Arbib no spy, says Loosley
UNDER FIRE: Former ALP senator Stephen Loosely says Senator Arbib is no spy. Picture: AFP
Source: The Australian
MARK Arbib was not a spy and was in fact acting in Australia’s interests when he told US diplomats what was going on inside the ALP.
Anyone who says otherwise is anti-American, insists former ALP senator Stephen Loosely.
Mr Loosley said Senator Arbib was doing nothing more than politicians from the Labor and Liberal parties had been doing for decades when it came to frank, private political discussions with envoys from Australia’s closest ally.
Senator Arbib, the Sports Minister, was portrayed as a spy in the Fairfax press yesterday after he was named in WikiLeaks cables as one of several politicians who discussed with US envoys the inner workings of the Labor Party, including leadership issues, just before Kevin Rudd was deposed as prime minister.
Mr Loosley admitted that he was one of several Labor Party members who tipped off US diplomats in Sydney in late 1991 about the probability that Paul Keating would depose Bob Hawke as prime minister.
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“A lot of people, including myself, were involved in those conversations with the Americans, because it was very much in our national interest that the Americans were clear about what was happening inside the government,” Mr Loosley told The Australian yesterday.
“The notion that Mark Arbib is somehow a spy is truly absurd and offensive. The Australia-US relationship is based firmly on trust, and the reason we have such a relationship is because both sides are constantly working the patch as far as politics and policy is concerned.”
Mr Loosley, a member of the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue, attacked Senator Arbib’s critics as anti-American.
“For some elements of the political class, the closeness in our relationship with the Americans is always equated to subservience, but that is simply not true,” he said. “It is a two-way process, and this sort of discussion also helps Australia form views about our allies.”
Former politicians and diplomats said yesterday the unique nature of the Australia-US relationship meant there was broader and more open dialogue between diplomats, politicians and decision-makers than occurred between other countries.
Senator Arbib is one of many Australian politicians who attend the leadership dialogue, an annual bipartisan forum of leaders from government, business and the media from both countries who engage in frank discussions on the bilateral relationship under Chatham House rules.
The leaked US cables said Senator Arbib was “an influential factional operator” who “has met with us repeatedly throughout his political rise”.
Strategic analyst Hugh White said Senator Arbib had not done anything wrong in speaking frankly to the Americans about Labor Party issues.
“The standard we should apply here is whether he has said anything which damages Australia’s national interests,” Mr White said. “I don’t think it does any harm for the private machinations of the Labor Party to be shared. Lots of politicians have been doing the same thing for years. These are not matters of national security.”
Left-wing journalist and author John Bilker said the revelations about Senator Arbib’s links with the Americans raised questions about whether the US government played a role in the deposing of Mr Rudd as prime minister, given that Senator Arbib was an architect of Mr Rudd’s demise.
He said the US might have been unhappy with Mr Rudd because he appeared ambivalent about Australia’s continued military involvement in Afghanistan.
One senior Labor figure, who asked not to be named, said that although Senator Arbib had not broken any rules in talking about party affairs with US diplomats, he would be ostracised by many within the Labor movement because of his activities.
A former Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent, Warren Reed, said the nature of Senator Arbib’s links with the US embassy and its staff should be explored more closely.
“If the Americans are referring to Mr Arbib as a ‘protected source’ then they clearly believe he is of value to them,” Mr Reed said.
Greens leader Bob Brown said he would not be surprised if conversations he had had with US officials were the subject of secret embassy cables.
“I regularly . . . get asked to meet the US ambassador and indeed a few other ambassadors from countries around the world,” Senator Brown said. “I’m always very careful about that, because you know the information is going back to the home capital, whether it is Beijing or Washington or Wellington, or wherever.
“I think it’s good that this (the Arbib cables) has seen the light of day. We all have to answer as elected members of parliament for any information we’re giving to foreign embassies.”
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By on 11/12/2010