Australia: Labor’s leadership coup starts to unravel amid leaks and counter-leaks

[Hannah Bell]

With less than three weeks to go before the August 21 federal election, Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s government has been shaken by a series of serious leaks from within the senior ranks of the Labor Party. Media opinion polls now suggest that the Labor government is back exactly where it was before Gillard ousted Kevin Rudd— facing defeat in its first term of office, the first such debacle since the 1930s.

From the outset of Gillard’s brief rule, there have been unprecedented disclosures to the media of highly sensitive and damaging information, presumably orchestrated by supporters of Rudd, or others disgruntled by the backroom leadership coup. Over the past week, a series of retaliatory counter-leaks has surfaced, clearly aimed at discrediting Rudd.

The war of leaks has dashed the hopes of Gillard and her backers of using a snap election to bury all discussion about the implications of Labor’s June 23-24 ousting of Rudd. Gillard was installed by Labor’s factional and union bosses at the direct behest of powerful elements within the corporate elite. Notably the global mining giants vehemently opposed the Rudd’s government’s proposed “super profits” tax. Others within the business and media establishment wanted a far sharper turn to austerity measures to pay for the multi-billion dollar stimulus packages that were used to prevent the collapse of the banks and major companies following the worldwide financial crisis that erupted in 2008.

In the latest leaks, on Friday the Australian reported that, according to “government sources,” Gillard had failed to contact the leaders of China and Japan— two of Australia’s most important markets— since becoming prime minister. Gillard’s office later said she had not taken up an invitation to speak personally to the Chinese leadership because of “logistic difficulties” and confirmed that she had not spoken to Japan’s new prime minister, Naoto Kan. By contrast, she phoned US President Barack Obama on her first day in office, suggesting a closer alignment to Washington.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/leak-a02.shtml