BARRY O'FARRELL'S decision to refer the Iguanagate scandal to police has enabled Kevin Rudd to avoid answering questions over the role of his backbencher Belinda Neal.
Federal Parliament sat for the first time yesterday since Ms Neal and her state Labor MP husband, John Della Bosca, were accused of abusing and bullying staff at the Central Coast restaurant and bar, Iguanas Waterfront, on June 6.
Mr Rudd has ordered Ms Neal to have anger management counselling and Mr Della Bosca has been stood down from the state ministry while the veracity of statutory declarations issued in defence of the Labor couple are investigated.
Yesterday Mr Rudd repeatedly said it would be inappropriate for him to comment further because there was a police investigation under way. "That should proceed unimpeded and I think that is the appropriate way for it to proceed rather than to allow for the politics to get into the middle of it."
Mr Rudd last night would not be drawn on the police investigation but suggested a grim future for Ms Neal should there be an adverse finding by repeating his warning that "nobody is guaranteed a future in politics".
The former federal Labor minister John Brown, from NSW, told ABC radio Ms Neal was a "very difficult person" whose "strange peculiarities" had damaged her husband's career. Mr Brown said he recently resigned from the Johnny Warren Football Foundation board because of Ms Neal, who was also a director.
"My God, you've got no idea how difficult she is. I mean, talk about turning a simple soccer board into a legal forum … for no good reason," he said.
In Parliament, Labor used its numbers to kill an Opposition motion demanding Ms Neal make a statement to the House explaining what happened at Iguanas.
The Opposition Leader, Brendan Nelson, demanded Mr Rudd detail when Ms Neal's counselling had finished "so at least Australian workers at least can go safely about their job".
The Opposition asked Mr Rudd whether he or any of his staff pressured Ms Neal's staff to sign statutory declarations that cleared Ms Neal of bad behaviour.
"Neither myself not my office provided [Ms Neal] with any such advice," Mr Rudd said.
Further attempts by the Opposition to find out if any of Ms Neal's staff were unduly pressured to defend her were frustrated when the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Harry Jenkins, ruled them out of order.
"He is not responsible for backbencher members of the Parliament," Mr Jenkins said of the Prime Minister.
This attracted accusations from the Opposition that Mr Jenkins had been "nobbled" by the Government.
The Opposition's justice spokesman, Christopher Pyne, was considering referring Ms Neal to the Australian Federal Police. He cited section 139 of the Criminal Code Act of 1995 which makes a Commonwealth public official guilty of an offence if he or she "makes an unwarranted demand with menaces of another person".
Ms Neal sat silently throughout Parliament yesterday and did not return calls from the Herald .
Mr Rudd drew once more on Mr O'Farrell, this time quoting the State Opposition Leader who last week praised Mr Rudd's handling of Ms Neal to contrast the NSW Premier, Morris Iemma's, initial handling of Mr Della Bosca.
With Arjun Ramachandran
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