Wednesday 25th of December 2024
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low life, high drama ....

low life, high drama ....

from politicoz ….Yesterday's dramatic day in parliament evoked wildly divergent responses.Following Julia Gillard's barnstorming speech, social media reactions were immediate and overwhelmingly supportive: Abbott's gaffe had appalled, and Gillard had responded to this and other recent slights with justified force, at last. (Slipper's messages, while undoubtedly offensive, had outraged few.)The footage of Gillard's speech went viral internationally, and it was also reported positively around the world.But local political commentators, following Slipper's resignation, were uniform in their criticism. The Prime Minister made a dreadful strategic error; she wasted political capital by defending Slipper; there were double-standards at play – while accusing Abbott of sexism and misogyny, the government was protecting the misogynist in its own ranks.And the rest of Australia's voting public? Possibly they just saw parliamentarians shouting accusations at each other again.On an overheated day, it was Peter Slipper, ironically, who stood up to defend the sanctity of parliament, then promptly stood down.Gillard rose to prominence because of her parliamentary ­per­formances in opposition and, as ­deputy prime minister, she was regarded as Labor’s deadliest weapon in government. Until yesterday however, she had sheathed her sword as Prime Minister… But in her determination to not give the opposition the scalp, the Prime Minister missed an opportunity to take the initiative on the ­Slipper issue and rid the government of a man whose presence reminded voters of the doubts they have had over her judgment.

humbug upon hypocrisy ....

Every time you think Tony Abbott has scaled a new height of hypocrisy he finds another Everest and climbs effortlessly to a still higher peak. Without oxygen.

His motion to dismiss the Speaker on Tuesday was mired in cant. It had nothing to do with Peter Slipper's lewd text messages and everything to do with Abbott's lust for power. This is the man who famously told the independent MP Tony Windsor that he would do anything but "sell my arse" to become prime minister and, ever since, has shown every sign that he meant it.

Abbott was prepared to trash parliamentary convention and the presumption of innocence before the law in his rush to wedge the government if he could. A vote to overthrow a speaker has never happened before. (Jim Cope, Gough Whitlam's first speaker, resigned in 1975 when he knew he had lost the confidence of the government.) But to hell with principle. So ambitious was Abbott, so ruthless, that the friend whose wedding he'd attended, whose counsel he had sought, a man chosen nine times as a Liberal candidate - was now to be collateral damage, so much cat's meat.

The Tories and their media claque howled blue murder when the government backed the Speaker in the vote but, repugnant though it was, it was the proper thing to do. Julia Gillard and her women ministers, especially, were clearly offended by Slipper's adolescent grot. But their support on the floor of the house recognised that the allegations against him remain untested while allowing space for him and his family to cling to some shred of dignity in his resignation.

In this they were helped - and the Parliament and the nation were helped - by Windsor and his fellow crossbencher Rob Oakeshott who, with typical tact and decency, privately convinced Slipper it was time to quit. Then, piling yet more humbug upon hypocrisy, Abbott announced he would be only too pleased to accept the wretched man's vote.

The Prime Minister's speech skewering Abbott for his sexism and misogyny was a ripper, rightly applauded around the world. Nice to see the Real Julia come out fighting.

Mike Carlton