Rove McManus The Australian 17 November 2006

17 NOVEMBER 2006

John Stapleton

OPPOSITION leader Kim Beazley began his morning media doorstop in western Sydney yesterday by expressing his sympathies to Karl Rove and his family, mistaking one of Australia's best known television hosts with an adviser to US President George Bush.

Rove McManus buried his wife Belinda Emmett yesterday. Her death last weekend from cancer at the age of 32, after a long struggle with the disease, was front page news around the country. But Beazley still managed to get Rove's name wrong.

While Beazley preaching to the converted at a NSW Delegates Conference for the Australian Workers Union at the Catholic Workmens Club in Lidcombe did not attract every media outlet in town, reporters who did show were astonished at the sweeping gaffe.

Beazley began his pitch by saying: ``Firstly, the first thing I want to say is this, today our thoughts and the thoughts of many many Australians are with Karl Rove as he goes through  the very sad process of burying his beloved wife. I just want him to know that our thoughts and the thoughts of my colleagues are very much with him today.''

Mr Beazley then ploughed on to other issues, primarily getting rid of John Howard, completely unaware of his mistake.

Born on Christmas Day 1950, Karl Christian Rove is Deputy Chief of Staff to US President George Bush and played a key role in the recent mid-term elections.

Rove McManus, on the other hand, is one of Australia's best known television personalities.

Some in Beazley's party are known to have concerns about his health. The Opposition leader took several weeks off work in 2004 when he was diagnosed with Schaltenbrand's syndrome, an ailment in which fluid leaks from around the brain.

But publicly at least, colleagues were quick to jump to his defence. Health spokeswoman Julia Gillard said everybody was aware it was easy to make an accidental slip. ``There wouldn't be an Australian who hasn't made the occasional error, so I think people will well and truly understand that,'' she said.

Labor's Foreign Affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said: ``Everyone knows that Kim was being absolutely sincere in his expression of his condolences. It is just one of those things.''

Beazley's most famous names gaffe was his inability to name his South Australian senate team properly earlier this year. In April he called Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaille Mark Dale. In August he mixed up the then Reserve Bank governor Ian Macfarlane with the resources minister of the same name. In September he described in parliament radio broadcaster Alan Jones as Alan James. Last year he called Australian model Michelle Leslie, Michelle Lee.

Later in the day Mr Beazley said: ``I would like to correct the record after I misspoke this morning. Of course, I meant Rove McManus. My thoughts are with him now just as they were this morning.''