337 comments

1. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:50 am

   Loved this comment on Facebook by JW:

   it must be very concerning for him that they are out of the kitchen. wonder what military action he has planned

   😆

2. CMMCSeptember 19, 2013 at 2:47 am

   Another bouquet of contempt to catch as the Divine Comedy of kamikaze neo-liberalism sweeps by.

3. Jamie RaisbeckSeptember 19, 2013 at 2:48 am

   i can imagine he would be so stupid as to say ‘there shouldn’t be any affairs for women, they should be faithful to their husbands by making him a sandwich whenever he wants and stop withholding sex while their at it.’ or some shit like that.

4. Susan J ClohesySeptember 19, 2013 at 2:49 am

   I hope he quickly rues the day he had the cheek to think this one up. The barefaced gall of the bastard just leaves me gobsmacked. He hates us with a passion, and he thinks he has the right to oversee our lives? The hell he does!!!

5. chris mortimerSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:16 am

   Even here in south africa with a mass of uneducated voters this man would never have been voted in. I prefer having Jacob Zuma, buffoon though he is. God help the Aussies. How the hell could intelligent people have voted for this idiot. My condolences.

6. VickiSeptember 19, 2013 at 5:43 am

   He is the typical mummy’s boy who has never had to be responsible for his own actions. Because he copped such a shellacking with the misogyny speech, he would have felt stung that women didn’t appear to like him. He would now be determined to prove he really does like women…just that he doesn’t understand women have moved on from the 50s.

7. LouiseSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:31 am

   With Michaelia Cash as minister assisting the prime minister for women??? God help us!

8. PeterFSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:33 am

   I wonder if he has any thoughts on whether or not a man’s virginity is ‘the greatest gift he can give someone’?

   I doubt if it has ever occurred to him that there might be another way of looking at this.

9. Kay RitsonSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:17 am

   the man who thinks sex appeal is an attribute for becoming an MP and who thinks it is OK to go around kissing perfect strangers on the mouth including a NUN!

10. rossleighbrisbaneSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:21 am

    But he’s not doing it alone:

    “Women’s policies and programs” as well as Indigenous affairs, deregulation, national security and relations with state governments are all specified responsibilities of Tony Abbott, who has appointed West Australian senator Michaelia Cash as minister assisting the prime minister for women.”

    Some of you may remember Michaelia’s impassioned defence of Julia Gillard

11. SteveSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:26 am

    Might need to clear up some of these ‘facts’ before publishing an article like this.
    If he is such a bad person, why was he voted in?
    Go and do some proper research and stop hating the fact you voted for the losing team.

12. Kaite M.September 19, 2013 at 7:37 am

    Wasn’t it Boadicea who suggested that women withhold sex to stop their menfolk going to war?
    Perhaps a similar idea could gain hold until Tony resigned from his self appointment as Minister of Women’s Affairs.

13. Möbius EckoSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:00 am

    PeterF. Obviously not as Abbott once thought he had fathered a kid before he met his future wife. He believes it’s OK for men to engage in pre-marital sex but not women in yet another illustration of his attitude of women being inferior.

    This does raise a conundrum though. If women must keep their virginity until marriage yet men can lose theirs whenever they want, where are the men going to find women who aren’t virgins in Abbott’s world, unless they have adulterous relationships with unfaithful married women, another thing Abbott scorns?

14. Leanne JonesSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:02 am

    Oh dear….. You don’t get me Tony! And as for Michaela the wicked witch of the West being your assistant, I am appalled that you have done this. You are a misogynistic clown of a human being and have absolutely no idea what what you are doing. I feel that the dumbing down of this great country by you and your acolytes will destroy the fabric of our society and will take years to repair. You really are a cretin and the idiots who voted for the Lnp will be in for a great shock l hope, although some people who lack intelligence will always be stupid and won’t care about anything else but themselves . Welcome to the 1950s again, ladies and gentlemen.

15. beksSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:19 am

    Will he be bringing back the white lines in the pubs, and banning women from the public bar too? wouldn’t surprise me! Good luck Oz, the peanuts running the UK don’t look as half bad compared to twit face sexist dark ages Abbot

16. J.FraserSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:22 am

    If Cardinal Pell had been made responsible for “Women’s Affairs” would that have been worse ?

17. patsySeptember 19, 2013 at 8:31 am

    sorry nothing left to say it has all been said about abbott …by your followers…and all is SOOOOOO true

18. S German - Cambridge, UK.September 19, 2013 at 8:36 am

    Sad….disgrace…what the hell’s he on about and how on earth did he get elected?

19. Lawrence WinderSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:38 am

    Hey-Ho, Hey-Ho it’s back to the 50’s we go…..

20. musteryouSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:45 am

    hahahahahaha. It devalues the meaning of government. But heyho, business industries alone matter.

21. clareSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:47 am

    seriously, can some one please tell me if this is satire?

22. Dennis BauerSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:50 am

    It is possible we are slowly heading into another dark age, where humans religious purpose is solely
    for the pursuit of power, their religious beliefs of a God robs them of faith in humanity to the extent that they only see one power one book, and science as an evil that defeats their power to rightly rule in the word of God, the most convincing augment against God is science but it should not be an augment, it is still a theory.

23. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:53 am

    Steve, they are facts.

    Stop trying to defend the indefensible.

24. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:54 am

    Clare, I wish it was just a joke.

    No wait, there is a joke. It’s on us. 🙁

25. Pam RawlingsSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:56 am

    No I honestly think he is so nasty that he has deliberately taken that ministry on to get back at Julia. He is saying look at me Julia I am not only PM but I am also minister for womens affairs. What a creep he is.
    We have had good and bad PMs in this country but I have respected that they are the PM. I have absolutely no respect for this horrible excuse for a man and never will have. He is not and never will be my PM.

26. ShellSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:03 am

    I think I know where this unusually generous parental leave idea comes from… it’s a ploy to get educated women in well paid careers out of the workforce and back into the kitchen where they belong!

27. Kaye LeeSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:05 am

    “Operation Virginity” will begin from Day One. The action will be overseen by 1 star Senator Michaelia Cash who has stated that they will turn back the penises when it is safe to do so. Mr Abbott, champion of women’s rights, has proposed buying up all contraception to assist in resisting temptation. He has also offered a $200 voucher to be given to women who marry in the Catholic Church so they can upgrade their irons in a move to increase productivity in the home.

28. Jay WarSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:10 am

    I think we should all climb onto Twitter & #asktony all the hard hitting women’s questions. Like thrush. Child birth. Breastfeeding. Menopause. Menstrual cycles. Ironing techniques. What he does to keep his man happy.

29. Truth SeekerSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:35 am

    Migs, what a ludicrous state of affairs, (No pun intended) 😯

    Have just posted my own take on these issues in “LNP women of calibre!” 😀

    LNP women of calibre!

    Cheers 😀

30. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 9:36 am

    So we now have a Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs who refused to apologise to the Stolen Generation, who arrived late to a meeting with Aboriginal leaders and then fell asleep, who has appointed a National Indigenous Council with no consultation with the Indigenous community, and who said ‘There may not be a great job for them but whatever there is, they just have to do it, and if it’s picking up rubbish around the community, it just has to be done’.

    We have a Prime Minister for Infrastructure who refuses to spend any money on urban or intercity rail whilst “building the roads of the 21st century”, who described the NBN as a “white elephant” appointing Malcolm Turnbull to demolish it, who wants to privatise schools and hospitals.

    We have a Prime Minister for national security whose policies on asylum seekers have been described by senior Indonesian politicians as “very offensive” and an attack on their country’s sovereignty, adding that if they were not changed they would damage the bilateral relationship. Our Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has already outlined a hard-nosed approach to upcoming talks, saying last week: “We’re not seeking Indonesia’s permission … we’re seeking their understanding.”

