Fed: Labor frontbencher says give Bartlett time

AAP General News (Australia)
12-11-2003
Fed: Labor frontbencher says give Bartlett time

BRISBANE, Dec 11 AAP - Embattled Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett has attracted
support from an unusual quarter - the Labor frontbench.

Fellow Queensland MP and Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said today Senator
Bartlett should be given time to work through his personal issues.

Senator Bartlett, who is on leave, is under pressure from sections of his own party
to resign following his drunken altercation last week with Liberal Senator Jeannie Ferris.

Mr Rudd told ABC radio today he did not know Senator Bartlett personally but believed
he should not be rushed.

"Who knows what set of personal circumstances were going on in his life when all this
happened," Mr Rudd said.

"I am always slow to judgment about these questions and I think it's fair to give Andrew
some time to work all these things through.

"But, plainly, any use of physical violence or threat of physical violence against
women is no go."

Mr Rudd said he found parliament house in Canberra a "sterile and unfriendly" environment
and its culture may have contributed to Senator Bartlett's predicament.

"You could die in your office in parliament house and not be found until a month later," he said.

"At a purely human level, observing what Andrew Bartlett's gone through, he's not the
first and he won't be the last.

"There is something quite unfriendly about the way the building is constructed and
(the way) the culture of the place operates."

AAP pjo/cbs/br

KEYWORD: BARTLETT RUDD

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