Sour, bitter character assassination – that was Tony Abbott’s description of the circumstances of his ignominious defeat. But it could just as well have been a summary of his time as leader of his party – the story of the rise and fall of Tony Abbott.
It is no exaggeration to say Tony Abbott is the worst prime minister Australia has had. To the extent that his brief and destructive leadership of the country is remembered, it will not be remembered well. Abbott is a prime minister without a legacy. In attempting to defend one this week, he came up with not much: some jobs, a few trade agreements, an infrastructure project, a border protection regime founded on human rights abuses, a royal commission so compromised by bias its own commissioner had to consider removing himself.
A severe anti-government swing in this Saturday’s Canning byelection could kick-start a fresh attempt to replace Tony Abbott with Malcolm Turnbull.
Source: Fairfax-Ipsos poll points to Coalition win in Canning but Tony Abbott may face snap challenge
Source: Abbott’s Road to Damascus
When Tony Abbott addressed the nation with his job application in 2013, he made a lot of promises about his “positive plan to restore the hope, reward and opportunity that should be your birth right.” “We have the plan, we have the team and we are ready.” He promised to “end Labor’s big waste –…
Source: Tony’s report card – » The Australian Independent Media Network
“There were three gradations of inveracity – there were lies, there were damned lies, and there were statistics” (Arthur Balfour, 1892) You may have noticed that Abbott and other members of the front bench regularly throw around numbers and statistics to back up what they’re saying. Numbers and statistics are quantifiable, so when they are used, they…
Source: Abbott: Master of lies, damned lies and statistics – » The Australian Independent Media Network
There’s something very unsettling about the prime minister invocation of a fictitious Nazi sense of shame as part of his moral account of the Islamic State
Australia’s peak Jewish group has rounded on Prime Minister Tony Abbott for suggesting Islamic State are worse than the Nazis.
Source: Jewish backlash after Tony Abbott says Islamic State terrorists are worse than the Nazis
Tony Abbott has been in power since 7 September 2013. From that moment, he and his government have broken promises and hurt Australians. This post will be regularly updated to keep track of the Abbott Government’s broken promises and everything his Government does to hurt Australians. Each separate item will have a link to…
Source: Tracking Abbott’s Record ”August” Update – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Wendy Squires: Dear Tony Abbott, here comes your worst nightmare.
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“Without free speech, free debate is impossible and, without free debate, the democratic process cannot work properly nor can misgovernment and corruption be fully exposed.”….Tony Abbott
However now he’s shut down the Cabinet and demanded the opposite.
When Tony Abbott called for heads to roll at the ABC, he invokes the “death cult” rhetoric he supposedly deplores, writes Lyn Bender.
As I flicked through the Murdoch Muckraker this morning, I spied a headline where I had difficulty deciding whether the sub-editor had a sense of irony, or no understanding of ambiguity:
TIME TO ACT ON ABC LYNCH MOB
Was this a change of heart from Andrew Bolt telling us that we should put a stop to this attack on the ABC’s independence? No, apparently it’s Q & A, that’s the lynch mob, not the media or the government. As the Prime Minister so eloquently put it:
“Now frankly, heads should roll over this, heads should roll over this.”
Which given that we’re talking about IS, I found a rather unfortunate choice of phrase. Beheadings are uncivilised, but heads rolling is apparently ok.
Mr Abbott wants an inquiry. And not an ABC inquiry because he’s afraid that they won’t find themselves guilty. He wants an inquiry that decides that heads need to roll. Which makes one wonder if there’s any actual need for an inquiry at all. Why not just ask Andrew Bolt:
‘No wonder that Abbott on Tuesday told his MPs: “We all know that Q&A is a Leftie lynch mob and we will be looking at this.”
But where’s the action?
Will the Government sack the board for the ABC’s failure to observe what it admits is its “statutory duty to ensure that the gathering and presentation of news and information is impartial”?
And will it cut the vast ABC, with its five radio stations and four television stations, to a size less dangerous to democracy?’
See the ABC, by allowing someone into the audience has shown that it’s not impartial. What was it that Tony said :
“I think many, many millions of Australians would feel betrayed by our national broadcaster right now, and I think that the ABC does have to have a long, hard look at itself, and to answer a question which I have posed before – whose side are you on? Whose side are you on here?”
So we have a national broadcaster that is meant to be impartial, and not take sides. Except, of course, they should be on the government’s side. In a totally impartial way.
Now, many of you may not have watched Q & A, so they wouldn’t heard the response to Mr Mallah’s question, “What would have happened if my case had been decided by the minister himself and not the courts?”
“From memory, I thought you were acquitted on a technicality rather than it being on the basis of a substantial finding of fact,” Mr Ciobo replied.
“My understanding of your case was that you were acquitted because at that point in time the laws weren’t retrospective.
“But I’m happy to look you straight in the eye and say that I’d be pleased to be part of the Government that would say that you were out of the country.
Let’s sum up:
So, after being told that Stevy Ciobo would happily throw him out of the country, did Mr Mallah becoming violent? Threaten him? Urge us all to boycott “Masterchef”, or something else unpatriotic?
No.
He said:
“The Liberals have just justified to many Australian Muslims in the community tonight to leave and go to Syria and join ISIL because of ministers like him.”
Mm!
Well, if heads must roll, then heads must roll.
AIMN reader Colin Price has a say:
Here is an angle to the Zaky Mallah/ABC circus that may not have been picked up on: By using the term “Heads Must Roll” at the ABC – Does Prime Minister Abbott intend to commit an act of terror against ABC Staffers by beheading them?
Of course that is not what he means literally, so why is OK for Tony Abbott to be making comments that can be taken out of context, but not someone such as Zaky Mallah?
Regardless, I think the comments by Tony Abbott and the term he used in the current global climate are highly offensive, and are irresponsible coming from a person who holds the highest office in Australia.
olddogthoughts 
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