Sunday, March 04, 2007

Minister Ian Campbell resigns: WA Inc - PM Howard mops up the stain

I have said before that if the meetings with "disgraced" former WA premier Brian Burke are the worst thing that the Coalition can find out about Kevin Rudd then the Coalition government will find it harder than expected to win the next election.

But now the infamous WA Inc stain has spread to the Howard government. The newly appointed Minister for Human Services, Ian Campbell, has reportedly resigned. Why? Because he met with Burke and members of the WA Turf Club. According to Catallaxy this has led to opppositon leader Kevin Rudd calling for an early election.

As Ken L said on Surfdom, the point is that neither Burke nor his associates have actually been accused of doing anything wrong other than having the meetings.

Where will this witch hunt end and discussion on real policy issues recommence? Probably in the place where I should be at this hour - my dreams.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is a difference here between government and opposition. Campbell is a minister of the crown. Rudd has no executive authority. Yes, both made mistakes. The Minister's meeting is more interesting.

Anonymous said...

Is the electorate at large listening to the detail? Probably not. Anyone paying attention realises it's just a hypocritical exercise in mud slinging. Of interest though, is how it hints at the Coalition's fear of Rudd's credibility, and how keen it is to destroy any notion of Rudd being honest.

Nicholas Goodwin said...

Do you get the feeling that watching the fight over the Burke thing is like when you see kids watching their parents having an argument? They watch carefully at the start but then just want them to stop yelling at each other so life can return to normal.