{"id":1389,"date":"2014-02-14T22:39:43","date_gmt":"2014-02-14T11:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/?p=1389"},"modified":"2014-02-14T22:39:43","modified_gmt":"2014-02-14T11:39:43","slug":"grubby-business-poor-form-good-riddance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/?p=1389","title":{"rendered":"Grubby business, poor form, good riddance&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This should have never happened in the first place&#8230; what was Peta thinking appointing Furnival CoS!??<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/political-news\/assistant-health-minister-fiona-nashs-chief-of-staff-alastair-furnival-resigns-20140214-32qol.html<\/p>\n<h1 itemprop=\"name\">Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash&#8217;s chief of staff Alastair Furnival resigns<\/h1>\n<div>\n<dl>\n<dt>Date<\/dt>\n<dd><time itemprop=\"datePublished\" datetime=\"February 14, 2014 - 3:53PM\">February 14, 2014 &#8211; 3:53PM<\/time><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<ul>\n<li>56\u00a0reading now<\/li>\n<li data-assetid=\"d-32qol\" data-assettype=\"ARTICLE\" data-asseturl=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/political-news\/assistant-health-minister-fiona-nashs-chief-of-staff-alastair-furnival-resigns-20140214-32qol.html\"><button type=\"button\">Read later<\/button><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div itemprop=\"author\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Person\">\n<div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/by\/Amy-Corderoy\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Amy Corderoy\" alt=\"Amy Corderoy\" src=\"http:\/\/images.smh.com.au\/2012\/03\/13\/3122848\/AmyCorderoy.gif\" width=\"90\" height=\"90\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<h3><a itemprop=\"name\" href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/by\/Amy-Corderoy\" rel=\"author\">Amy Corderoy<\/a><\/h3>\n<h4>Health Editor, Sydney Morning Herald<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/by\/Amy-Corderoy\">View more articles from\u00a0Amy Corderoy<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/AmyCorderoy\" data-show-count=\"false\" data-show-screen-name=\"false\">Follow Amy on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:acorderoy@smh.com.au\">Email Amy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" data-count=\"horizontal\" data-url=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/political-news\/assistant-health-minister-fiona-nashs-chief-of-staff-alastair-furnival-resigns-20140214-32qol.html\" data-via=\"smh\" data-text=\"Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash's chief of staff Alastair Furnival resigns\">Twitter<\/a><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li>\n<div data-action=\"share\" data-annotation=\"bubble\" data-onstartinteraction=\"gplusCallback\"><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/political-news\/assistant-health-minister-fiona-nashs-chief-of-staff-alastair-furnival-resigns-20140214-32qol.html&amp;title=Assistant%20Health%20Minister%20Fiona%20Nash%27s%20chief%20of%20staff%20Alastair%20Furnival%20resigns\">submit to reddit<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Email to a friend\" href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/action\/emailToFriend?id=5166741\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-emailsociallink=\"true\" data-emailurl=\"\/action\/emailToFriend?id=5166741\">Email article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Print this story\" href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/action\/printArticle?id=5166741\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-printsociallink=\"true\" data-printurl=\"\/action\/printArticle?id=5166741\">Print<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Reprints and permissions\" href=\"http:\/\/rightsportal.copyright.com.au\/pages\/republicationpage.aspx?publisher=fxj&amp;publication=SMH&amp;author=Amy%20Corderoy&amp;title=Assistant%20Health%20Minister%20Fiona%20Nash%27s%20chief%20of%20staff%20Alastair%20Furnival%20resigns&amp;publicationdate=14\/02\/2014&amp;url=http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/political-news\/assistant-health-minister-fiona-nashs-chief-of-staff-alastair-furnival-resigns-20140214-32qol.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Reprints &amp; permissions<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\n<div id=\"adspot-120x50\"><iframe id=\"dcAd-1-3\" height=\"50\" width=\"120\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"googleAds\"><\/div>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<div id=\"video-player-content\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\">\n<div id=\"video-player-content-player_wrapper\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<h4 itemprop=\"name\">Fiona Nash&#8217;s Friday morning press conference<\/h4>\n<p itemprop=\"description\">At a media call on Friday morning the Assistant Health Minister noticeably declined to give full backing to her chief of staff. His resignation was announced a few hours later.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Autoplay\u00a0<strong>ON<\/strong><a data-autoplayoverlay=\"true\">OFF<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a data-kampylefeedback=\"true\">Video feedback<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a data-settingsoverlay=\"true\">Video settings<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The chief of staff of the embattled Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash has resigned.<\/p>\n<p>Fairfax Media had revealed Alastair Furnival had\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/political-news\/food-rating-website-fiona-nashs-chief-of-staff-married-to-lobbyist-for-junk-food-industry-20140211-32fs9.html\">significant links<\/a>\u00a0to the junk food industry when he was involved in the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/political-news\/critics-accuse-minister-as-foodrating-website-junked-20140207-327g3.html\">pulling down of a new healthy food star rating website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Both he and Senator Nash intervened to pull down the website, despite it being in development for two years and being approved by state and territory food ministers.