The biggest fib Kevin Rudd told today, after he’d lavished insincere praise upon Joel Fitzgibbon for his work as Defence Minister, was to declare the young Hunter Valley MP could return to the ministry at some stage.

Gawn: Latham acolyte Joel Fitzgibbon banished forever more

As long as Kevin Rudd’s backside points to the ground, Joel Fitzgibbon has a better chance of becoming the next Pope than making a ministerial comeback.

And most people in the ALP will be pretty happy about that, as Fitzgibbon, for all his affable, knockabout charm, has long been regarded by many colleagues with suspicion and ambivalence on account of what was a long-standing and especially close friendship with disastrous former leader Mark Latham.

Despite his likeable demeanour and his easy front-bar style, for years Fitzgibbon was described in Labor circles somewhat derisively as “Latham’s little mate”. The two men regularly drank and ate together, and could often be found hanging out with the journos well into the evening at events such as national conference or on budget night.

His association with such a divisive and hostile figure as Latham was of itself enough for many in the party to regard Fitzgibbon unfavourably.
When Latham, his head cropped with a number two buzzcut, stormed out of the leadership with a cursory press conference at a suburban Sydney park in early 2005, Fitzgibbon and Julia Gillard were about the only two people in the party who remained on speaking terms with Latham.

In his diaries Latham systematically shredded almost every friendship he had in the party, save for Fitzgibbon.

But in what must have been a deeply hurtful personal betrayal, Latham used his column in Fairfax’s Australian Financial Review just last month to fuel the rumour mill against his apparent friend, over the Madam Liu disclosure scandal.
“The Fitzgibbons [father Eric, and son Joel] have not always been very smart in their dealings with businesswoman Helen Liu. During my time in public life I never encountered MPs so engaged, politically and financially, with a business benefactor.”

It was an act of bastardry stung the family, with Eric Fitzgibbon telling The Sydney Morning Herald: “I think Joel always did the right thing by Mark, stuck by him through thick and thin…[Mr Latham] may feel deserted by his friends and Joel was probably his closest friend and he is probably resentful. I’m not sure.”

Politics is a handicapped race and many in the party believe Fitzgibbon only ever ended up in the frame for a ministry under Kevin Rudd because he had jumped the queue under Latham.

His presence on the frontbench was regarded by many as a legacy of that mad period in the party’s history - as well as the result of the byzantine factional arrangements in NSW where the Right Faction demands and receives a certain number of spots, and strongholds such as the Hunter must also be represented.

If his appointment to defence encouraged the belief among talented backbenchers that Labor is not a meritocracy, his conduct as minister cemented it as a very commonly-held conviction. It wasn’t as if the portfolio itself was a shambles - even though he had clearly fallen foul of the ADF chiefs, who fancy themselves adept at re-making ministers in their own image.

He was flat out doing something as simple as remembering the basic disclosure requirements, for which he is now gone.
 

Most commented

5 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Chris Quirk says:

      05:21pm | 04/06/09

      Will be interesting to see how his career pans out over the next few years.
      He always came across as a nice guy, but wasn’t terribly effective in his role.
      All in all I would’ve given him a D+.

      Will be eagerly awaiting his replacement. Hard portfolio to deal with.

    • Robert Smissen says:

      05:41pm | 04/06/09

      I didn’t think it could happen, a minister more inept than Jim Cairns.

    • WT says:

      09:15pm | 04/06/09

      He inherited the heartland Labor seat from his father, he’s not really done much himself except stuff things up.

    • HooHoo says:

      01:50am | 05/06/09

      Look, did you really hate this guy, or do you still suffer from Latham-A-Phobia

    • Mark says:

      08:51am | 05/06/09

      The elephant in the room is HIH. That is where this is going.

 

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Daniel Piotrowski

Found a TV meteorologist on Twitter with the last name Piotrowski. There's a whole newsroom of Piotrowskis out there

Paul Colgan

RT @businessinsider: Man Being Questioned For Boston Bombing Connection Shot And Killed By FBI by @paulszoldrahttp://t.co/OtypP2PRgI

Daniel Piotrowski

This is a must read @TheAtlantic. Whether you think you know everything or think you know nothing http://t.co/naoUutCoWF

Daniel Piotrowski

RT @JoshuaWithers: Have you seen the Australian version of Breaking bad? He get's cancer and Medicare covers his costs and the series ends.

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

The Punch is moving house

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?

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”

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

Superman needs saving

Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more

28 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free News.com.au newsletter