The Killing Season: Labor MPs support leader Bill Shorten after claim he cannot be trusted

The Killing Season: Labor MPs support leader Bill Shorten after claim he cannot be trusted

Perth : Federal Labor MPs have lined up to support Opposition Leader Bill Shorten following claims former party powerbroker Mark Arbib believed he was untrustworthy.
The claim was made by Gerry Kitchener, an adviser to former prime minister Julia Gillard, in last night’s episode of the ABC documentary The Killing Season.
Mr Kitchener told the program that during a conversation about Ms Gillard’s ministry, Mr Arbib warned against trusting Mr Shorten.
“He said that you couldn’t trust Bill Shorten — that he would do Julia in,” Mr Kitchener said. “[Arbib said] the one thing she couldn’t do was give him industrial relations [portfolio] because he would use it to solidify the union base to knock her off.” But Labor backbencher Tim Watts has defended his leader. “I trust Bill Shorten completely,” he said.”The events that were on television on the ABC last night, they’re not just ancient history for me, I wasn’t even in the caucus when those events were going on.”They’re a completely different world to me. The caucus that I’m a member of is the most united Labor caucus that I can ever remember.” Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus described the program as a “fascinating piece of, I’d say, Australian historical television”. “That’s what it is, it’s history,” Mr Dreyfus said.”I know that there are people who will be wanting to make this television program yesterday and perhaps next week’s episode current affairs, but it’s not current affairs, it’s a piece of history.”Bill Shorten has done an extraordinary job as Opposition Leader to get Labor into and to keep Labor in the competitive position that we have been now in for almost the whole term of the Abbott Government.”Mr Shorten declined to be interviewed for the Killing Season program.

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