Tony Abbott’s ‘Scottish’ gaffe wraps up what has been another gaffe-ridden week from a gaffe-ridden government, writes Vivien Fleming.
In a week when we all thought no one could top Treasurer Joe Hockey’s comments about the poor not having cars, or not driving them too far, our “Esteemed Leader” Tony Abbott has now infuriated supporters of Scottish independence. Whilst Sloppy Joe was putting his foot even deeper into his mouth and clearly exhibiting the depth of his ideological disdain for all but the top 1% of society, Sir Pository was escaping the storm of the previous weeks’ Septimana Horribilis in Europe. Under the delusion that he is a respected “World Leader”, Sir Pository found time during his tax payer funded junket to grace the shores of the Old Dart.
Whilst in the London Sir Pository spoke to The Times and told reporter Giles Whittell that:
“As a friend of Britain, as an observer from afar, it’s hard to see how the world would be helped by an independent Scotland.
“I think that the people who would like to see the break-up of the United Kingdom are not the friends of justice, the friends of freedom, and the countries that would cheer at the prospect… are not the countries whose company one would like to keep.”
The criticism of this unsolicited diatribe was swift with the Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, responding on BBC Scotland that:
“Mr Abbott’s comments are hypocritical because independence does not seem to have done Australia any harm.
“They are foolish, actually, because of the way he said it. To say the people of Scotland who supported independence weren’t friends of freedom or justice, I mean, the independence process is about freedom and justice.”
Nine News has further reported that Mr Salmond stated on the BBC on Saturday that:
“He’s previously insulted the indigenous people of Australia, he’s insulted women in Australia, now he’s insulting Scots Australians – I don’t know if there’ll be anybody left for Mr Abbott to insult.”
Clearly Mr Salmond is more conversant with Australian politics than our English born Prime Minister is of the Scottish Independence debate. Sir Pository, who chose only to take out Australian citizenship at the age of 23 to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, caused outrage and offense to indigenous Australians in July when he supported the legal fiction that Australia was Terra Nullius (Latin: Land belonging to no one) at the time of British occupation:
“As a general principle we support foreign investment. Always have and always will. …Our country is unimaginable without foreign investment. I guess our country owes its existence to a form of foreign investment by the British government in the then unsettled or, um, scarcely settled, Great South Land.”
Sir Pository is infamous for his insults to women. In his 20-member Cabinet, only one woman was sufficiently meritorious to warrant a place in its hallowed halls. Abbott was quick to defend his position by stating:
”There are some very good and talented women knocking on the door of the cabinet and there are lots of good and talented women knocking on the door of the ministry.”
Perhaps the most famous of Abbott’s anti-women quotes is from the beginning of his journey into politics. As a member of Sydney University’s Student Representative Council in 1979 Sir Pository stated:
“It think it would be folly to expect that women will ever dominate or even approach equal representation in a large number of areas simply because their aptitudes, abilities and interests are different for physiological reasons”.
Not surprisingly YES Scotland has pilloried Sir Pository’s interference. A comical Tweet presents a faux announcement from the Australian High Commission London under the hand of Sir Les Patterson. Naturally, Sir Les is pictured on a toilet seat with his pants down.
The Australian public waits with bated breath for news on the latest victims of the Foot in Mouth Epidemic currently sweeping through COALition ranks.
This article was first posted on The Abbott Proof Fence and has been republished with permission.
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