Absolute crap
One thing that has become increasingly apparent about Tony Abbott is that he gears his words to his audience. If that meant explaining policies at a level that the audience could comprehend, that could be a good thing, but in the case of our Prime Minister, it means saying what you think they want to hear even if it is inconsistent with, or even diametrically opposed to what you have told a different audience.
When Tony visited a meeting of 130 farmers and townspeople in Beaufort in September 2009, he called for a show of hands on whether the Coalition should support the ETS. Only a handful voted yes.
Abbott, until that point Turnbull’s main defender on the ETS, quickly donned his sceptic’s hat and played to the room discussing how there had been many changes of climate over the millennia not caused by man, leading to that infamous quote
“The argument is absolute crap. However, the politics of this are tough for us. Eighty per cent of people believe climate change is a real and present danger.”
His comments were warmly received in this rural heartland and that was when Tony realised that he may have a shot at the leadership if he became a climate change denier.
After he staged his leadership takeover, Abbott tried to cover-up his backflip describing his use of “crap” as “a bit of hyperbole” and not his “considered position” and said it was made “in the context of a very heated discussion where I was attempting to argue people around to what I thought was then our position”.
Absolute crap say the people who were at the meeting.
Event organiser Jim Cox said Abbott’s comment was “very well received” and he quickly realised “he was on a bit of a winner”. Vice-president of the Beaufort branch of the Liberal Party Joe McCracken said Abbott looked relieved by the applause.
Buoyed by his success, Tony used the same approach when he attended a luncheon event on International Women’s Day in 2010.
What would women want to hear? I know…we are going to give you universal paid parental leave on replacement wages plus superannuation for six months and we are going to scrap Labor’s $150,000- a-year income limit on the $5185 Baby Bonus.
Instead of being grateful, women, who are in the main smarter than Tony Abbott, realised this fell into the ‘too good to be true’ category. As subsequent actions have shown, Tony’s feigned concern for women and families was absolute crap as was his promise not to introduce any new taxes. (Who could forget that humiliating interview with Kerry O’Brien?)
Not only have we lost the Baby Bonus, and lost the right to claim paid parental leave from both our employer and the government, eligibility for Family Benefit payments has been tightened up and increases frozen. The appropriateness of these measures is debatable but Abbott’s backflip is not.
Going into the last election Tony Abbott promised a ‘unity ticket’ on education. The Liberal Party education policy also clearly stated “We will ensure the continuation of the current arrangements of university funding.”
Absolute crap.
When Tony Abbott addressed the IPA at their 70th anniversary dinner, he spoke of freedom.
“Freedom can only exist within a framework of law so that every person’s freedom is consistent with the same freedom for everyone else. At least in the English speaking tradition, liberalism and conservatism, love of freedom and respect for due process, have been easy allies.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is the foundation of our justice. “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” is the foundation of our mercy.
..a democratic parliament, an incorruptible judiciary and a free press, rather than mere law itself, are the best guarantors of human rights.
You campaigned against the legislative prohibition against giving offence and I’m pleased to say that the author of those draft laws is now leaving the parliament. Well done IPA! And, of course, you campaigned against the public interest media advocate, an attack dog masquerading as a watchdog, designed to intimidate this government’s media critics and that legislation was humiliatingly withdrawn.”
Abbott sucked up to the IPA telling them what they wanted to hear but where is the due process for citizens returning from the Middle East? Where is the justice and mercy for asylum seekers? Where is the concern for human rights? Where is the freedom to criticise this government? And who is Abbott to speak of humiliating withdrawals?
That speech had more crap in it than Chinese berries.
Tony speaks of his commitment to tackling the scourge of domestic violence and to closing the gap for Indigenous Australians while slashing funding for frontline services. We have seemingly endless funds for defence, national security and border protection. We can even find $40 million to give Cambodia to take four refugees. But we cannot fund refuges, legal services and advocacy groups.
The lip service paid to the protection of our vulnerable has been proven absolute crap by the actions of Abbott’s mob.
And when it comes to the economy, everything the Abbott government says is crap. Despite significantly increasing the debt and deficit and having to downgrade projections with every fiscal statement, they try to convince us that they have cut billions from the debt they inherited. It makes no sense whatsoever to compare trajectories in ten years’ time and claim credit for things that haven’t happened and aren’t likely to.
After campaigning widely on the supposed “debt and deficit disaster” and trash talking our economy, Joe Hockey warns us now of the irresponsibility of such talk because of its negative affect on confidence. Whilst reining in government spending, he encourages us all to get out there and spend up big to stimulate the economy. Joe, you are full of it.
On many occasions before the election, the Coalition promised to build our new submarines in South Australia. It even appears in their defence policy released on September 2, 2013.
