Australian PM in damage control | Bangkok Post: news

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was in damage control on Tuesday, insisting she did not ask staff to prepare a victory speech two weeks before she ousted then leader Kevin Rudd in a party room coup.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (pictured in 2011) was in damage control on Tuesday, insisting she did not ask staff to prepare a victory speech two weeks before she ousted then leader Kevin Rudd in a party room coup. "I did not direct staff in my office to prepare a speech for me as prime minister. I wouldn't have seen the need for it," Gillard told ABC radio.

As a new opinion poll showed Gillard's dismal popularity dipping further, the prime minister was forced onto the back foot over claims her office had worked on an acceptance speech a fortnight before Rudd's brutal removal.