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April 13th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Updated
Former Labor frontbencher Simon Crean has savaged his own party and leader in a newspaper interview that has refuelled the issue of Labor disunity.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard sacked Mr Crean from her Cabinet after he called a party room ballot for the leadership in March.
After the failed spill, Mr Crean called for Labor to consolidate and “unify” around Ms Gillard.
But in an interview published in Fairfax newspapers this morning, Mr Crean has instead accused the PM of having a “tin ear” for political strategy.
“[Kevin Rudd] was just arrogant but she’s got a tin ear. She sits there… and listens but it doesn’t translate,” Mr Crean told Fairfax.
“Because somewhere along the way she gets the word that here’s the angle on how you get tomorrow’s headline.”
Mr Crean says the Government has neglected its key election campaign promises, and is not living up to the principles of consensus and inclusiveness established by the Hawke and Keating governments.
“[The Prime Minister has] gone the class warfare. The 457 visa debate was a good example of the message being taken out of context – because it looked like we’ll put Australians before foreigners,” Mr Crean said in the interview.
“Unequivocally, immigration has been good for this country.
“That’s not the ethos of the Hawke-Keating model.
“How have we built the country? By cohesion. We are seen outside as the great success story of multiculturalism.
“Why don’t we play to it? Play to strength. That’s my point.”
Senior Labor Party figure Geoff Gallop has described Mr Crean’s criticism of Ms Gillard as “irrational”.
The former Labor premier of Western Australia says he cannot understand why Mr Crean has ignored his own calls for the destabilisation to stop.
“He might be trying to contribute to the debate within the Australian Labor Party, that’s the favourable interpretation,” he said.
“Another one is he might be manoeuvring to literally have Julia Gillard taken out of the position and someone else put [in] – like himself or whatever, I can’t say – because his actions are so irrational from a political point of view.”
Queensland Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce told ABC News 24 Mr Crean’s comments were “anarchy”.
“Our country can’t go on like this,” he said.
“We know the country cannot go on like this. It has to turn around.
“It is not a football to be played with by Mr Swan, Ms Gillard and [independent MP Tony] Windsor. We must do the right thing.
“We must get the show back on the rails.”
Topics:
federal-government,
government-and-politics,
australia
First posted
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-13/crean-savages-own-party-in-scathing-newspaper-interview/4627066
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