“We will also ensure that work on the replacement of the current submarine fleet will centre around the South Australian shipyards.”
When Tony’s leadership was threatened in February, he promised his South Australian colleagues that would be the case – at least that’s what they thought he promised. Even they must now realise that was absolute crap.
Before the election we were promised “no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS” and no adverse changes to superannuation.
Absolute crap.
In his victory speech on September 7 2013 Tony Abbott made the following promise:
“In a week or so the governor-general will swear in a new government. A government that says what it means, and means what it says. A government of no surprises and no excuses. A government that understands the limits of power as well as its potential. And a government that accepts that it will be judged more by its deeds than by its mere words.”
My judgement?
Tony Abbott will say whatever he thinks people want to hear because, far from being a leader, he is a dishonest inadequate man whose only motivation is to keep his job. This makes him susceptible to manipulation. We are in the position where focus groups, vested interests, lobbyists and party donors are dictating policy because our PM is a weak man with no vision whose words mean nothing.
Absolute crap, indeed.
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24 comments
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Terry2
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stephentardrew
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DanDark
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Wally
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Kaye Lee
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heatherex
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cartoonmick
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Harquebus
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Aortic
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Zathras
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David
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mars08
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Robyn
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Florence nee Fedup
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Owen
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mars08
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diannaart
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Kaye Lee
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i have a nugget of pure green
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Rosemary (@RosemaryJ36)
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David
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diannaart
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trevor
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eli nes
Return to home pageWe have been let down fundamentally by the so called fourth estate, our mainstream media : yesterday The ABC’s Drum website had an article about the inevitability of journalism being produced by robots : http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-04/dunlop-the-inevitability-of-journalism-written-by-robots/6521560
I posted a comment suggesting that, as our national broadsheet was written by muppets, robots could be quite refreshing : the ABC moderated me out – you might well ask what has happened to freedom of speech in this country when light satire is considered too risky to be published.
Today I heard that four Nauruan asylum seekers had been transported to Cambodia in recognition of a $40 million bribe to the Hun Sen the odious Cambodian dictator ; at this rate transporting the rest of the Nauruan asylum seekers could easily create a real budget emergency. Of course the mainstream media have jumped on this, questioning the hapless Dutton and Abbott relentlessly, NOT !
Kaye, this nincompoop could never have got away with a fraction of what he has said and done if we had a more robust and incisive media pack.
Kaye the mind boggles at the stupidity of the people in this country and their inability to challenge a dysfunctional media of conservative sycophants and straight out liars.
Where are the attack dog journalist when you need them.
They eviscerated Julia over a single issue that was not a lie but a strategic realignment to meet the concerns of independents yet this government of lying fools gets off scot free by comparison for an absolute litany of lies and deceptions.
Your political articles, and Johns economic discussions, of late, only reinforce just how serious this situation has become.
The level of political debate has been pathetic while the media hide behind equal representation, which is a lie in and of itself when giving equal time and weight to the obvious lie and demonstrable facts and proof. The interest of the nation and people is put last.
When lies are given equal weigh to the facts in the name of equal representation the media has failed completely in its judicious role to be discriminating and fact based thus directly, and expressly, challenging bare face lying.
The media have allowed themselves to become totally compromised and are a disgrace to the true role of journalistic integrity.
Things are getting damn serious when the necessary facts are so distorted as to lead us over the cliff of austerity and environmental disaster.
Sadly the ABC has now been captured by this type of dishonest opinionated discourse which has nothing to do with journalism.
Unfortunately this is no exaggeration.
Excellent article Kaye
Tony Abbott is crap, yep crap, he craps on about crap that he knows nothing about
He looks like crap, he sounds like crap…..HE is crap 🙂
Despite senior LNP members knowing that Abbott is a 2 face lying hypocrite they still support him proving they believe winning is the most important thing and it doesn’t matter how. Making deals with the devil has been a common occurrence within the LNP, how many years have they supported the Catholic Church despite knowing what priests were doing to innocent kids behind closed doors? If a minor political party or a religious sect condoned what the Catholic Church and the LNP have they would be shut down and outlawed the same as they are doing to motorcycle gangs. Makes me wonder if the criminals or sections of the establishment are the biggest threat to our way of life.
Abbott is not a leader, he is a follower, hence the tag ‘weather vane’. He always says what the audience of the day WANTS to hear!
Is there too much political crap coming from too many politicians?
Are you having trouble understand why pollies say what they say?
Confused by our current political lot?
Maybe this cartoon will clear it up for you . . . . .
Cheers
Mick
Please leave Tony Abbott alone. He is the Labor Party’s best friend. Anyone else as P.M. and Bullshit Shorten won’t look as good.
If it is to be judged by it’s deeds it is already dead in the water.
