Aussie Defense Minister REPLACED after Corruption Scandal

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Bribed by PRC Business Woman and had been invited to visit PRC accepting scandalous reception by Chinese. Australian Minister of Defense had been REPLACED by PM Kevin Rudd.

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http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5628157/fitzgibbon-resigns-as-defence-minister/



Fitzgibbon resigns as defence minister


Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has resigned from his portfolio.

The resignation comes after revelations of Mr Fitzgibbon's involvement in instructing an army general to attend meetings with his brother at which defence health contracting was discussed.

In a letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Mr Fitzgibbon said to protect the integrity of the government, he had decided to resign as defence minister effective immediately.

Mr Fitzgibbon is the first ministerial casualty for the Rudd government.

It follows admissions two months ago that he failed to declare trips to China paid for by Chinese-born businesswoman Helen Liu.

This week he admitted he had failed to declare hotel accommodation paid for by NIB.

The opposition had called for him to go.

In his letter, Mr Fitzgibbon said his resignation followed questioning in a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday night regarding meetings between US health group Humana, his brother Mark who is chief executive of health fund NIB, Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin and Defence Personnel Minister Warren Snowdon.

"I decided to thoroughly examine the nature of any contact between Humana, my brother and my office," he said.

"Having done so and despite having made clear to all parties that it was important that I not be involved, I am not satisfied that contact between the various parties leave it clear that I have entirely conformed with your ministerial code of conduct."

Mr Fitzgibbon said he had learned that one meeting between the parties was held in his ministerial office and that his staff members sat in on a number of meetings.

"Again despite my decision to avoid being part of discussions between the parties, I am not absolutely satisfied that that objective has been achieved to the extent necessary to ensure full compliance with your ministerial code of conduct," he said.

"On that basis and to protect the integrity of the government, I have decided to resign as a member of the executive effective immediately."

Following the resignation, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has paid tribute to Joel Fitzgibbon as a first-class minister.

"He's discharged his function as minister in a first-class way," he said.

Mr Rudd said Mr Fitzgibbon had offered his resignation and that he had accepted it.

It was the right thing to do, Mr Rudd said.

The prime minister said he expected high standards of accountability from every minister.

"I've made clear to my ministers over a long period of time the government expects high standards of accountability on the part of it ministers," Mr Rudd told reporters.

"All my ministers are familiar with that and it's on that basis the minister has extended his resignation.

Mr Rudd said Mr Fitzgibbon came to his office about 1pm (AEST) on Thursday to offer his letter of resignation.

"I accepted it, I believed it was the right thing to do," the prime minister said.

Mr Fitzgibbon's failure to declare a hotel room in Brisbane was a minor breach, Mr Rudd said.

"I was unhappy about it but we let that matter rest."

The matter over which he resigned is "different".

"It goes to the question of the undertakings that the minister made publicly in March this year, and concerning the relationship between himself and his office and this particular company, Humana, and NIB which of course is headed by his brother."

Mr Rudd acknowledged Mr Fitzgibbon had made mistakes in regards to matters of accountability.

"And he's paid a high price," he said.

"The minister has accepted responsibility for these mistakes, they are mistakes in relation to accountability, there have been a number of them.

"This one does represent a significant departure from the undertakings the minister gave publicly on this particular matter."

Mr Rudd stressed the government was not contractually involved with any of the players in this latest episode.

"On the substance of any contractual agreement between either NIB, the company Humana or the Australian government, there has none, there is none," he said.

Mr Rudd said Mr Fitzgibbon had earlier said he was not involved in the handling of the NIB matter.

"What he has informed us of today is that his staff did attend meetings with NIB on this matter and furthermore, that one of those meetings occurred within his office," the prime minister said.

The prime minister suggested there wouldn't be a broader reshuffle of cabinet when Mr Fitzgibbon's replacement was announced.

"I think it's important to take things step by step," he said.

"It's important to get on with the business of government.

"I've never been in the business of saying change for changes sake."

Mr Rudd said human beings have weaknesses and the ability to make mistakes.

"Therefore, obviously I feel sad about this but it is important that we maintain high standards of ministerial accountability."

Mr Fitzgibbon had admitted members of his staff had sat in on a number of meetings with NIB on the subject of Humana.

"It is on the basis of those two things, which are different from what the minister had declared before, that he concluded that it was right that he extend his letter of resignation.

"He's done so and it is the right course of action."

Mr Rudd denied the Department of Defence had white-anted its minister.

Mr Fitzgibbon had shared a good working relationship with his department and defence force chief Angus Houston.

"But it follows that in any dealings with a very large organisation from time to time things are going to go wrong," Mr Rudd said.

The prime minister reiterated that the mistake was on the part of Mr Fitzgibbon and that he had full confidence in the department and the Australian Defence Force.

Mr Rudd said the new defence minister would attend a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) meeting in Belgium next week, and be able to cope with the detailed discussions.

When asked whether Mr Fitzgibbon could ever return as a minister in a Rudd government, the prime minister replied: "I don't believe in anything called life sentences for these ... sorts of things.

"It's a matter about how people conduct themselves and what work they do and what application they apply."

