January 29
10:28 am Mar 1, 2012

Protest intermediary backs PM

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  • Protest intermediary backs PM

    thewall.com.au thewall.com.au | 12:02 am Jan 29, 2012

    ACT union official Kim Sattler has denied reports she told the Australian Federal Police on Friday about her involvement in telling protesters about Mr Abbott's location on Australia Day.

    News Limited reported on Sunday that Ms Sattler said her conversation with the prime minister's office had made her believe the opposition leader wanted the tent embassy to be closed.

    This contradicts the statement from Ms Gillard on Saturday in which the prime minister said her former media adviser, Tony Hodges, did not suggest to Ms Sattler that Mr Abbott had said the Aboriginal Tent Embassy should be removed.

    However, in a statement on Sunday, Ms Sattler said the News Ltd reports were "inaccurate".

    "As I said in my statement yesterday, Tony Hodges from the prime minister's office told me what Tony Abbott had said - that people should `move on' from the Tent Embassy," she said in a statement on Sunday.

    "Yesterday the prime minister gave an accurate account of my role."

    Senior opposition frontbencher Christopher Pyne said Ms Gillard's press conference on Saturday has left "so many questions unanswered".

    "The prime minister's office has verballed Tony Abbott. A riot has occurred as a consequence," he told Sky News on Sunday.

    "Her statements have been directly contradicted by the primary sources involved in this controversy."

    About 100 people surrounded a Canberra restaurant after they incorrectly heard that Mr Abbott had called for the Tent Embassy to be destroyed. The Tent Embassy is near the restaurant.

    Mr Hodges resigned on Friday after admitting he had said that Mr Abbott was inside the restaurant.

    Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott were evacuated from the restaurant when police and security personnel assessed there was a risk to them remaining there.

    "This is the most serious security scare an Australian prime minister has faced since the Fraser government," Mr Pyne said.

    He said the episode was another example of a government more concerned about itself than the nation's citizens.

    "There is a stench at the heart of this government, in the prime minister's office where dirty tricks and grubby political deals are elevated," Mr Pyne said.

    "The concerns of the Australian people about job security and other cost-of-living issues are pushed into the background."

Most Popular Tweets (78)

  • RT @jennineak: Chris Pyne wants AFP investigation into what sparked #tentembassy protest. 200 yrs of oppression not a valid enough reason?

    @antloewenstein @antloewenstein - Antony Loewenstein
    2:37 am Jan 29, 2012

  • Why is Tony Abbott hiding the identity of the journo who asked him that leading question about tent embassy? #auspol

    @geeksrulz @geeksrulz - Intrepid Geek
    12:58 pm Jan 29, 2012

  • 'TIME TO MOVE TENT EMBASSY: #Abbott' That was the @SkyNewsAust story TITLE + MESSAGE, SO THAT'S WHAT THEY THOUGHT TOO! #Auspol

    @FunHoleNo_5 @FunHoleNo_5 - Clinton McRobert
    11:53 am Jan 29, 2012

  • A two-year study of nearly 190,000 girls and women, finds that the HPV vaccine does not trigger autoimmune disorders - http://t.co/DLQ7ZW7x

    @VacciNewsNet @VacciNewsNet - VacciNewsNet
    10:56 am Jan 29, 2012

  • @JuliaGillard @MikeKellyMP Time to take off gloves & call out the lies/dirty tricks + Fear/hate campaign coming out of Menzies House #auspol

    @markjs1 @markjs1 - Mark
    9:10 am Jan 29, 2012

  • I am going to set up a zombie tent embassy in Canberra to protest against trolls.

    @zombiemao @zombiemao - Zombie Mao
    8:30 am Jan 29, 2012
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