AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times
November 14, 2012
Phillip Coorey
Sydney Morning Herald chief political correspondent
When Prime Minister Julia Gillard walked into cabinet at 4pm on Monday, she had already decided to hold a broad-ranging royal commission into the sexual abuse of children.
Her decision crystallised earlier that day after consultations with senior colleagues, including Treasurer Wayne Swan and Environment Minister Tony Burke.
Inside cabinet, there was no resistance. The Minister for Workplace Relations, Bill Shorten, was a little put out, according to cabinet sources, only because he would be embarrassed.
On Friday, with Gillard in Indonesia, Shorten had wanted to back calls for a royal commission after revelations about the systemic abuse and cover-ups by the Catholic Church in the Hunter Valley. But the ”line” from the Prime Minister’s office that day was to dead-bat calls for a commission until Gillard returned home.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.