I think we all expect politicians to hedge and cheat a bit and when they are caught out lying out most would admit it, make an excuse and hope to move on but this has taken us to a whole new level.
When it comes to blatant dishonesty and then following it up by lying about lying, you have to stand in awe at that sort of arrogance.
It treats people with utter contempt to continue with that sort of drivel.
If he is still around for the next election I can hardly wait for him to make a whole new set of promises. All the opposition would have to do is to replay all the ones made at the last one.
He may have been effective at grandstanding and being in perpetual opportunistic attack mode when in opposition but I don’t think he could do defence very well at all, considering his record,
It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic for the rest of us.
Nothing has changed since 2009, although the lies are more frequent. He now lies with impunity in the HOR, knowing the Opposition are not allowed under standing orders to call him on them. From time to time outside the confines of the Chamber a couple of the braver ALP MP’s will, but they are a minority and infrequent.
Abbott will continue to lie, it worked in 2013 and the polls are not too bad for the Govt despite the havoc. Waiting in the wings are his backers, Murdoch, the Miners, big business, the shock jocks and not infrequently, the ‘Peoples ABC’ led by their political editor and bosom buddy of Abbott, Herr Uhlmann.
No doubt we will hear the Carbon tax reintroduction by Labor hammered, Shortens knifing of two PMs, which is starting to gain momentum, Labor the terrorist friends and more terrorists lurking on every corner, under the bed, everywhere with only the savour waiting with outstretched priestly arms to save the populace from bombs, bullets and buggery.
Crap indeed friends, crap indeed.
The end justifies the means…
Dishonest and inadequate don’t go far enough Kaye. Deliberately duplicitous, opportunistic, arrogant and corrupt are just a few more adjectives we could apply. Absolute crap taking us for a ride down the toilet with him. I also agree with Terry2 that our media have a great deal to answer for. If they’d applied the same amount of scrutiny to Tony Abbott as they applied to Julia Gillard, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Instead they keep re-applying his Teflon coating for him. The many blunders he has made which would have sunk anyone else are glossed over or laughed off or just ignored completely. Shame on them.
Mars sadly that seems to be true today.
Tones is his own echo in the video ….echo echo echo.. its the sound of his own voice echoing around in the void between his .ears ..he needs frequent pauses to let the echo escape through his mouth before he can start a new sentence….He should be on a disability allowance not a PM,s
Being flexible with the truth is an integral part of the born-to-rule/crusader mentality. Abbott knows he was born to rule!
Of course Abbott and his sleazy mob tell lies. But to 21st century conservatives they’re not just lies. The lie is a useful tool to maintain power and order. It is a “noble lie” as described by Plato.
These are the lies that are NECESSARY to keep the people in their place, and also to keep them loyal to the state. Only the Coalition KNOWS what must be done to make the world right again! And because the unsophisticated, disengaged, whining public must be persuaded to allow the government to do anything it wants, regardless of the facts on the ground.
Maybe we shouldn’t see them as “lies” but as a RIGHT of those born to rule. And with rights come responsibilities. It is the responsibility of the Coalition to control this unruly, ungrateful, uncomprehending rabble. We have no idea how hard it is for them trying to get important things done!
Nuanced and truthful arguments might not deliver the required public consent for “crucial” government actions, so consent is manufactured by spreading lies, doubt, fear and hysteria. The politician’s lies aren’t incidental to the government’s actions. They are intentional… they are needed in order to get the veneer of public consent on their schemes… that is… a mandate! Sounds familiar, right? These are the lies that are told to get “urgent” matters expedited. Carbon tax anyone?
I strongly suggest that everyone do some reading about the American neocons and and how they have fallen in love with a perversion of Plato’s notion of the “noble lie”. It is central to everything they do. And Australia is surely speeding down the same dark path…
A good starting point… http://www.opendemocracy.net/media-journalismwar/article_1549.jsp
We are not alone. Much debate has been given to the corruption of western democracy; world-wide has seen a far shift to the right.
Recently received my latest copy of the Beacon from the Unitarian Church – an organisation that truly welcomes everyone – even atheists like me. They have been running a series on corruption. I found this definition spot on:
Incompetent or complicit – our governments have been failing us for too long. Our two-party system is broken.
We need to keep voting out each government until we get one that is for all of us.
This means voting below the line, voting for parties other than Labor or Liberal, maybe even acknowledging that our opposition is now actually The Greens.
dianaart,
I wrote about the Unitarian Church (and others) in April last year….
“Another church that has attracted attention is the Melbourne Unitarian Peace Memorial Church.
In a bold pro-active move, the congregation thought the best possible response to the Federal Government’s Commission of Audit would be to conduct one of its own, one which they considered would put people before profit. The church raised $15,000 to commission its own Audit on behalf of the people of Australia: the People’s Commission of Audit carried out by independent public policy research organisation The Australia Institute.
