Australian PM Gillard under fire after staffer role in fracas
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SYDNEY (AFP) - Prime Minister Julia Gillard faced demands to explain on Saturday after it emerged one of her staffers triggered a fracas that led to the Australian leader being hustled to safety by security agents.
One of Ms Gillard's press secretaries, named by media as Tony Hodges, resigned on Friday evening after he admitted passing on information that opposition leader Tony Abbott was at the same Canberra restaurant as the prime minister.
Protesters surrounded the venue on Thursday, pounding the windows chanting 'shame' and 'racist' after Mr Abbott suggested a so-called Aboriginal tent embassy may have reached its sell-by date, comments he later denied making.
As tempers flared, Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott were bundled to waiting cars by security service agents with the prime minister dramatically stumbling and losing a shoe in ugly scenes that were beamed around the world.
