29 December 2015•Update: 30 December 2015
By Jill Fraser
MELBOURNE, Australia
Just minutes apart, two senior ministers in the Australian Federal Government’s front bench announced they were standing down from their roles.
Early Tuesday afternoon, a stunned electorate learned that separate scandals had claimed the scalps of Minister for Cities and the Built Environment Jamie Briggs and the Special Minister of State Mal Brough, who also served as Minister for Defence Materiel and Science.
The upheaval is being described widely in the local press as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s first political headache as it has further complicated the inevitable cabinet reshuffle set to follow the tipped resignation of National Party leader Warren Truss in late January or early February.
But political commentator Dr. David Burchell from the University of Western Sydney told Anadolu Agency that he believes the scenario had been “cleverly choreographed”.
“Politics has become incredibly choreographed and nothing is done casually,” Burchell said.
“This is part of Malcolm Turnbull’s general effort to present himself as an orderly, controlled, logical leader in contrast to his predecessor and the two predecessors before that.”
According to Burchell, Turnbull “decided they [Briggs and Brough] had to go and he was going to do it at a time of his choosing, not the media’s choosing.”
The surprise events began to unfold with South Australian MP Briggs fronting the press to make the announcement that he had tendered his resignation following a late-night incident involving a female public servant in a Hong Kong bar last month during an official overseas visit.
Briggs told the assembled media that the unidentified female public servant took offence at his actions in the bar.
The Advertiser reports the incident involved Briggs telling the public servant she had “piercing eyes” and kissing her on the cheek as the group left the bar.
"At no point was it my intention to act inappropriately and I'm obliged to note for the record that nothing illegal has been alleged or did in fact occur," Briggs said.
Briggs, who is married with three children, has called the incident “an error of professional judgement”.
“I have apologised directly to her but after careful reflection about the concerns she raised and the fact that I was at a bar, late at night while on an overseas visit, I have concluded that this behaviour has not met the particularly high standards required of Ministers,” he added.
A strong supporter of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott -- who Turnbull ousted in September -- Briggs is known to enjoy a party.
He made headlines when he confessed to injuring his knee after “tackling” former Abbott at the leadership spill wake, after initially claiming to have sustained the injury while running.
Minutes after Briggs's press conference wrapped up, Turnbull released a statement saying that Brough had agreed to stand aside pending the completion of a police investigation into the role he played in the downfall of former Speaker Peter Slipper.
He is accused of illegally obtaining copies of Slipper's diary in 2012 when Slipper was embroiled in a sexual harassment case, which has since been dropped. Brough denies any wrongdoing.
Acting Labor leader Tanya Plibersek immediately proclaimed Tuesday as Turnbull's "taking out the trash day" before heading to an early election in 2016.
"He [Turnbull] saved up all the bad news for between Christmas and New Year when he hopes no one is listening," she said. “[Turnbull] was hoping Australia wouldn't notice he was trying to slide back into government without scrutiny.”
Burchell, on the other hand, maintained that the double whammy was designed specifically to show that Turnbull is “gentlemanly and decorous” because Briggs and Brough were given the opportunity to stand down as opposed to being pushed.
“Briggs was part of the Abbott inner circle and Turnbull wouldn’t want to give the impression that he was settling scores,” Burchell said.