They intend to release the results this month before the government releases their Commission of Audit recommendations. The comparison will be very interesting.
I would highly recommend their newsletter “The Beacon”. It is very informative on both domestic and global issues and contains excellent articles by people like refugee advocate Julian Burnside. The March edition was devoted entirely to the asylum seeker problem and is well worth a read, as are all their publications.
I am encouraged by these displays of the church taking a role in calling for change. I understand the importance of separation of church and state but, when the state is abrogating its responsibilities to humanity, then we must all join together in demanding better.”
They have actually published a few of my articles in the Beacon.
It is somewhat difficult to not consider the people who voted for the LNP at the last election in the same vein as i do the guy who thought it would be a good idea to release can toads.
I think we are overlooking the other side of the problem.
To get rid of Abbott we need a credible alternative.
Shorten’s efforts at bipartisanship come across as weak and ineffectual – like the kid who toadies up to the bully to get a reprieve for 5 minutes.
If Labor want to achieve recognition they need to boycott question time having first made – publicly at a specially called press conference – the clear statement that the purpose of QT has been subverted by the government – and in particular by the highly partisan Speaker – and they prefer to address the public direct with their policies and vision for Australia.
No more Mr Nice Guy who agrees to work with the government. He has allowed the most appalling legislation through in the name of bipartisanship that to me smells of pure cowardice.
Forget about marriage equality. It is only a side issue and its time will come very soon. But the damage being done by Abbott has got to be spelt out to the public at regular press conferences – and Tony Burke’s speech the other day about the speaker provides a good example of how it should be done.
We really need a new party which stands for Social Justice and which contains people Like Kaye Lee and others who are published by AIMN who have good ideas, skills and knowledge of immense value and a sense of moral purpose in its real sense.
@nugget…particularly those on benefits. Perhaps the sick in rest homes or relying on assistance in such matters can be forgiven as many would have voted on their carers recommendation, but generally it was all just too good to be true and didn’t take much thought to see through Abbotts lies. If ever Mathew got it right he did in his writings 7.15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
Sometimes the Apostles made a helluva lot of sense.
@ Rosemary Agree about Shorten, he has the odd moment of talking with conviction but I have never been taken by his weak jawed whiny approach to life. it may have gone over in his Union days, God knows howm but politically he has never been a good speaker. His knifing of Julia finally did it for me and then the assault by his right wing colleagues on Albo in the leadership vote was the last straw.
If he ever leads Labor to victory it will be because of Abbott despite Shorten.
@Kaye Lee
I recall your article – which I read with a feeling of hope. This church, embodies everything, yours truly (unapologetic atheist), thinks a church should be; inclusive, open, insightful, accepting, evidence based and humane, as endorsed by their motto “Seek the Truth and Serve Humanity”.
Never hurts to recommend such an organisation – or their newspaper “The Beacon”. Very heartened to know of your success in having some of your vital work published there. My respect has increased.
Dianna
Abbottcrap Should get an entry into new words for dictionaries.. Abbott is unhinged and plays gutter politics as though he is born to it, oh that’s right, he is born to gutter politics. Everything about Abbott tells that this fellow is a fraud. Not only that, but a dangerous demigod with a Jesus complex to add to the rest of his Lying Thieving foibles. And the play of Australian electoral politics allows this low life vermin to be elected as the winning 2 party preferred leader of Government, when in fact more than 60% of the electorate did not vote for Abbott’s team, and Labor got less than 30% of the vote, i.e. more than 70% did not vote for the Labor party. Australian democracy, Australia your’e standing in it! Great article as usual Kaye
Regretably, pragmatic lying has been the mantra of pig iron bob’s party for nearly 80 years. Trust me, it is in your best interest not to listen to to the communist labor party has, via little johnnie and his camp follower, become don’t trust the incompetent economic managers.
Labor has not made inroads into the debt crisis lie that must have been a factor in workers voting for abbutt. Why? Under Di Natale, the less-looking loony greens are a real threat to labor held city and senate seats.
Shorten is now wedged between a PM, who knows he doesn’t actually lie because he does the work of god and a party led by a man who thinks abbutt has a ‘hero’ quality.
It was awful to watch the frenzy of the morning shows but abbutt drove the attack on gillard, relentlessly, on 7 through joe and his ‘I agree with, joe’ friend, the lemon and on 9 with vanstone and latham plus the occasional sexist spray from richardson and the abbutt himself with his blokey chats with karl baby. It was his questions they asked, it was his agenda and his lies they spread. His answers to almost all the ABC questions were the usual trilogy
Shorten, even armed with the truth doesn’t seem able to suggest questions to embarrass abbutt and avoids karl and koch like the plague.. Why???