Monday 25th of November 2024
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the worm turns ....

the worm turns ....

from Crikey ….

"The Opposition Leader, no less than the prime minister, has an obligation to educate and inform the public and not mislead," veteran ABC journalist Barrie Cassidy wrote on The Drum late last week, calling on journalists to challenge Tony Abbott's regular rhetorical furphies.

His colleague heard the call. Last night on 7.30, Leigh Sales wasn't taking "the carbon tax is to blame" as the answer ...

Abbott tried to say Labor's tax environment had contributed to BHP abandoning the expansion of Olympic Dam mine yesterday, despite the company carefully blaming everything else but in a statement (which Abbott admitted he hadn't read). He continued the line about the carbon tax starting to hurt "from day one" but in the face of positive economic news couldn't point to any examples. He refused to back down from his description of asylum seekers as "illegals", which every legal mind in the country disputes. He blamed Labor for uncertainty in the business environment while admitting the Coalition had no alternative industrial relations policy. He said the "circumstances of her [Julia Gillard] departure from a previous employer are of public interest", but couldn't nail down a single question or allegation against the Prime Minister over her Slater & Gordon past.

Sales posed it as a question: "You were pretty loose with the truth today, weren't you?" He was. He regularly is.

All this makes Coalition operatives nervous. Abbott is seen within the party as being effective on his pet issues -- boat people and the carbon tax -- but often on shaky ground when forced to venture onto other topics, particularly economic and financial matters. Some party insiders reckon he lacks substance, lacks depth, lacks vision; a performing parrot only good at reeling out rehearsed lines.

The memory remains fresh in some Coalition MPs' minds of Abbott's unfortunate and strange silence when confronted by stupid claims from a reporter over his "shit happens" comment while in Afghanistan. They think he is only a few similar stuff-ups away from serious questions over his leadership. His stuff-ups are rare, party polling is strong, and there's little talk about a replacement. But many in the party are acutely aware of his vulnerabilities.

Labor people whine insistently that the media isn't tough enough on Abbott. The interview last night demonstrates why they want him called out.

 

on the other foot ....

from politicoz …

The week ended with Julia Gillard looking stronger than she has in many, many months. It began with her under siege, following pumped-up allegations that she had 'lost her job' at Slater & Gordon because of her actions 17 years ago. But despite the sound and fury, no new information emerged to demonstrate anything illegal or even unethical on her part.

When the Australian stumbled into error in its coverage, she forced an apology and followed that up with a commanding press conference, a comprehensive account of her actions that will presumably kill the story for all but the dead-enders.

Attacks such as those levelled at Gillard this week have unpredictable effects.

Tony Abbott had a week that promised great things but ended in purgatory. The catalyst, of course, was the Leigh Sales interview. The government has gained seven points in its Newspoll primary vote in little over a month and the pressure is off Gillard for at least a few moments - so expect it to fall on Abbott.

Gillard, magnificent in her dudgeon, assured everyone that she would answer every question they had. She had retained her silence for days, despite being defamed and hounded by an appalling and sexist campaign – including shock-horror circulated on the internet by old cartoonist and conspiracy theorist Larry Pickering – and she wasn't going to take it any more.

Abbott as a politician is coming across as neither subtle nor supple. This makes it harder for the voters to get a grip on what makes him tick and what he would be like as PM. It also means it is difficult for Abbott to adapt to changing circumstances. If trust is the Prime Minister's stand-out problem, Abbott's is credibility. Put simply, the man exaggerates.

the miners' swindle and tony's rubbish...

 

 

The Coalition is trying to have it both ways on the mining tax. It has been saying for months that the big miners, BHP included, have told it privately that they swindled the government during negotiations and will pay little or no tax for many years.
At the same time, the Coalition says the tax is killing such projects as Olympic Dam.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/abbott-having-it-both-ways-on-bhp-20120823-24nle.html#ixzz24VCGah6y

 

A few days before the announcement by BHP-Billiton that the expansion of the Olympic dam mine would not go ahead due to the global financial market and mineral demand world climate, we were advised by the Little Shit, Tony Abbott, that the mine expansion "had to go ahead", indicating that the Federal Labor government would be callous and irresponsible if the project was shelved, delayed or skewered...

 

It was a tirade of anti-government proportion and if I did not better, which I do, I asked myself what is the little shit on about... WHAT DOES HE KNOW THAT THE REST OF THE PUNTERS DO NOT?... I guessed he had inside information (or divine knowledge) the mine would not go ahead... and he was preparing the ground to blame the mining tax, the carbon tax and Julia's red bob...

grahame morris, on your knees...

Liberal strategist and former Howard adviser Grahame Morris has been forced to apologise after calling ABC 7.30 presenter Leigh Sales a "cow" over her interview last week with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-28/grahame-morris-says-leigh-sales-can-be-quite-a-cow/4227864?WT.svl=news1

 

"Well, Leigh can be a real cow sometimes when she is doing her interviews," Mr Morris said.


Sales responded via Twitter: "I'd rather be a cow than a dinosaur."



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/lib-strategist-sorry-for-calling-journalist-cow-20120828-24xug.html#ixzz24ot5Df5L