Mega Thread Tony Abbott

[Upton Sinclair]

Unbelievable. I'm speechless. I am beyond speech!

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/gillard-wins-a-verbal-stoush-and-maybe-an-election-too/

Here is what Mr Abbott said:

“I must allude to the vile anatomical references to which this Speaker appears to be addicted in his text message… Should (Gillard) rise in this place now to try and defend the Speaker, she will shame this parliament again… And every day the prime minister stands in this parliament to defend this Speaker will be another day of shame for this parliament, another day of shame for a government which should already have died of shame.’‘

Let’s replay that last line one more time for emphasis, as they often do on talkback radio.
Abbott wants Slipper sacked. So he said:

“And every day the prime minister stands in this parliament to defend this Speaker will be another day of shame for this parliament, another day of shame for a government which should already have died of shame”

Can you believe Tony Abbott used that phrase? Can you believe, after every drop of water that has flowed under the bridge since Jones’ ill-advised speech to the young libs, that the would-be Prime Minister of Australia still thinks it fitting to poke further fun at the death of the sitting Prime Minister’s father. Can anyone believe that?

Here are some of the more choice statements the Prime Minister made in response:

“The government is not dying of shame, my father did not die of shame, what the Opposition Leader should be ashamed of is his performance in parliament”

Ouch. Nowhere to hide from that one. And this:

“I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man, I will not. Not now, not ever.”
She also said (and excuse us for not getting some of this precisely word for word as we were caught off guard in a noisy newsroom):
“What i won’t stand for, what I will never stand for is the leader of the opposition peddling a double standard, a standard he has not set for members of his own front bench.”
and:
“The leader of the opposition can do something himself. He can can apologise for standing next to signs saying Ditch the Witch.”
and in a delicious moment:
“Now he is looking at his watch (which Abbott was) because apparently a woman’s spoken too long.”
then, back to the original subject matter:
“This parliament today should reject this motion and the leader of the opposition should think seriously about the role of Australian women in public life and society because we deserve better than this.”

Long story short, what we say today was the PM fired up as never before, with a brilliant (seemingly) off-the-cuff retort to the dumbest, most cynically-worded motion imaginable.

 

[King Elvis]

Good to see she didn't react like a hyper-sensitive sook and fly off the handle.

Polling shows they've exhausted the sympathy card, fabricating a race riot didn't help them, fabricating a class war didn't help them - so now we're turning towards a gender war?

It's pathetic.

“This parliament today should reject this motion and the leader of the opposition should think seriously about the role of Australian women in public life and society because we deserve better than this.”

So brave, like a modern day Rosa Parks.

 

[Gough]

The PM was very good today and Abbott was terrible. To use the phrase "died of shame", in the wake of the Jones controversy was just political incompetence.
Whether this will translate itself into improved polling remains to be seen though.

 

[King Elvis]

He's been using that phrase for a long time.

Insensitive, but Gillard was the one who put it in the context of her Dad.

 

[Gough]

It was stupid, there plenty of other ways to describe the government, to use the identical phrase that Jones used and was reviled for was beyond idiotic, it gave the PM an in to associate him with Jones, which she gleefully took.

I was stunned he used it.

 

[rayven]

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

It's quite extraordinary also that people like Tony Abbott, or Alan Jones, would seek to lecture anyone else about shame.

I'm honestly not sure if either of them, during the course of their lives, have ever felt any shame. I'm fairly certain they're both pure sociopaths, and don't have that faculty.

Incidentally, I pray to the Great Spaghetti Monster there's a way to YouTube the footage of Gillard's comments.

We need to see this.

 

[Footy Smarts]

He's been using that phrase for a long time.

Insensitive, but Gillard was the one who put it in the context of her Dad.

Isn't it pretty obvious that it would strike a chord with Gillard?

Now Abbott's come out and said he'd "completely forgotten about" the Jones affair and why referring to the government as "dying of shame" might be a touch inappropriate. Is he serious?

KE, you're a reasonable person. The choices here are:

a) Abbott's been deliberately insensitive towards the PM by using the same words to describe her government as Jones used to describe her recently deceased father and then lied about it publicly,

Or

b) Abbott's a moron who can't remember the massive scandal that went on just a week ago.

So which is it KE? Is Abbott a prick and a liar or just a moron? I know which side I favour and no I don't think he's got the memory of a gold fish...

 

[sherb]

He's been using that phrase for a long time.

And if he had half a brain, or a modicum of respect or decency, he would realize that now is not the time to use it.

Insensitive, but Gillard was the one who put it in the context of her Dad.

So would plenty of people given recent events.

What a grub Abbott is. He and Jones are like peas in a pod.

 

[rayven]

I
b) Abbott's a moron who can't remember the massive scandal that went on just a week ago.

So which is it KE? Is Abbott a prick and a liar or just a moron? I know which side I favour and no I don't think he's got the memory of a gold fish...

It was all over the press yesterday how jones had no advertisers for his show...

Your not stupid are you? he thinks you are by saying he 'forgot"...

Saying you forgot is like your club president saying the coach has the full support of the board..

 

[Danny Cullen]

All this will make no difference.

Replacing Jenkins with Slipper to maintain a majority was a monumental mistake by Gillard & Co.

Most sensible voters, from both sides of politics, recognise and remember this. Coupled with her record since Rudd's knifing she has no hope.

 

[rayven]

It was interesting that Abbott claimed today they were trying to get slipper out of the party room before he accepted the postion as speaker.

There's lies and there's core lies.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Most sensible voters, from both sides of politics, agree with whatever's best for my "team". And a knifing is only a knifing when it involves the ALP.

