Extract from The Guardian
Acting opposition leader Tanya Plibersek says
prime minister was ‘taking out the trash’ during a quiet holiday
time when voters were not focused on politics
The deputy leader of the opposition, Tanya
Plibersek, says the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, waited until
the quiet time between Christmas and new year to announce the loss of
two ministers so voters would not be focused on politics. Photograph:
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Tuesday 29 December 2015 18.46 AEDT
Waiting until the quiet period between Christmas
and new year to announce the loss of two ministers shows a “shocking”
level of cynicism within government ranks, Labor says.
On Tuesday, Jamie Briggs announced his resignation
as cities ministers after a complaint made by a female public servant
of inappropriate
behaviour during an official trip to Hong Kong in November.
Shortly after the announcement Malcolm Turnbull
revealed that the embattled special minister of state, Mal Brough,
would stand
aside pending a police investigation into his role in the
downfall of the former Speaker Peter Slipper.
The acting opposition leader, Tanya
Plibersek, said the prime minister was “taking out the trash”
during a time when most voters are not focused on politics.
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“He saved up all the bad news for a day between
Christmas and new year when he hopes no one was listening,”
Plibersek said on Tuesday. “They’ve waited until they think
people have got their feet up on the banana lounge having a nice beer
in the shade.
“[The timing of the announcement] shows a degree
of cynicism that is quite shocking.”
Brough has been under intense political pressure
over allegations he urged former staffer James Ashby to release
extracts of Slipper’s diary.
Unauthorised access to restricted data is a crime
that carries a sentence of up to two years in jail.
In a statement to Guardian Australia, a
spokeswoman for the Australian federal police confirmed that the
investigation into Brough was active, but did not provide more
details.
“As this investigation remains ongoing, it is
not appropriate to comment further,” she said.
In a letter to Turnbull dated on Tuesday, Brough
said he decided to stand aside as he could foresee no immediate
resolution to the investigation.
“I have taken this decision at this time as I
have not received any indication of when the investigation will be
concluded,” he wrote. “In mid-December my lawyer again contacted
the AFP informing them of my willingness to be interviewed at the
earliest opportunity. The AFP subsequently indicated the earliest
they could arrange an interview was after 5 Jan 2016.
“It disappoints me that this matter hasn’t
been resolved by this time as all the facts have been in the public
domain for years and the public statements of Mr Ashby confirm my
position that at no time did I counsel or procure him for any
improper purpose.”
Plibersek questioned the timing of the
announcement.
“There were red lights flashing around this guy
when Malcolm
Turnbull appointed him to become a minister,” she said.
Brough is a strong Turnbull backer who won
Slipper’s Queensland seat of Fisher in the 2013 federal election.
Turnbull backed
Brough as recently as last month when the AFP searched his
Sunshine Coast home in relation to the investigation.
“The answer is yes, I do have confidence in Mr
Brough,” the prime minister said in November. “There are rules
relating to ministers and cabinet ministers, but at this stage
there’s nothing to suggest that Mr Brough should stand aside or do
anything of that kind.”
The incident that sparked Briggs’s resignation
happened in late November, meaning that the government has known
about it for weeks, Plibersek said.
“This really beggars belief, doesn’t it? That
Jamie Briggs resigns today because he says his behaviour wasn’t up
to Malcolm Turnbull’s very high standards, and yet, just weeks ago,
Mr Turnbull is out there defending Mal
Brough.”
She said the idea that the incident was brought to
the prime minister’s attention for the first time on Tuesday was a
“laughable proposition”.
It is understood that the government was made
aware of the allegations against Briggs several weeks ago, but that
it had to go through the prescribed workplace complaint process
before responding.
“After being invited to reflect on his position,
he offered his resignation which I have accepted,” Turnbull said in
a statement. “While disappointed by the conduct that led to his
resignation, I thank Mr Briggs for his capable service as a
minister.”
There was warmer sentiment from some of Briggs’s
colleagues, who took to the social media site Twitter to farewell the
South Australian MP.
The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, described
Briggs as a “decent, hardworking and capable contributor to our
cause”.
But other Coalition colleagues were scathing of
Briggs’s contribution. Nationals senator John Williams told
Fairfax media that the ministry was better off without the South
Australian MP’s contribution.
“With Briggs leaving it means there will be no
deterioration in the overall quality of the ministry, in fact it
should improve,” he said.
A wholesale ministerial reshuffle is unlikely to
occur in the immediate future, as the government awaits confirmation
that the deputy prime minister and leader of the Nationals, Warren
Truss, is retiring. Speculation has been swirling for months that
Truss would leave politics before the next election, paving the way
for a succession challenge.
In the meantime the environment minister, Greg
Hunt, will take on the cities and built environment portfolio vacated
by Briggs, and Cormann will add special minister of state to his
finance portfolio. The defence minister, Marise Payne, will add
Brough’s defence materiel and science responsibilities to her
portfolio.
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