Fed: Labor ups heat on Tony Abbott over Hanson's downfall
MELBOURNE, Aug 26 AAP - The federal Opposition turned up the heat on Workplace RelationsMinister Tony Abbott today, challenging him to come clean on a $100,000 trust fund topush for the prosecution of One Nation.
Mr Abbott was reported today to have admitted setting up the trust with donated moneyto pay for legal action against One Nation founder Pauline Hanson.
He also organised a separate fund to support One Nation dissident Terry Sharples, whowas trying to stop One Nation receiving public electoral money.
The action succeeded in having the party deregistered, leading to Hanson and partyco-founder David Ettridge being sentenced to three years' jail last week for electoralfraud.
Labor workplace relations spokesman Craig Emerson told reporters in Melbourne todaythat Mr Abbott had to make a full disclosure about his involvement in Hanson's downfall.
"Where did the money come from? Who received the money? And who made the decisionson who received the money?" Dr Emerson said.
"A $100,000 slush fund is a lot of money in anybody's terms. Who were the trustees of this fund?"
Dr Emerson said another issue that had to be clarified was whether Mr Abbott had travelledprivately in Queensland while orchestrating Hanson's enemies, or whether he had been usinghis MP's travel allowance.
It was unclear whether Mr Abbott had done anything illegal by helping organise thedownfall of the One Nation founders, he said.
Nevertheless, the Opposition was examining what pressure could be applied to the governmentto force Prime Minister John Howard and Mr Abbott to make full disclosures.
"The Australian public deserves to know," Dr Emerson said.
The latest matters followed a pattern of deception by the Howard government, he said.
The child overboard fiasco had been followed by the government's incorrect claims thatSaddam Hussein had been trying to buy nuclear materials, and the prime minister's evasivenessover the ethanol issue, he said.
"It's only when the truth comes out that the government has to admit it was involvedin a deception, in a lie," Dr Emerson said.
AAP ra/gfr/ak/jlw/
KEYWORD: HANSON ABBOTT LEAD
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