Bill Shorten says he regrets making “a mistake” in 2013 when he emphatically dismissed leadership talk just days after meeting with Kevin Rudd to discuss replacing Julia Gillard as prime minister.
The opposition leader has faced questions about his honesty at the height of the leadership drama after the ABC’s Killing Season series highlighted how Shorten met with Rudd at Parliament House on the night of the Midwinter Ball on 19 June 2013.
Shorten told 3AW interviewer Neil Mitchell two days later that he had not been asked to review his support for Gillard and that he would not review his position.
“I haven’t spoken to Kevin Rudd about the leadership,” Shorten said in the interview on 21 June 2013.
“I will continue to support our prime minister, yes,” he said when asked to guarantee he would support Gillard to lead the party to the 2013 election. “Black and white, yes, I continue to support our prime minister.”
Rudd returned to the prime ministership after challenging for the leadership the following week. Shorten announced his decision to switch support from Gillard to Rudd in the hours before the caucus met to vote on the leadership.
Shorten said on Thursday he regretted his choice of words in that interview, but insisted he had been motivated “by not wanting to cause even greater heartache” to the party.
He said he had made the comments in “the heat of the worst period of internal division in the Labor party for decades”.
“I made a mistake in that radio interview. I regret that,” Shorten told reporters in Canberra.
“It was difficult times, as you are all aware. The Labor party was bitterly divided and certainly I didn’t want to put any more fuel on that fire.
“In terms of what actually happened, I did speak to Kevin Rudd on the night of the 19th. He did ask me for support. I most certainly did not commit on that night to support Kevin Rudd. But they were tough times.
“What the Labor party has learned since then is the fundamental importance of being united and we are united.”
When asked to guarantee he would not mislead the public in future, Shorten said: “I guarantee that when I’m asked about internal party matters I won’t give the sort of answer I gave. You can rest assured, I am kicking myself in hindsight. If people ask about internal party matters, there are far better answers to give than the one I gave and we have learned that lesson.”
After the airing of the Killing Season’s third program on Tuesday this week, Mitchell told his listeners it appeared Shorten had lied in the interview.
Mitchell said Shorten subsequently phoned him to apologise for the answer, arguing he had been “caught on the hop” and “didn’t want to make an already diabolical situation worse”.
“It would be fair to say he apologised to me for what happened, and by direct implication of course that’s an apology to you [the 3AW audience],” Mitchell told his listeners on Wednesday.
The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, said Shorten’s position was becoming “weaker each day”.
Labor’s deputy leader Tanya Plibersek said Shorten’s comments in 2013 were “ancient history” and he “came out yesterday straight away and corrected the record”.
Plibersek sought to turn the focus towards Tony Abbott when asked about Shorten’s honesty and integrity.
“I think the question should really go to the prime minister who said before the last election no cuts to health, no cuts to education, no new taxes, no change to pensions, no cuts to the ABC and SBS and has broken every single one of those promises – promises that affect, deeply affect, the lives of all Australians,” she told ABC Radio National.
“I think it’s very important to focus on the lies that the prime minister has told, that actually are affecting people’s lives today.”
Plibersek said the Labor party was now “a very united team”.
“It’s never okay to lie – I teach my children that all the time – but isn’t it a shame we’ve got a prime minister who lied to get elected?”