    We have a Prime Minister for deregulation who has promised to provide a one-stop shop for developers to bypass those pesky environmental studies, who has promised to reduce paperwork in the aged care sector, and whose first act was to sack three senior department heads – Dr Don Russell lost his job as head of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research; Blair Comley was the head of the Resources, Energy and Tourism Department; and Andrew Metcalfe, a former Immigration Department chief, has been sacked as head of the Agriculture Department.

    And he is now the Prime Minister for Women’s Affairs. That is just the ultimate insult. Words fail me.

31. SueQSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:57 am

    You really should report something factual if you are going to report something. I guess it’s true that “his comment that women should stay home and iron, or something to that effect.” It’s the “OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT” that gets you out of it I guess- he actually didn’t say those words did he – just “or something to that effect”. Out of all the households I know, MOST of the time the women actually DO do the ironing- it’s plain true! My husband and son are quite capable of ironing their own work jackets and do so no problems if I haven’t already done it- but really- you should get your FACTS straight- or… don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story I guess- whateva.

32. MariekeSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:11 am

    Tony Abbott as Minister for Women makes me sick to my stomach too, but I have an issue with this article. I think the cold hard facts are compelling enough, tainting your article with childish name calling, and making implications about statements that your not quoting or referencing just make your argument weaker, not stronger.

    The strength of this article is that Abbott’s statements are offensive enough verbatim.

    I think the author would do well not to stoop to the lows of the Murdoch press. Biased and nasty articles are missed opportunities and only speak to the converted.

33. Ricky PannSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:12 am

    You can’t back what you have already said Steve, they are a matter of public record. I wonder how many women who voted Liberal would have done so had they known,
    1. Abbots previous comments on women
    2. A disclosure that he would ridiculously give himself this position and not promote someone who actually possess a Vagina
    3. A disclosure that he would have one lone female voice in cabinet and blame a woman for that fact.

    The very fact that Abbott anointed himself is tokenism is in itself contemptuous proof that he just don’t get it. I can see him at women conferences in touch with his feminine perspective… :ROLL:

34. BSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:12 am

    I’m not usually one to get into political debates, He definitely words his comments wrong but I don’t wholly disagree with him. What is so offensive about him thinking women are a benefit in the home. If anything house mums are treated worse by some working mothers than any man. I believe in equality but I don’t believe it means everything has to be exactly the same. He is right, women are physically different, so it isn’t any wonder than that any woman wanting to break into a male dominated field that requires physical strength, might have to prove themself. I don’t feel like his comments were that a woman can’t do whatever she wants, simply that there are certain fields better suited. I agree.

35. Alison JoblingSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:19 am

    Steve, an attempt to respond to some of your comments:

    “Might need to clear up some of these ‘facts’ before publishing an article like this.”

    Which facts do you disagree with, Steve?

    “If he is such a bad person, why was he voted in?”

    Because of overwhelming support from the media and big business, convincing ignorant voters that the economy was in trouble (one of the best in the world, one of the few still with a AAA credit rating, one of the few to survive the global meltdown largely untouched), and that he would punish innocent people in desperate trouble (aka ‘protecting our borders’).

    Go and do some proper research and stop hating the fact you voted for the losing team.

    1 – You need to do some research. 2 – This is not a game, Steve. This is about the government of the country. Winning or losing ‘teams’ doesn’t enter into it. Abbott has some very retrogressive ideas about women, science, economics, and a variety of other issues that will set Australia back into the 12th century.

36. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 10:20 am

    SueQ could I suggest that the “households” YOU know are not representative of modern society. How good of your men to do their own ironing if you have abrogated your responsibilities by not doing it for them. How enlightened of them. Tony Abbott, in trying to talk about the impact of rising electricity prices said “the housewives of Australia…as they do the ironing”. Wasn’t that good of him to put it in a context we women could understand. It was also a shining moment when he urged Australians to vote for “the one with the not-bad-looking daughters” and to vote for the candidate with “sex appeal” because she’s “not just a pretty face”. His attempt to buy the votes of “women of calibre” when we supposedly have a “budget emergency” was unbelievably hypocritical and elitist.

