Voices without Votes » Australia’s Prime Minister in Trouble After Leaked Phone Call

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Issues:: International Relations

Australia’s former foreign minister said in a report published Sunday that an investigation should be opened into the leaking of a phone call between the country’s prime minster and U.S. President George W. Bush.

According to reports in the media, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spoke to Bush shortly after the economic crisis hit. The Weekend Australian reported that Rudd told Bush that they had to convene a meeting between the G20, the richest 20 countries in the world.

The report went on to say that Bush then asked what the G20 was. “What’s the G20,” Bush said according to the leaked conversation.

Immediately after the report was published, both the prime minister’s and president’s office denied it. Bush never asked what the G20 was, both offices said.

But the trouble was done. The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper, reported that the call did go as The Weekend Australian reported, but that the Australian government feared that the leak would jeopardize the good relationship between both countries.

Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that Rudd should immediately open an investigation into the leak saying: “It’s not just that President Bush wouldn’t like it, and you could say that doesn’t matter because he finishes in January, it’s that officials generally in the United States and in other countries would think: `These people in Australia, you want to be very careful what you say to them in a private conversation’.”

“The smart thing for Kevin Rudd to do would be now to set up an inquiry into what actually happened here, because I think that would help to clear the air a lot and I think officials would very much appreciate that.”

Downer is, of course, correct. If this is indeed what happened, other leaders would think twice before speaking openly to Rudd. They would realize that if they say something Rudd considers silly, unwise, counterproductive, etc., it is likely to be leaked to the press which could damage their own image at home and, of course, decrease their standing in the rest of the world.