Bob Murphie
24th Sep 2006, 06:43
Vaile and Truss to trade jobs
Sunday Sep 24 11:56 AEST
Nationals leader Mark Vaile has given up his job as trade minister, swapping portfolios with the party's deputy leader and transport minister Warren Truss.
A year out from a federal election, the move will take Mr Vaile, who is also deputy prime minister, out of a hectic portfolio to spend more time running his party, after a disastrous year for the Nationals.
It also means he will be out of the trade portfolio when Commissioner Terence Cole hands down his report in late November on the $290 million in kickbacks which wheat exporter AWB paid to the former Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
Mr Vaile was criticised for retaining the portfolio, with its demanding schedule of overseas commitments, when he took over as party leader last year, but refused to admit the critics had been right.
He said the move would allow him to spend more time in the Nationals' rural heartland, and insisted the party had achieved much under his leadership, despite the demands of being trade minister.
"That is evidence that you can do it, not without its challenges, I'll acknowledge that, but it's not an impossibility," he told the Nine Network.
"As we move into this next phase in the life of our government, I want to be able to focus on moving around regional Australia, listening to the concerns of regional Australia."
Mr Vaile denied any link between his move and the coming Cole report on AWB.
Mr Cole is likely to be critical of the failure of Mr Vaile, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and their departments to uncover the illicit payments that helped prop up Saddam's regime.
"The government and myself and my ministerial colleagues have nothing to hide in this circumstance and this has got nothing to do with moving away from the Cole report," Mr Vaile said.
He admitted his appearance before the Cole inquiry earlier this year "certainly wasn't an exciting time", but said he would not describe it as a "low point".
Labor leapt on Mr Vaile's move, saying he would avoid tough questions on AWB.
"It will become more difficult to ask Mark Vaile questions in the parliament about his role in the scandal because questions to him will be ruled out of order," opposition public accountability spokesman Kelvin Thomson said.
The Nationals should be stripped of the trade portfolio, he said.
Mr Vaile said he had discussed the possibility of moving out of trade with Prime Minister John Howard for several months, but did not say when the talks began.
He first flagged giving up trade - which he has held since July 1999 - in May, after he was ambushed by a damaging plan by the Queensland Liberal and National parties to merge.
The merger plan was dropped, but the damage to the coalition was still being felt at the Queensland election earlier this month, which was won by Labor in a fourth consecutive landslide.
The Nationals were also rocked this year when Senator Julian McGauran - the brother of Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran - defected to the Liberal Party.
This week's Australian-chaired meeting of the Cairns Group of agricultural exporters also failed to resuscitate the stalled Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks, predictably issuing a call for the negotiations to resume quickly.
But Mr Vaile said he had helped establish Australia and agriculture at the centre of the Doha round, and it was time to focus on domestic issues "and look to maximising our party's chances and the government's chances of success at the next election".
He would not say whether Mr Howard would initiate a broader reshuffle later in the year.
©AAP 2006
Sunday Sep 24 11:56 AEST
Nationals leader Mark Vaile has given up his job as trade minister, swapping portfolios with the party's deputy leader and transport minister Warren Truss.
A year out from a federal election, the move will take Mr Vaile, who is also deputy prime minister, out of a hectic portfolio to spend more time running his party, after a disastrous year for the Nationals.
It also means he will be out of the trade portfolio when Commissioner Terence Cole hands down his report in late November on the $290 million in kickbacks which wheat exporter AWB paid to the former Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
Mr Vaile was criticised for retaining the portfolio, with its demanding schedule of overseas commitments, when he took over as party leader last year, but refused to admit the critics had been right.
He said the move would allow him to spend more time in the Nationals' rural heartland, and insisted the party had achieved much under his leadership, despite the demands of being trade minister.
"That is evidence that you can do it, not without its challenges, I'll acknowledge that, but it's not an impossibility," he told the Nine Network.
"As we move into this next phase in the life of our government, I want to be able to focus on moving around regional Australia, listening to the concerns of regional Australia."
Mr Vaile denied any link between his move and the coming Cole report on AWB.
Mr Cole is likely to be critical of the failure of Mr Vaile, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and their departments to uncover the illicit payments that helped prop up Saddam's regime.
"The government and myself and my ministerial colleagues have nothing to hide in this circumstance and this has got nothing to do with moving away from the Cole report," Mr Vaile said.
He admitted his appearance before the Cole inquiry earlier this year "certainly wasn't an exciting time", but said he would not describe it as a "low point".
Labor leapt on Mr Vaile's move, saying he would avoid tough questions on AWB.
"It will become more difficult to ask Mark Vaile questions in the parliament about his role in the scandal because questions to him will be ruled out of order," opposition public accountability spokesman Kelvin Thomson said.
The Nationals should be stripped of the trade portfolio, he said.
Mr Vaile said he had discussed the possibility of moving out of trade with Prime Minister John Howard for several months, but did not say when the talks began.
He first flagged giving up trade - which he has held since July 1999 - in May, after he was ambushed by a damaging plan by the Queensland Liberal and National parties to merge.
The merger plan was dropped, but the damage to the coalition was still being felt at the Queensland election earlier this month, which was won by Labor in a fourth consecutive landslide.
The Nationals were also rocked this year when Senator Julian McGauran - the brother of Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran - defected to the Liberal Party.
This week's Australian-chaired meeting of the Cairns Group of agricultural exporters also failed to resuscitate the stalled Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks, predictably issuing a call for the negotiations to resume quickly.
But Mr Vaile said he had helped establish Australia and agriculture at the centre of the Doha round, and it was time to focus on domestic issues "and look to maximising our party's chances and the government's chances of success at the next election".
He would not say whether Mr Howard would initiate a broader reshuffle later in the year.
©AAP 2006