SKY news is reporting the Australian Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has launched an investigation into how Fairfax newspapers obtained information about an internal investigation into himself.
The investigation, conducted without the minister’s knowledge, is said to focus on locating the source of information following internal Defence Department probe into the business dealings of its own minister.
Mr Fitzgibbon is said to have a relationship with a Chinese-born businesswomen, Helen Hui. This as first reported in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Media reports say the relationship between Mr Fitzgibbon and his department has collapsed. The Australian Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd, said while in the US that he expected Mr Fitzgibbon to “lift his game”.
The investigation comes just a few days after the Special Minister for State, Senator John Faulkner, outlined draft legislation to protect whistleblowers in government so they may avoid prosection or workplace persecution in circumstances of public interest.
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