Keating rejects report on Labor Party coup

Keating rejects report on Labor Party coup

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuter): Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating on Sunday rejected reports that members of his own Labor Party were preparing to overthrow him and replace him with his deputy, Kim Beazley.

"If you blokes take that seriously we could sell you the town hall clock, and the Sydney Harbor Bridge and a block of flats in Tasmania all rolled into one," Keating told a news conference after a question from an Australian journalist.

He was speaking after discussing bilateral relations and trade issues with Indonesian President Soeharto at a nearby Bail resort a few hours earlier yesterday morning.

A newspaper report in Australia yesterday said a number of backbenchers from Keating's own party were plotting to install Beazley who was perceived as more popular and likely to improve the party's chances in the next election.

The Sunday Age said a small group of members of parliament had been trying to persuade caucus members that Labor's chances in the next election would be improved if Beazley took over from Keating.

The newspaper said Labor's national president, Barry Jones, learned of the plot, the first test of Keating's support in almost four years as leader, in August and told Keating.

Jones told reporters he did not put any weight on the Keating plot report.

"I regard it as a trivial matter," he said.

The newspaper said it had spoken to 30 Labor figures who had been asked to consider shifting their support or who knew that this was occurring.

The report in Melbourne's Sunday Age also was dismissed in Australia by Beazley and Industrial Relations Minister Laurie Brereton.

Beazley said on the "Meet the Press" television program: "This stuff, I don't believe, has any substance. You can dismiss it."

Beazley, the acting prime minister while Keating is on a trip to Indonesia, said the Labor Party had a united team going into the next election.

"Paul Keating's position is perfectly secure," he said.

Beazley said Keating was probably Labor's most effective election campaigner for some time.

Brereton, a long-time ally of Keating, said on the "Sunday" television program Keating's position in the caucus had never been stronger.

Brereton also said the next Australian election, due by May, 1996, was a 50-50 bet at this stage and, although Labor trails the conservative opposition in the opinion polls, he expected a Labor victory.

Keating, on his fifth trip to Indonesia since becoming prime minister in December, 1991, must take his ruling Australian Labor Party to a general election before May next year.

Keating leaves for Australia early today.