Hon. Robert McClelland. Photo: Tamara Dean
FIGURES close to former attorney-general Robert McClelland have dismissed reports he will quit politics early, forcing Prime Minister Julia Gillard into a difficult by-election just months from a general election.
Mr McClelland (pictured) announced last month he would not recontest his Barton seat in Sydney and this week several Kevin Rudd loyalist MPs held a farewell dinner for him, stoking fears his departure was imminent.
The renewed speculation is the latest distraction for Labor and caps off a messy parliamentary fortnight that saw Treasurer Wayne Swan stumble badly over budget management and the mining tax.
Mr McClelland has refused to discuss his future employment options but colleagues say he is unlikely to cause a byelection despite his antipathy to Ms Gillard.
Mr Swan has been under fire since revealing eight days ago that his signature mining tax would fail to raise anything like the $2 billion needed to pay for government commitments.
With Labor's economic management credentials being questioned, Mr Swan stumbled on Thursday morning radio, first refusing to rule out income tax rises, as a matter of principle, then doing just that in the hours afterwards.
Revenue figures for the final two months of 2012 were released late on Friday and confirmed tax receipts were down more than $3 billion for the financial year to December 30.
A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Penny Wong said company profits had been affected by ''ongoing weakness in global economic conditions and the high dollar'', which in turn hit government receipts. She said the government would continue to exercise spending restraint, ''even in the face of ongoing volatility and uncertainty in the global economy''.
Demoralised Labor MPs returned to their electorates on Friday with some muttering darkly that it was now the gaffe-prone leadership team itself that was Labor's main problem.
They argued it was the mere fact that some Labor senators were not in the capital this past week that had stopped more serious manoeuvring from taking place.
Adding to the speculation, former Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull predicted that Labor would move to reinstall Kevin Rudd in coming months.
Mr Rudd brushed off the suggestion even as he continued his high-profile charm offensive via popular breakfast and evening TV programs.
''Give us a break,'' he said, appearing with shadow treasurer Joe Hockey on Seven's Sunrise. ''I said a week or so ago everyone should take a long cold shower. What I'd say to Malcolm is, it's time to jump in the ice bath.''
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