Niki nails it, as always.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/tony-abbotts-over-the-top-on-islamic-state-death-cult-and-abc/story-fnahw9xv-1227424111241
Much has been said and written recently about Tony Abbott’s resurgence. It is true the Prime Minister’s position is safer than it was in February when, in what can now be seen as an act of mercy, 39 of his MPs voted to remove him.
He is performing with greater confidence, no doubt about it. But will he ever learn to speak to us like adults? One grown-up to a flock of others, rather than as some authoritarian father figure determined to keep his children afraid of going outside, even in broad daylight — or as a character straight out of Mad Max, all studs and spikes, with a hi-tech blunderbuss, programmed to bludgeon rather than persuade.
On Saturday, after the terrorist murders in Kuwait, Tunisia and France, Abbott warned the Daesh, or Islamic State, death cult was “coming after us”. The first impulse was to find a place to hide — under the bed with the Reds, or in the cellar with the other reds. This jarring, juvenile expression from a supposedly intelligent man was not the language of a commander-in-chief seeking to reassure his followers.
Rather, it sounded like the last resort of a politician on a perpetual campaign, counting on high anxiety levels to provide a surer path to re-election.
Australians, especially since Bali, know full well the terror threat is real. Anyone who denies that is an idiot. Any leader who ignores it would be guilty of gross negligence.
However, there is no doubt Abbott is using it relentlessly, ruthlessly, often crassly, to rebuild his stocks and wedge his opponents. Anyone who pretends that he is not is being disingenuous.
Peter Jennings and Anthony Bergin from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute have offered sound advice to the government on why it should better explain our involvement in the Middle East, why it should watch its language, and how it can counter radicalisation. Abbott should heed it.
Then there is the conduct of another conflict: Abbott’s war against the ABC.
What Q&A did was wrong on every level. Zaky Mallah, a convicted criminal whose misogynist tweets show he has a long way to go before he is rehabilitated, does not deserve a platform, in the same way that convicted pedophiles or rapists do not deserve platforms. For Q&A to even think about providing him with one was indefensible. Saying “oops we made a mistake, let’s all move on now” is inadequate.
So there is a real issue that has to be dealt with, and if people lose their jobs as a result it will not be the first time journalists have been sacked for mucking up. Furious politicians or their staff call editors every day demanding the removal or dismissal of staff, so media organisations being pressured over hostile coverage doesn’t warrant stopping the presses.
Nevertheless this does not excuse Abbott’s choice language against the ABC. Talking of leftie lynch mobs, asking whose side the ABC was on, demanding that heads roll, accusing the national broadcaster of betrayal — while consistent with Abbott’s view of the world that whoever is not with him is agin him and those agin him must be removed — was completely over the top.
Fine for Ewen Jones, not for a prime minister.
The problem is not that Abbott is too blokey. He is too brutal. His verbal violence inspires memories of Paul Keating. With one difference. Even though Keating also made us cringe and groan, he had the capacity to make us laugh, too.
Abbott’s fate hinges on the polls. Although they are trending the right way, they still show the Coalition is not ahead in a single state. Victoria remains a killing zone with the real prospect of the Liberals losing at least three seats: Deakin, Latrobe and Corangamite. What is really troubling the Liberals is the vote in Queensland and Western Australia, where Labor has picked up enough support since the election to be ahead or equal. The Coalition has to hold the line in the northwest to make up for expected losses in the southern states.
So there is no complacency in government ranks, though they remain grateful for Bill Shorten’s continuing contribution to their revival. It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious to observe Labor MPs shaking their heads wondering why, with such a flawed prime minister, victory seems destined to elude them, just as Liberal MPs similarly ask themselves why Shorten, a weak leader with such poor judgment, is even in the hunt at all. The answer to both questions is the same.
Abbott’s colleagues have also noticed recently that one of his rivals has displayed a surer touch in handling sensitive issues. Malcolm Turnbull’s interventions on citizenship and his prosecution of the case against the ABC have not only helped the government, they have helped his own standing within it.
Turnbull saved Abbott’s backside on the citizenship issue. Others — Julie Bishop, George Brandis, Christopher Pyne, Barnaby Joyce and Kevin Andrews — put the brakes on Abbott in the cabinet room but until Turnbull argued against it publicly as forcefully as he did, Abbott was not inclined to stop.
Abbott was rolled on this, with Turnbull as the high roller, but it is not in ministers’ interests — not now anyway — to rub his nose in it. Abbott still appears intent on pursuing sole citizens, but as one cabinet minister — not Turnbull — told me recently, this will be a fight for another day.
Turnbull’s torrid exchanges with Barrie Cassidy on Insiders last Sunday, replete with judicious use of vernacular, also did the Communications Minister no harm inside the Liberal Party, especially as the capital-C conservatives hate him for his love of the ABC and its — until now — love of him.
Instead of withdrawing from Monday night’s Q&A, Abbott’s parliamentary secretary Alan Tudge, should have taken his cue from Turnbull. Tudge could have directly confronted Tony Jones on the issue.
A few pertinent, well-phrased questions to an impertinent host would have made the point better than a retreat.