 

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http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5631315/john-faulkner-is-new-defence-minister/


PM chooses Faulkner as defence minister



Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has chosen a safe pair of hands in veteran minister John Faulkner to take charge of Defence a day after Joel Fitzgibbon quit as minister.

Mr Rudd described Senator Faulkner on Friday as the government's most experienced cabinet member but warned that he had a tough job ahead of him introducing the biggest restructure of defence in decades.

The appointment comes after Mr Fitzgibbon was forced to resign on Thursday for a breach of ministerial standards after he failed to declare a string of gifts and also allowed his office to assist his health fund chief brother, Mark, to lobby defence officials for health services contracts.

The gaffe-prone former minister had also failed to satisfactorily resolve a defence bungle affecting the pay of special forces soldiers which he had promised to fix last October.

As expected, Mr Rudd overlooked a pool of new talent in his ministry and opted for the steadying hand of Senator Faulkner, a senator for 20 years who served as a minister in Keating government and held the portfolio of defence science and personnel.

Senator Faulkner, 55, said on Friday he was delighted and honoured to take on the role.

He nominated the new white paper, a restructure of defence and Australia's involvement in Afghanistan as key areas requiring his immediate focus.

"I acknowledge to you of course, that I am now right at the bottom of a very steep learning curve for a new portfolio," Senator Faulkner told reporters.

But he put his new department on notice, saying he had high expectations.

"I have high expectations of Defence and I have a very high level of confidence that those expectations will be met," Senator Faulkner said.

Mr Rudd expects to name a replacement for Senator Faulkner's former roles as cabinet secretary and Special Minister of State "in the coming days".

It means a new face for the ministry which is likely to come from among the parliamentary secretaries with former NSW ALP secretary Senator Mark Arbib and former ACTU secretary Greg Combet regarded as the frontrunners.

Mr Rudd heaped high praise on Senator Faulkner, describing him as a man of great character, experience and integrity.

"John Faulkner is a man of unquestionable integrity and strength of character and that's been reflected in the multiple portfolios he's been responsible for in both opposition and government," Mr Rudd said.

He would be a strong voice in cabinet for men and women in uniform.

"I have absolute confidence that Senator Faulkner will discharge this responsibility with absolute professionalism and integrity for which his career is already known," Mr Rudd said.

The appointment attracted praise from a wide range of sources including the Opposition, the Australian Greens, the defence establishment as well as academics and commentators.

Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop said the senator was an obvious choice for Labor given his extensive parliamentary experience.

But she warned that the coalition would continue to investigate Mr Fitzgibbon's breach of the ministerial code of conduct despite his demotion to the backbench.

Senator Faulkner said he had spoken in the past 24 hours to two former Labor defence ministers, Kim Beazley and Robert Ray, both of whom held the portfolio for six years each in the 1980s and 1990s respectively.

"I rang Robert for a bit of chat about this and I can confirm to you that Kim rang me - five times," Senator Faulkner said.

Mr Beazley said the defence restructure set in train by Mr Fitzgibbon and requiring the finding of $20 billion in savings would be hard to deliver.

"It'll require a pretty firm and experienced hand on the tiller and I think John has that," Mr Beazley told Sky News on Friday.

"He'd have to be about the safest pair of hands on the front bench and it's a pretty safe front bench."

Under the Keating government, Senator Faulkner was Minister for Veterans Affairs, Minister for Defence Science and Personnel and Minister for Environment, Sports and Territories from 1993 to 1996.

He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Senate for eight years.

Australian Industry Group chief executive, Heather Ridout, welcomed the appointment saying Senator Faulkner was well-versed in defence matters and would bring considerable expertise to the portfolio.

There was also praise from Greens leader Bob Brown who said Senator Faulkner had a record of great integrity and was the best possible choice for the job.

Former senior defence official Hugh White, professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University, described Senator Faulkner as an outstanding choice with extensive knowledge and experience in the portfolio.

"And he has the weight of character to provide strong leadership for defence," he said.

"Defence is a hard organisation to lead and many who hold the portfolio never really understand what is required to lead an organisation of that scale and complexity.

"Faulkner will do an absolutely outstanding job as defence minister and I think it is very important that Rudd has shown how seriously he takes the task in defence by being prepared to put one of his absolutely most experienced ministers into the job," Prof White said.

"His manner and style and his weight and gravitas are just what is required to do the defence job well. I don't think Rudd could have chosen better."

Australia Defence Association executive director Neil James said Senator Faulkner was well regarded by the defence hierarchy and had a good background for the position.

"We welcome the appointment. We actually thought he would get the job when they were first elected," Mr James said.

"He has an excellent background, being an ex-minister for veterans affairs and a minister for defence, science and personnel, albeit only for a year. He has also served on the estimates committee reviewing the defence budget for well over a decade and that gives him superb background.

"This bloke's knowledge of defence matters is deep and extensive and that's no doubt why the prime minister has chosen him because it would be hard to parachute someone else in with no background in defence matters."

Mr James said the only downside could be if Senator Faulkner chose to retire at the next election, thus requiring the prime minister to find another defence minister.