But the opposition set out to use Senate estimates to tease out the details and question time to trap.
Rudd sprang the trap early by cutting Fitzgibbon loose shortly before question time.
The opposition switched tactics and leapt onto the loan of a 13-year-old Toyota ute by a Brisbane car dealer to Rudd for work in his electorate as a possible conflict of interest for the prime minister.
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It was a long shot but clever work by Turnbull and Bishop, who managed to tar Rudd with the same brush as Fitzgibbon.
It drew a furious response from Rudd, who reeled off Howard government scandals including children overboard and wheat for oil, and accused the opposition of swapping a fear campaign on debt for smear.
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Either way, Rudd's quick action reduces the chances of long-term damage for a government in its first term.
Rudd told reporters on the day that although he was saddened, he expected his hard-working ministers to meet the highest standards of ministerial accountability.
He even left the door open for a possible return to the frontbench for Fitzgibbon.
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But it's open to question whether the door will remain open after Fitzgibbon's ill-judged and Latham-esque outburst, in which he blaming two or three "Judases" within Defence, and possibly his own office, for his downfall.
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