<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" itemprop=\"image\" alt=\"Fiona Nash: her chief of staff has quit.\" src=\"http:\/\/images.smh.com.au\/2014\/02\/14\/5167039\/art-fionannash-620x349.jpg\" \/>Fiona Nash: her chief of staff has quit.\u00a0<em>Photo: Peter Rae<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Senator Nash made a late-night statement to the Senate on Tuesday to reveal Mr Furnival had a &#8220;shareholding&#8221; in lobbying outfit Australian Public Affairs, which is run by his wife, after she had previously stated he had &#8220;no connection&#8221; to the junk food industry.<\/p>\n<div id=\"adspot-300x250-pos-3\"><small>Advertisement<\/small><\/div>\n<p>Until two days ago Australian Public Affairs was listed on the federal lobbyists register as representing the Australian Beverages Council and Mondelez Australia, which owns the Kraft peanut butter, Cadbury and Oreo brands, among others.<\/p>\n<p>It is still listed on state and territory registers as representing those companies, and others including Red Bull.<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" itemprop=\"image\" alt=\"A screen grab of the website before it was discontinued.\" src=\"http:\/\/images.smh.com.au\/2014\/02\/07\/5141346\/MOR-health-website-wide-620x349.jpg\" \/>A screen grab of the website before it was discontinued.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Friday Mr Furnival said he had tendered his resignation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have done so with a clear conscience but with recognition that this political attack is a distraction from the important health issues being effectively addressed by this government,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I accepted this role to contribute to the Australian government and appropriately managed potential conflicts.<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" itemprop=\"image\" alt=\"Alastair Furnival\" src=\"http:\/\/images.smh.com.au\/2014\/02\/13\/5162631\/art-353-sa-wongaccuses-20140213194240753983-300x0.jpg\" \/>Alastair Furnival\u00a0<em>Photo: Supplied<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;I resign in the knowledge that neither I, nor my wife, has acted improperly.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I regret any embarrassment that may have been caused to the minister and especially to my wife, who has been dragged into this political smear campaign.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Senator Nash has always insisted that Mr Furnival only owned the shares because of his previous employment with the lobbying company, and that he had distanced himself so that no conflict of interest occurred.<\/p>\n<p>She has maintained that both she and the Prime Minister&#8217;s office were fully aware of his shareholding.<\/p>\n<p>But at a press conference on Friday morning she began distancing herself, refusing to state he had her unqualified support.<\/p>\n<p>Asked twice if he did, she said: &#8220;My chief of staff has done a great job for me&#8221; and &#8220;My chief of staff has done a terrific job for me for a considerable period of time&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Labor has accused Senator Nash of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/political-news\/fiona-nash-accused-of-misleading-parliament-over-food-ratings-website-20140213-32n9i.html\">misleading Parliament<\/a>\u00a0over the affair, with Senator Penny Wong saying on Thursday that she had repeatedly mislead parliament both in her explanation of Mr Furnival&#8217;s shareholding and why she and he had intervened to have the healthy food site taken down.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Nash had said that she removed the site in part because the state and territory food ministers had unanimously agreed it required a cost-benefit analysis, however that was contradicted by official documents.<\/p>\n<p>&#8221;On the face of the documents, including the communique from the meeting, this statement . . . is not true,&#8221; Senator Wong said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8221;The communique reveals the forum made no decision unanimously or otherwise.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>However, on Friday, Senator Nash insisted it was the truth, despite the lack of records and the fact no vote was taken.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No, there was no vote, there was no dissent, it was an unanimous decision,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Not everything is written in a communiqu\u00e9.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PoliticsFairfax\" target=\"_blank\">Follow us on Twitter<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This should have never happened in the first place&#8230; what was Peta thinking appointing Furnival CoS!?? http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/federal-politics\/political-news\/assistant-health-minister-fiona-nashs-chief-of-staff-alastair-furnival-resigns-20140214-32qol.html Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash&#8217;s chief of staff Alastair Furnival resigns Date February 14, 2014 &#8211; 3:53PM 56\u00a0reading now Read later Amy Corderoy Health Editor, Sydney Morning Herald View more articles from\u00a0Amy Corderoy Follow Amy on Twitter\u00a0Email Amy &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/?p=1389\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Grubby business, poor form, good riddance&#8230;<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,22,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nutrition","category-policy","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1389"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1390,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389\/revisions\/1390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}