EFA

 

[mantis]

Isn't it pretty obvious that it would strike a chord with Gillard?

Now Abbott's come out and said he'd "completely forgotten about" the Jones affair and why referring to the government as "dying of shame" might be a touch inappropriate. Is he serious?

KE, you're a reasonable person. The choices here are:

a) Abbott's been deliberately insensitive towards the PM by using the same words to describe her government as Jones used to describe her recently deceased father and then lied about it publicly,

Or

b) Abbott's a moron who can't remember the massive scandal that went on just a week ago.

So which is it KE? Is Abbott a prick and a liar or just a moron? I know which side I favour and no I don't think he's got the memory of a gold fish...

I suggest he is all of the above.

 

[sherb]

Isn't it pretty obvious that it would strike a chord with Gillard?

Now Abbott's come out and said he'd "completely forgotten about" the Jones affair and why referring to the government as "dying of shame" might be a touch inappropriate. Is he serious?

KE, you're a reasonable person. The choices here are:

a) Abbott's been deliberately insensitive towards the PM by using the same words to describe her government as Jones used to describe her recently deceased father and then lied about it publicly,

Or

b) Abbott's a moron who can't remember the massive scandal that went on just a week ago.

So which is it KE? Is Abbott a prick and a liar or just a moron? I know which side I favour and no I don't think he's got the memory of a gold fish...

You forgot option (c) - both of the above.

He can't remember something which has been all over the news for the past week or so? Yeah, that's a handy trait for a potential Prime Minister.........

 

[Danny Cullen]

Anyways, for those interested, Abbott's Budget Reply speech from May 2012:

http://australianpolitics.com/2012/05/10/abbott-budget-reply-speech.html

8th last para:

"Before this government dies of shame, it should find a leader who isn’t fatally compromised by the need to defend the indefensible."

 

[Footy Smarts]

Anyways, for those interested, Abbott's Budget Reply speech from May 2012:

http://australianpolitics.com/2012/05/10/abbott-budget-reply-speech.html

8th last para:

"Before this government dies of shame, it should find a leader who isn’t fatally compromised by the need to defend the indefensible."

I don't think anybody's claiming that it hasn't been used before. The question is why use it now when you know it's going to draw parallels with the incredibly hurtful Jones comments? Then why lie about why you used it afterwards?

 

[tandino]

It is a tad odd.

But it will be probably forgotten as the news cycle rolls on.

 

[King Elvis]

Like I said, insensitive, but Gillard was the one who brought her Dad up again - considering how sincere Abbott's condolences were at the time, why would you put that spin on it, when it's a line he's been using for over a year.

I guess today's polls showed that the sympathy bounce was over, so she decided to ramp up the rhetoric and abuse towards Abbott.

She's overplayed it and come out looking irrational and vindictive.

Read the punch article above, then read the comments.

Rayve - I think they tried to ditch him before the last election, but didn't have the numbers; he was cooked this time, hence the changing sides.

I guess she's managed to take the focus off of the fact that Slipper is probably the second biggest campaigner in Parliament - after Thomson, and probably is actually a misogynist prick. Yet her Govt exists because of them.

 

[Danny Cullen]

I don't think anybody's claiming that it hasn't been used before. The question is why use it now when you know it's going to draw parallels with the incredibly hurtful Jones comments? Then why lie about why you used it afterwards?

He's used it before and he's well within his rights to use it again. I'm a bit meh about the insensitive stuff. Gillard did call him a woman hater again. He didn't mention her father.

Abbott's problem is that he shouldn't fudge things when asked about using it. He should have just said I'm not Alan bloody Jones.

Anyway, as I stated earlier, won't change anything.

No doubt the ALP will wheel out Albanese and Co over the next couple of days.

 

[King Elvis]

She was going to rant and rave about it anyway, her tantrum was obviously planned.

 

[bartel magic]

She was going to rant and rave about it anyway, her tantrum was obviously planned.

Selective outrage is as obvious as obvious can be!

 

[tandino]

It is a tad odd.

But it will be probably forgotten as the news cycle rolls on.

And in record time.

 

[THRILLHO]

Newspoll shows that ALP's new tactic of focusing on misogyny has failed, they're back to where they are before. Really is a pathetic tactic and the handbag crew should be ashamed to use their gender to peddle such a shallow line of populism.

To use a modern phrase, Tony Abbott just got “owned”. He was utterly torn to shreds by the finest performance Julia Gillard has ever delivered on the floor of the House of Reps.

Please.

Those in the Canberra bubble and political twittersphere can continue to delude themselves that anything Gillard says makes a difference (her polling actually goes up when she goes away!). Those in the real world know that the mortgage belt stopped listening to her months ago.

 

[tazzietiger]

Newspoll shows that ALP's new tactic of focusing on misogyny has failed, they're back to where they are before. Really is a pathetic tactic and the handbag crew should be ashamed to use their gender to peddle such a shallow line of populism.


Please.

Those in the Canberra bubble and political twittersphere can continue to delude themselves that anything Gillard says makes a difference (her polling actually goes up when she goes away!). Those in the real world know that the mortgage belt stopped listening to her months ago.

I agree with all this. At the very most Gillard will get a bounce in the polls. I think most people have already made up their mind on Gillard and this Government. Unless a real game changer happens it will be a hard and long fight for ALP to win the next election. I think the ALP's chance on winning the next election depends mainly on how the economy goes next year before the election. If we see the unemployment rate creeping up the carbon tax argument could fire back up again.