http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillard-after-top-job-a-year-before-coup-wikileaks/story-fn59niix-1225972416553

DON Farrell told the US embassy a year before the coup that Julia Gillard was "campaigning for the leadership", WikiLeaks cables reveal.

Senator Farrell, one of the "faceless men" behind the political overthrow of Kevin Rudd and a South Australian right-wing factional powerbroker, believes Ms Gillard was gunning for the prime ministership well before Mr Rudd's personal support in the polls collapsed.

The revelation challenges the ALP's version of events surrounding the leadership challenge - that a reluctant Ms Gillard was drafted by her caucus colleagues at the 11th hour to stand as a candidate against Mr Rudd, whose leadership had become terminal as public support was lost.

A WikiLeaks cable names Senator Farrell as telling US embassy staff in June last year Ms Gillard was trying to knock off Mr Rudd.

"Don Farrell, the right-wing union powerbroker from South Australia, told us Gillard is 'campaigning for the leadership' and at this point is the frontrunner to succeed Rudd, conceding that the Right did not yet have an alternative," the cable states.

If correct, this means Ms Gillard was eyeing off Mr Rudd's job before Tony Abbott replaced Malcolm Turnbull as Coalition leader, and before the international climate change talks at Copenhagen had failed and Labor's carbon pollution reduction scheme was shelved.

At that time, Newspoll had the government ahead by a 10-point two-party-preferred lead over the opposition, and Mr Rudd had a 32-point lead over Coalition leader Malcolm Turnbull as preferred prime minister.

Senator Farrell, when contacted by The Australian last night, admitted he had conversations with the US embassy, but said: "I can't recall any conversation along those lines."

A spokeswoman for Ms Gillard said the Prime Minister would not comment on the confidential cables.

The same cable names then agriculture minister Tony Burke, one of the "early NSW Right backers of the Rudd-Gillard team" as having confided to the US embassy that Ms Gillard was the clear frontrunner to succeed Mr Rudd, and that in the end, "the ALP caucus will follow the opinion polls if she is the one the public wants".

The cable says several Rudd "confidants have told us that Rudd appreciates Gillard and sees her as a possible PM, but that he wants to avoid anointing her to head off a possible leadership challenge when his poll numbers inevitably sag".

They said Mark Arbib, the right-wing powerbroker behind the coup, "once told us a similar story, though he stressed Rudd appreciates Gillard's strengths. However, another Rudd adviser told us that while the PM respects Gillard, his reluctance to share power will lead to a falling out, while Gillard will not want to acquiesce in creating potential rivals."

The leaked US embassy briefings show Washington took a keen interest in the rise of Ms Gillard, and her migration from Labor's Socialist Left faction to the party's centre. The cables note that after the ALP won government in 2007, Ms Gillard sought to alter her left-wing image, particularly in asserting her credentials as a supporter of Israel and the US alliance.

it just shows how impotent Costello was. There he was 11 years and couldn't even get the numbers! Julia done it one

Lol, just look at them dodge and sleaze & slime!



Judas is a lying backstabber, but tardies have no objection to that.   

Quote:



A. It would never occur to the "average" tard that someone might have principals.

aussiefree2ride wrote on Dec 17^th, 2010 at 8:37am:




Gee, who would a Greens supporter back ... moderate left wing Labor, or hard right Labor?

a rhetorical question

yes, i'ld easily believe she was planning it many months before she did it.

Equitist wrote on Dec 17^th, 2010 at 8:47am:


Whilst all the time declaring 'loyalty'.

So we have a Government where a woman has backstabbed her boss and who have been put back in by two independents (against the will of their electorate) after -

Labor became the first Government to lose a majority after just one term in half a century.

I have always said -

Seriously, how bad a Government must you be to lose your whole majority after less than 3 years.

In anyone's book - pretty bad!

Sprintcyclist wrote on Dec 17^th, 2010 at 8:48am:


FFS, wouldn't one hope that an aspiring PM had a well-considered life plan!?

Wouldn't one expect an aspiring PM to begin networking and honing their negotiation skills from early in their political career!?

Surely this is preferable to a surprise spur-of-the-moment leadership tilt!?