Fed: Govt used NRL scandal to bury bad news: Abbott

AAP General News (Australia)
04-23-2010
Fed: Govt used NRL scandal to bury bad news: Abbott

SYDNEY, April 23 AAP - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the federal government must
have had prior knowledge of the NRL salary cap scandal and chose the day to bury bad news.

The Melbourne Storm was stripped of two NRL titles on Thursday for breaching the code's
salary cap in one of Australia's biggest sports scandals.

Mr Abbott has accused the government of knowing the news would divert public attention
from announcements it was scrapping the home insulation scheme and reneging on an election
promise to build 260 childcare centres.

In both instances, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd left it to junior ministers to deliver
the news on Thursday, just hours prior to the NRL's revelations about the Storm scandal.

"It's pretty clear we have a prime minister who not only can't take tough decisions,
but runs away from bad news," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

"We had two major announcements of serious broken promises yesterday.

"It's curious they were made on a day when there was a major public story running that
the government must have known would bury the bad news."

The government's controversial home insulation scheme was sidelined in February, but
was due to start again under a modified form in June.

But Assistant Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet announced it was being scrapped altogether.

Child Care Minister Kate Ellis said the government had scrapped a plan to deliver hundreds
of childcare centres, arguing that building them could threaten the viability of existing
services.

The government will build 38 centres already under construction, costing $114 million.

AAP mdg/evt/it

KEYWORD: LEAGUE CAP ABBOTT

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