    Tony Abbott’s views and comments about women, abortion and contraception are archaic and insulting and to put himself forward as our representative is ludicrous.

37. ShellSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:27 am

    Well said kayelee1

38. Geoff Of EppingSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:31 am

    Sue Q…..is that you Margie? Or Lou Lou?

39. Möbius EckoSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:36 am

    B. What fields are better suited to women that are not suited to men as well?

    We can only take what Abbott says and not read inference into them. If he wanted to say there are physical jobs not suited to some women then he should have plainly stated that. There are women who can take on physical jobs as well as men and now days technology equals the field even amongst men of different physical capabilities.

    He is a supposed leader and currently the leader of a country, by whatever method and assistance he got here doesn’t matter now. As a national leader mangling meanings so we need to rely on others to put their interpretation on them is not good enough any more.

    He now soars of sinks on his own, and nobody should have to come in rescue him if he’s sinking.

40. CarleySeptember 19, 2013 at 10:39 am

    Sorry sueq but you can ignore all the signs as much as you like and try to rationalise the horrible, insulting and down-right embarrassing things that come out of Abbott’s mouth. But you have to admit, the PM of Australia SHOULD NOT let “slip” these things, he OR she should be an excellent public speaker who understands that any thing they say or do reflects back onto the country. Australia will be labelled an embarrassment by the time he is through with us, rest assured.

41. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 10:42 am

    And on Tony’s other portfolio as Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs, the average vote directed to Labor in identifiably Aboriginal communities outside the Northern Territory was 71 per cent.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-12/graham-prime-minister-for-indigenous-affairs/4951900

    And as for his “volunteering” (read photo ops)-

    ” Next time an LNP member or journalist drops the “Abbott volunteers for weeks in Indigenous communities” line, call bullshit and then refer them to the figures. Three days and nearly $45000 in flights alone…, if that’s volunteering the rest of us are really doing it all wrong.”

    Abbott, the Truth and Cost of his Indigenous Volunteering

42. Möbius EckoSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:50 am

    Just as George W Bush turned the US into a laughing stock Carley.

    Abbott will make W Bush look like orator.

43. HollySeptember 19, 2013 at 11:01 am

    Oh my! Back to the 1950s we go! We are taking a backward step Australia, please let us not return to ages of inequality and racism are accepted as the ‘norm’. Makes me think of a quote on social media during the election ‘voting for Abbott because you don’t like K Rudd is like, eating shit because you don’t like spinach!

44. Steve2September 19, 2013 at 11:05 am

    if this wasn’t so horrifying it would be the funniest thing to happen all week

45. MisstSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:06 am

    Agreed! Tony Abbott donning the mantle of Minister for Women’s Affairs is a joke. Shame on Australia for this travesty. Tony has deliberately (just like a little baby crowing at getting his way) slapped Julia Gillard and every Australian woman in the face.

    Words fail me too! I am ANGRY and insulted!

46. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 11:24 am

    Julia Gillard was hailed internationally for her “misogyny speech” as it struck a chord with women (and many men) around the world. How do they view this latest development…..

    “One blogger circulated a list of “things that have more women in them than Tony Abbott’s cabinet”. They include the Afghan government, the US Supreme Court, the Iranian cabinet, a staff meeting of the men’s magazine Zoo Weekly and the Saudi Arabian Olympic team.”

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/one-female-cabinet-member-ironing-housewife-jibes-now-australias-new-pm-tony-abbott-gives-himself-ministerial-responsibility-for-womens-issues-8823662.html

47. tonySeptember 19, 2013 at 11:40 am

    this man is the most arrogant manipulating politician in power since the likes of GwB and JH !! he has no shame and every day rubs womens noses in the mud more and more !! he has no fear ! That proves you are the mad monk !! and , you are proving Julia was spot on !! beware of the women you are closest 2 as they are the ones who will bring you down !!

48. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:40 am

    ‘What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing is that if they get it done commercially it’s going to go up in price and their own power bills when they switch the iron on are going to go up, every year…’ thats the ironing quote u refer to i think, yeah the irony is palpable lol hes also minister of indigenous afairs ‘There may not be a great job for them but whatever there is, they just have to do it, and if it’s picking up rubbish around the community, it just has to be done’ and ‘Now, I know that there are some Aboriginal people who aren’t happy with Australia Day. For them it remains Invasion Day. I think a better view is the view of Noel Pearson, who has said that Aboriginal people have much to celebrate in this country’s British Heritage’ being just a few of the things hes said on that subject

49. AliceSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:42 am

    Now don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story will you. You say that Tony Abbott said “women should stay at home and do the ironing” that is not what he said, he said “when the housewives of Australia are doing the ironing” I hate to break it to you but that is what housewives do, ironing cooking housewok, that is why they are called housewives, otherwise they may be called nurses, teachers, accountants, lawyers or whatever it is that women are choosing to do, but the ones who are choosing to be housewives are doing the ironing. Getting past the first very intentional misrepresentation was very difficult, but I persevered only to come up with a few questions. What is wrong with a girl cherishing her virginity? What is wrong with saying men and women are equal but different? They are. The problem with suggesting give and take when it comes to sex is what exactly? I would go on but it is my supreme pleasure to be in the very fortunate position of being able to spend a good deal of my time being an Australian housewife. I have ironing to do.

50. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:45 am

    and for all those ppl thinking were going back to the 1950s your only 1/2 right in the 1950s we had almost complete coverment ownership of public services for starters, the west was still growing economicly and we had alot of resources weve since sold + tecnologys to say dredge the great barrier reef(in progress) hadnt been developed yet, were not going back to 50s were going forward to somewere much scaryer

51. jamesSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:47 am

    So dramatic and completely out of context. Many suggestions that somehow woman’s rights are going to be oppressed due to this new leadership. A man who has raised 2 very independent, intelligent daughters and people still suggest that he has no respect for them. Bollocks.There is merit in some of the things he says even if he is not very good at saying them.I have complete respect for woman and their rights but for god’s sake don’t be so sensitive.

52. AndIWasNeverHereSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:48 am

    Of the 100 people on BRW’s Young Self-Made Rich List yesterday, only 7 of them were women. Maybe it’s time to accept that whilst women might have the same aptitude for business, they don’t have the same desire to succeed as men?

    Given those numbers – based on what is a relatively level playing field – Tony’s right in a few of his quotes.

53. AndIWasNeverHereSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:54 am

    And in other news, everything David Chappelle says, is true.

54. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:59 am

    we only just shook off the crockodile dundee image i guess its back to throw enutehr prawn on the barbi lines from every second person i identify myself as a australian to. the guardian artical makes a good point though he was able to make it seem like womens rights was a issue that only effected a select few women i say make it obvious that it effects them all and in that spirit i say . alice be quite and go back to the kitchen men are trying to talk here

55. jamesSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:59 am

    It is difficult to believe that woman will ever represent career equality for obvious reasons; there is a significant proportion of the female population who will not contend for a spot at the top of the corporate ladders or CEO’s of thriving businesses due to the instinctive urge to procreate. Of the woman who decide to pursue a career but also to have children, there still exists a significant period of their life where their capacity to do work is significantly reduced (postpartum recovery and care), which often coincides with a time where careers generally make or break.This has nothing to do with woman’s intelligence, capability or any other suggestion of inferiority. Woman CAN do anything, they simply often choose not to (choose may be an interesting choice of terms but in any event, take that out of context if you will).

56. MariekeSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    Making generalisation on skills, ambitions and interests based on gender is offensive to both men and women. My husband would quite happily work less and be home more. He contributes equally to our household chores, and most of the other married men I know do the same.

    My husband is not inclined to fix a car, change a washer or clean out the gutters, things often labelled as men’s work. He’d much rather do a bit of ironing, cooking or cleaning. Should he feel ashamed of that? No way!

    This is the reality of our modern society.

    I don’t believe that Tony really hates women. He’s is however, threatened by them, and I choose to take that as a compliment.

