"scandalous" disregard for national security

Bodyguard deputised for Gillard

JULIA Gillard has been accused of "scandalous" disregard for national security amid revelations she sent a former bodyguard to attend highly sensitive security meetings on her behalf.

The revelations are the latest in a string of damaging leaks to hit the Prime Minister and come as senior Labor ministers concede that animosity between her and Kevin Rudd is "killing" its election campaign and that it is not being managed as it should.

A poll last night showed the Coalition would win power if an election were held today. A Nielsen poll in the Fairfax press showed support for Labor had plummeted, with the Coalition leading Labor on a two-party-preferred basis by 52 to 48 per cent.

Mr Rudd, who was hospitalised yesterday for gall bladder surgery, has been blamed by some in the party for recent cabinet leaks. These include reports that Ms Gillard questioned Labor's paid parental leave scheme and pension increase.

In claims that will fuel the distrust between the Gillard and Rudd camps, sources have told The Weekend Australian that when Ms Gillard was deputy prime minister she regularly failed to attend cabinet's national security committee meetings. Instead, she reportedly sent her former bodyguard and junior staff member Andrew Stark.

A spokesman for Ms Gillard said cabinet confidentiality meant she could not defend herself from the damaging allegations.

But the revelations are a further blow to Labor's national security credentials. The ABC reported last week that Mr Rudd had shown a "casual disregard" for the NSC and at times sent his 31-year-old chief of staff, Alister Jordan, to deputise for him.

Tony Abbott last night seized on the claims to question Labor's fitness for office. "The fact reflects on the Prime Minister's approach to national security and the leak reflects the dysfunction at the heart of the current government," the Opposition Leader told The Weekend Australian.

As deputy prime minister, Ms Gillard was a member of the NSC and was expected to chair its meetings when Mr Rudd could not attend. However, it is understood Ms Gillard at times failed to stand in for the former prime minister, sending Mr Stark in her place. Mr Stark did not return phone calls yesterday.

Former Coalition foreign minister Alexander Downer told The Weekend Australian Ms Gillard's reportedly poor attendance record at the NSC and her decision to send a junior adviser was scandalous behaviour and disregarded the importance of the top-level security committee. "The NSC takes decisions on life and death and is no place for a junior staffer. Such actions are scandalous," he said.

A former chief of the defence staff, Chris Barrie, told the ABC recently: "In the four years I was the chief of the defence force, on every occasion I went to the national security committee of the cabinet it was chaired either by the prime minister himself or by the deputy prime minister who was acting prime minister."

A former senior public servant also described as "very odd" and "very, very unusual" Mr Rudd's and Ms Gillard's attendance records.

Liberal sources said John Howard had attended all but one NSC meeting and only senior ministerial staff were allowed in.

A spokesman for Ms Gillard said the Prime Minister stood by the government's "strong record on national security".

"It has been the longstanding practice of successive governments not to comment on the content of cabinet discussions or to indicate who has attended particular cabinet meetings."

Asked whether Ms Gillard attended fewer than half of the meetings, he said: "Since the government was elected, there have been 74 NSC meetings. The Prime Minister attended as many meetings as possible."

This is in contrast to Mr Rudd, who said he had attended every "critical" NSC meeting.

The spokesman would not confirm or deny whether Ms Gillard sent Mr Stark in her place.

Mr Stark, a former Liberal Party member, worked for Mr Downer as a bodyguard and security official when the latter was foreign minister. He was later hired as a bodyguard and security official for Ms Gillard after the Rudd government was elected in 2007, and subsequently became a junior adviser in her office.

An internal Labor directory from February lists Mr Stark sixth in Ms Gillard's list of seven advisers and reveals he was based in her Melbourne office.

Mr Downer said Mr Stark had served him well and he gave him a reference when he resigned from the federal police.

The Prime Minister this week warned she would sack any minister found leaking.

Senior ministers are concerned Mr Rudd is destroying Labor's campaign and is leaking to cruel Ms Gillard's chances.

The Nielsen poll last night showed a six-percentage-point two-party-preferred swing against Labor since its last poll a week ago. The poll also showed big falls in Labor's primary vote, down six points in a week to 36 per cent while the Coalition's primary vote rose four points 45 per cent. Ms Gillard's 21-point lead as preferred prime minister fell by 13 points to 49, against 41 for Mr Abbott. Her rating fell six points and Mr Abbott's rose seven points.