In light of Michael Danby MP's intervention in the debate over last month's UN vote on the status of Palestine, it's worth taking another look at Graeme Dobell's excellent column from last Thursday, When a Foreign Minister Rolls the PM. An extract:
...how do we rate Bob Carr's rout of Gillard last week over Australia's vote in the UN on the status of Palestine?
Carr's standing and perceptions about his throw weight have been enhanced. He took on his leader and won a foreign policy argument in a way Stephen Smith, for instance, could never have imagined when serving as Rudd's Foreign Minister. But this is not all about Bob. Carr prevailed because cabinet and caucus joined in revolting against Gillard's preference to stand beside Israel, the US and Canada to vote No against Palestine. While Carr defined the policy point at issue, the victory was delivered by weight of numbers in the parliamentary Labor Party.
This was a big foreign policy loss for the PM, yet it did not reverberate in the same way as some of Gillard's domestic losses, which have become permanent crosses for her to bear. I wonder if Danby's intervention changes that equation?
Photo by Flickr user Norway UN (New York).
