently Mr Rudd's Special Minister of State.
As defense minister, Fitzgibbon oversaw the withdrawal of Australian combat forces from Iraq, and the development of a new defense strategy for Australia for the next 20 years, including plans to buy new ships, planes and submarines.
But Fitzgibbon has been targeted by the conservative opposition since early 2009 for failing to properly disclose trips to China, taken before he was a minister, paid for by a Chinese-born family friend with close ties to Beijing.
Fitzgibbon earlier this week told parliament he also failed to disclose the cost of a night in a hotel, paid for by health insurance company NIB Holdings, run by his brother.
But his resignation came after it was disclosed Fitzgibbon's ministerial office was involved in meetings between his brother's company and his own defence department.
"To protect the integrity of the government, I have decided to resign as a member of the executive, effective immediately," Fitzgibbon said in his letter of resignation. |
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No Truth in Spying on Minister Allegations |
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Saturday, 30 May 2009 |
 A review into allegations that Defence staff conducted a covert investigation and leaked personal information about the Minister for Defence has found that the allegations are entirely without foundation. These are very serious allegations and, if proven correct, could have led to the laying of criminal charges.
The Secretary of Defence Nick Warner said, “The Defence review was extremely thorough and comprehensive. It found no evidence to support allegations that Defence officials had investigated either the Minister or Ms Liu.”
“Indeed, the investigation confirmed that no Defence investigative authority or intelligence agency was aware of Ms Liu before the media article on 26 March,” Mr Warner said.
“It also found no evidence to support claims that Defence officials used the Defence Signals Directorate to improperly access the Minister's IT systems.
“I directed the Defence Security Authority to determine if there was any substance to media allegations first raised on 26 March.
“The investigation was conducted with complete professionalism. Independent best practice guidance on the investigative methodology was provided by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. External security intelligence and law enforcement agencies were consulted, and the Commonwealth Ombudsman was briefed.
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