Labor MP Shayne Neumann fuels leadership speculation LANAI VASEK From: The Australian September 22, 2011 10:29AM
LABOR MP Shayne Neumann has fuelled speculation that Kevin Rudd is quietly preparing the way for a return to The Lodge, repeatedly refusing to say if he had spoken to the Foreign Minister about the leadership.
Mr Neumann today dodged questions on whether Mr Rudd, a fellow Queenslander, was ?working the phones? to build support for a potential challenge.
As Opposition Leader Tony Abbott accused Julia Gillard of bringing on debate on Labor's Migration Act amendments because she was ?worried about the numbers?, Mr Neumann refused to answer direct questions about his recent contact with Mr Rudd, who is also a factional colleague.
?Kevin Rudd speaks to me from time to time and the Prime Minister talks to me from time to time,? Mr Neumann told reporters at Parliament House.
?I am going to tell you I support the Prime Minister in her role and the Foreign Minister in his role because that's what I have said repeatedly.?
Mr Abbott said a Labor backbencher recently took a phone call from Mr Rudd in the presence of a Coalition MP and then divulged the former prime minister was scouting out support for a leadership challenge.
?I think plainly she is worried about the numbers. She knows Kevin Rudd is calling around,? the Opposition Leader said of Ms Gillard.
?It's pretty obvious that something is going on inside the Labor Party right now.?
The Australian today reported Coalition sources believed Mr Rudd was either five votes or 11 votes short of rolling Ms Gillard and returning to The Lodge.
But senior Labor figures today denied the leadership speculation.
Bill Shorten, one of the faction leaders responsible for overthrowing Mr Rudd in June last year, said he knew nothing about any move against Ms Gillard.
?That sort of talk, I suspect, is a Liberal beat-up,? the Assistant Treasurer told ABC Radio.
Leader of the House Anthony Albanese said it was ?absurd? to suggest Mr Rudd was planning a leadership challenge, and said he had not been called by the Foreign Minister on the issue.
?Liberal party sources, the article says, and Liberal sources calling around is as relevant as Labor Party sources calling around about Tony Abbott's leadership - what a joke,? Mr Albanese said.
?It is absolutely absurd that people report statements from Liberal Party sources about internal ALP matters.? http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/asylum-impasse- fuels-alp-tensions-as-julia-gillard-loses-supporters/story-fn59niix- 1226143410166
