Joel Fitzgibbon hasn’t just been skating on thin ice: he’s been hosting rave parties on it.
It seems Kevin Rudd has been left with little choice but to sack Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon after it emerged that a meeting had been organised in the Defence Minister’s office between defence officials, Mr Fitzgibbon’s brother Mark who is head of NIB and US insurance company Humana.
While no doubt the victim of some white anting by his own shambles of a Department, Fitzgibbon has proven himself to be one of the few genuine liabilities on the Rudd front bench and the Prime Minister should have done this months ago.
From the SAS pay debacle to the failure to disclose trips from Helen Liu (and let’s just put that relationship to the side for one moment) to recently failing to disclose accommodation paid for by his brother’s company, Fitzgibbon’s mistakes have been a bad smell in the corner of the room for Rudd.
This is also the in the middle of what we are told is the biggest defence build-up in decades.
The Punch inquired with Fitzgibbon’s office at about 7 this morning but was told that that Fitzgibbon would be staying firmly put, not resigning, no way not today.
But after being called into Rudd’s office not long after he was told it’s time to go Joel.
In reality though the mind of the Prime Minister to oust Fitzgibbon was made pretty well made up last night.
In his resignation later Fitzgibbon says he has “learned” that a meeting between the three parties took place in his office.
“I have learned that one meeting between the parties was held in my ministerial office. Further, I understand that members of my staff sat in on a number of meeting.”
Does he seriously want us to believe that he no prior knowledge of a meeting that took place in his own office with his own brother and members of his own department? What did they do, break into the office?
Fitzgibbon apparently can’t get his story straight even when he’s resigning. At least he’s not Kevin Rudd’s problem anymore.
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
The Punch is moving house
Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…
Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?
I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…
Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”
In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go
Tim says:
They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go
Kel says:
If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
Superman needs saving
Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more
Most commented