Tasmania's governor 'forced out'

Mr Butler's tenure in Hobart made headlines from the start

Richard Butler, a former UN arms inspector in Iraq, has claimed a smear campaign led him to resign as governor of the Australian state of Tasmania.

Mr Butler said the "malicious" campaign would have "damaged the good name of Tasmania" if he had stayed in office.

But critics accused Mr Butler, who quit late on Monday after 10 months in the job, of arrogant and boorish behaviour.

One critic, Labor MP Harry Quick, said: "He behaved as though he was emperor of Tasmania".

The Australian Republican Movement, which wants to remove Britain's Queen Elizabeth as the country's head of state, said the resignation showed the royal appointment of governors was outdated and undemocratic.

Mr Butler's tenure in Government House in Tasmania's capital, Hobart, created media controversy from the start.

There were press reports of an argument in a local shop, of a demand for an upgrade on a flight to Singapore and claims he was out of touch with staff.

He just wasn't a man who had time to be opening charity events, to be talking with people Senator Bob Brown, Greens politician

Three aides resigned last week.

Mr Butler also made headlines for allegedly breaking protocol in May when he started his meal at the royal wedding of Tasmanian-born Crown Princess of Denmark, Mary Donaldson, before the arrival of Danish Queen Margarethe.

Labor state Premier Paul Lennon said Mr Butler had been a victim of gossip and innuendo and had been offered a golden handshake of A$650,000 ($465,000). His salary was A$370,000 a year.

However, many critics from across the political spectrum had little sympathy for Mr Butler.

Mr Quick said: "He at no stage showed any real or genuine interest in Tasmania and it became more obvious... how bored and disinterested he was in the whole process."

Government minister Senator Eric Abetz said: "I think there was a touch of arrogance about the man."

'Hypocrite'

Mr Butler led the UN weapons inspection programme in Iraq between 1997 and 1999.

He became a vociferous critic of the US-led invasion of the country and of Australia's support for it.

As governor, Mr Butler was the representative of Queen Elizabeth, although he had long advocated a republican government model for Australia.

Former state Liberal Party opposition leader and fellow republican politician, Bob Cheek, said Mr Butler was a "hypocrite" to have taken on the role.

"It was almost as if he went in to deliberately make a mockery of the position... to denigrate the role."