Mark Arbib Resigns

In 2003 Eric Roozendaal and Mark Arbib bought some real estate at Maroubra – two beachside apartments in the same block. Mr Arbib’s unit was purchased by his wife, Kelli Field who is currently an associate director at Macquarie Bank and used to be policy adviser to Eddie Obeid and Michael Costa’s chief of staff. Mr Roozendaal’s unit was bought by a family company.


The Arbib family sold the apartment in 2007 for $960,000 and bought a $1.625 million house in South Coogee and have lodged plans for a $1.15 million renovation. Because the property is registered in his wife’s name, Mr Arbib is not required to disclose it in his pecuniary interest declaration. Of the 20 townhouses built by developers Brian and Garry Boyd, the purchase price of only two apartments in the block was not disclosed to the Land Titles Department, they were Mr Arbib's and Mr Roozendaal's.






Then there were the bizarre revelations contained in secret embassy cables released by WikiLeaks in 2010 that Senator Arbib was spying on the Labor Party and relating that information back to the USA with requests that his identity as a “protected” source be guarded. He was apparently highly regarded by the Americans and is a strong supporter of the Australian/American alliance and our commitment to Iraq and Afghanistan. So did Mark Arbib sacrifice himself for the good of the party – did he resign to remove the bad small hovering over the so-called faceless men in the back room who were responsible for the assassination of Kevin Rudd?


"There aren't any bombshells,'' he said last week. ''No one has threatened me, no one has cajoled me, no one knew I was going to resign until I went to the PM.'' He went on "You won't see me on ABC 24, or Sky TV. I won't be writing any books.” Although Bob and Helena Carr are family friends, he had no prior knowledge to his appointment as Foreign Minister. ''I wasn't involved in any of the discussions but if I had known he was interested in going into the Senate, I would have stepped aside for him.''


He added "It takes the faceless men out of the equation, she (Julia Gillard) deserves clean air, I've been at the forefront of so many deals and it takes away some of the enmity" and then "I've got the stigma, I've been the person who made the hard calls and now I'm making the hard call about myself. But I'm paying the price on my own terms and I'm picking my own time. The golden rule of politics is to decide your own fate."