News that Australia’s Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner has resigned and almost immediately accepted a job with an investment bank raises the question, whatever happened to the Rudd/Gillard Code of Conduct? As summarised here, the Code was announced in a flurry of self-congratulation less than three years ago:

       Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said cabinet had today signed off on a new ministerial code of conduct.

The code sets four key rules: public registration of lobbyists; electoral fund-raising banned at the official residences Kirribilli House and The Lodge; 18-month ban on ex-ministers working in areas in which they had official dealings…

Rudd’s Code of Conduct can still be found on the web, and it clearly suggests that Tanner should not be doing much more than a bit of filing and photocopying:

8.6 In addition, as outlined earlier, Ministers will undertake that for a twelve month period after ceasing to be a Minister, they will not lobby, advocate or have business meetings with members of the government, parliament, public service or defence force on any matters on which they have had official dealings as Minister in their last eighteen months of office.

However, Gillard mentioned this code less than two weeks ago at a National Press Club address as being one of her Government’s ”important reforms“.

Could it be that Tanner considers that the code is void now that it’s a Gillard Government rather than a Rudd Government? Or could it be that Tanner is guessing Gillard wont be making a fuss because he knows where all the bodies are buried? I’m guessing, it’s the latter.