    He’ll go away soon enough, and history will not be kind to him.

57. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    lol u ppl and your asumptions, ive seen some chinese body builders that could break me in 2 and im 6’2″ theres a reson so few women are in the rich list and its not having a baby, most of those coes dont look like they were ever particualy active ceo’s there is like it or not plenty of gender descrimination still you go back 40 yrs i bet u dont find 1 in that list if they had it, the only reson theres any has been decades of work to change the system to be fairer and more equitable those very figures show it still isnt.
    in russia they define a generational belief bracket as extending for not only aslong as somones alive but also all there decendants that were alive and exposed to there beliefs about 150+yrs and going up the changes we make today will be in effect still with our extened life spans for the next 200yrs, so dont be suprised at some of the misogynistic ideals that come up over the next little while they are carry overs from the 1900s

58. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    and yes im a single dad i do all the house work and the child rearing and atempt to study on the side

59. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    “postpartum recovery”????? GIVE me a break!!!!

    I guess it may be hard to do the vacuuming for a few days…perhaps you big strong men could handle that while we continued videoconferencing and using our computers and making decisions and supervising and delegating.

60. Fed upSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    You forgot the one from last week, when Rudd handed over the keys to the lodge. Yes, the girls will be coming with us, the want to remain at home until married. Did not explain why one was living with the boyfriend in Europe. Did not explain how they will get to university.

    By the way, the one the one that moved out, is the more sensible of the whole lot.

    Well we have it from Duncan Gray this morning, standing front of Abbott; saying, us blokes get things done.,

    If women in the Liberal party wondered where they stood yesterday, they sure do today.

    The apparent message seems to be, get out of the way, and let us blokes get on with the job.

61. Carol TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:22 pm

    SueQ, it’s the fact that this is what Abbott considers as being representative of over half of the population and not necessarily in order of priority: ironing, virginity, sex appeal, women “of calibre”, that he ‘gets’ women (you too can learn how to train yours!).

62. jamesSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:24 pm

    I don’t recall mentioning strength being a factor Kayelee as strength is no indicator for a successful career, only that someone has to take care of children once they are born (and yes I mentioned recovery period generally 1-6 weeks albeit a short time frame but can take longer). yes men could just as easily do the care taking however they generally do not. I would happily be a stay home Dad but my girl would never allow it as she prefers to take that role. There is nothing stopping woman from continuing their careers however generally they do not.

63. Fed upSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:24 pm

    New Archbishop in Tasmania, dies not want women to be altar servers

    Talk about going back to 1950’s..

64. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:25 pm

    and frankly i run into descrimination and asumption im somehow worse at raising my daughter then a woman would be all the time as often from women as men and have ppl tell there kids dont go near strange men right fecking next to me in parks when im just trying to supervise her on the play equiptment usualy yelled from some covered seat 50m away cause they cant be botherd being close enuff to do anything if there kid dose fall, almost every time i take her to the park. but i just gota put up with it theres very few male carer suport services there is 1 child group in the area for male carers like 4 women only care groups and a few mixed. i have no interest in being a ceo, 1 day i may contribute something memorable to the behavioural science feild though. but i find this segregation via gender as inacurate and ofencive as segregation via race birth place or age, all of which i expect to see increased over the next few years
    all of which are “economicly damaging” due to not geting the best person for the job via cuting down the posible aplicants

65. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 12:26 pm

    Womens Weekly, January 2010

    “I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the Liberal Party has just elected a leader who is anti-abortion, anti-IVF, anti-stem cell research and who wants to ban no-fault divorce,’’ influential blogger Mia Freedman wrote.

    “If he’s elected as our PM in the future I would be very scared for women everywhere. I am not anti-Lib – just always been anti-Abbott,” added Mia. “Tony Abbott scares the bejesus out of me,’’ wrote another blogger. Other women’s websites were also swamped by people bewildered by the party’s failure to elect the much more likable Joe Hockey.

    On the problem of businesses paying women on average 16 per cent less than they pay men in the same jobs, Tony is unaware there is still a problem.

