FED:Secret US cables criticise Rudd on boats

AAP General News (Australia)
12-16-2010
FED:Secret US cables criticise Rudd on boats

The latest US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks criticise former prime minister
KEVIN RUDD's handling of asylum seekers.

Fairfax reports that the embassy told Washington last year that in parliamentary debate
on the issue Mr RUDD had "returned to tedious spin and bureaucratic jargon .. making him
look evasive and out of his depth".

The cable also reveals an unnamed "key Liberal Party strategist" told US diplomats
that the issue of asylum seekers was "fantastic" for the coalition and "the more boats
that come the better".

They also show federal Labor MP MICHAEL DANBY told embassy officers that Mr RUDD had
"played the politics badly" and "completely misread" the issue.

AAP RTV bzs/goc/jfm/jen/

KEYWORD: WIKILEAKS BOAT (SYDNEY)

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