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Posts tagged as “Laurie Oakes”

Craig Thomson Says He Was Set Up

Craig Thomson has defended himself against allegations of misuse of union funds in an extraordinary interview with Laurie Oakes on Channel 9.

Thomson claims threats were made against him in 2004 that he would be set up with “hookers” to “ruin my potential political career”.

He argues that other members of the Health Services Union had knowledge of his credit card and driver’s licence numbers. He says “proof of a phone call is not proof of who is on the end of the phone…cutting right through it, Laurie, it was not me.”

Day 12: Peril

There was no mistaking the danger the Gillard government faced yesterday.

That there is someone inside the government, someone “close to home”, who is leaking damaging allegations to the media, brought intrigue and treachery to the election campaign. It wreaked havoc with the political messages Labor has been transmitting for the past two weeks.

The allegation that the Prime Minister spoke out in Cabinet against pension increases and the parental leave plan fed into the most damaging impression of all, that she is not what she seems.

It is especially dangerous because it’s the very same allegation that hovered around Kevin Rudd before Gillard deposed him a month ago.

The Narrative: Week Two Begins

If a weekend can be said to start on Friday morning, this past weekend began with Julia Gillard throwing away whatever credibility she had left on the issue of climate change. It ended with a poll showing Labor leading the coalition by 52% to 48%.

Gillard’s speech at the University of Queensland on Friday morning to announce a revised climate change policy had been eagerly awaited. Everyone knew that Rudd’s poll numbers had dropped almost instantly he dropped the Emissions Trading Scheme last April.

At any other time, her announcement of a raft of measures to promote renewable energy and to halt the building of new coal-fired power stations might have been well received.

AustralianPolitics.com
Malcolm Farnsworth
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