    How do you get more women into politics? “A good question. The trouble is, unless you are super ambitious, super idealistic, super competitive or a combination of all three, politics is not a very attractive life,” he says, before admitting he does not have a solution.

    He laughs at the idea of Margie having Botox, reveals that one of his daughters has multiple piercings and that he once drank a bit too much and smoked marijuana – but he didn’t inhale.

66. AndIWasNeverHereSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    FFS. Don’t take feminism advice from Mia Freedman. She’d be lucky to have two brain cells to rub together.

    (p.s. I’m not saying that because she’s a women. I’m saying that because she’s an idiot)

67. RimfireSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:35 pm

    James, what about the possibility that women are also more aware of the elements that go into sustainability, community, building relationships rather than operating from the corporate myopic self interest that is required to ‘make it’ in the corporate world? LOOK at what happened to Julia Gillard, so many young women have now expressed a deep reluctance to get into politics because they are very, VERY aware of what happens regarding women in a corporate culture. To reduce the complexity of why women don’t wish to get into the top levels of the corporate world down to the simplistic idea of ‘the instinctive urge to procreate’ is ludicrous in itself. I have three daughters and am encouraging NONE of them to have children unless they have money saved with which to support themselves while their children are young *and* to make sure they enter into a financial contract (much like a pre-nup) with the father to ensure proper child support in the event of a breakdown in the relationship. They have seen me struggle with issues as a result of childbearing, childbirthing and child rearing and none of them want to go through the same experience: in a more female and child hostile environment it will be even harder to get the support and assistance one needs, unless one has a GREAT deal of money. One of my daughters is gay and has openly expressed her concern for her *physical safety* in a country that has now been given a green light for homophobia, as can be viewed by online commentators of Christian fundamentalist persuasions who see the election of a religious individual as the ‘sign’ that all manner of repugnant behaviours can now be undertaken without fear of retributions, such as engaging in homosexual bashing, taunting, the ‘proof’ that homosexuality is ‘against nature’ and celebrating the further receding of the rights of ‘fags’, ‘lezzo’s’, ‘poofters’, ‘boongs’, ‘queue jumpers’, ‘gimps’ and anyone else they don’t particularly like.

    What a shining new world has been created in the name of glorious heteronomy! So little has been learned in 6000 years of so called ‘civilisation’ to justify continuing with the experiment.

68. Carol TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:36 pm

    Basically, my problem with Abbott’s attitude is that there seems to be an underlying opinion that somehow women are an entirely different species – *we* (that’s women), according to Tony do not have what it takes,

    ‘I 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’.

    Therefore Abbott’s attitude is that women cannot and will never enter certain fields because we have neither the aptitude nor the ability and presumably our interests should be confined to certain domestic tasks. The exception to this being Tony’s “women of calibre” who also presumably must have a brain like a man..sigh..I remember that attitude being bandied about in the late 18th Century along with the ‘science’ of phrenology to prove that women and people of other races were by nature inferior to those who just so happen to be white and male.

69. jamesSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:39 pm

    @ Kaylee, the 16% deficit is indeed a real issue Kaylee. If you don’t mind please answer 2 questions: why is there a 16% deficit in wages men vs woman, and how do you propose the problem can be fixed? I have mixed opinions about the rest of your blog but I wont bore you with the details.

    @ the rest of the group. fyi the election was a couple of weeks ago. Abbott is our leader via an overwhelming majority of votes. The country has made it’s choice.

70. J.FraserSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    I have absolutely no doubt that the religious right female organisations are now mobilising to get their wishes pushed to the forefront of the new women’s “Minister for Women’s Affairs”.

    If I was a female activists with links to any organisation I would be talking about “affairs” that I wanted the Minister to attend to.

71. J.FraserSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:41 pm

    @James …. stop being childish.

72. AndIWasNeverHereSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:48 pm

    “why is there a 16% deficit in wages men vs. woman”

    According to surveys, 25% of men working full-time jobs had workweeks of 41 or more hours, compared with 14% of female full-time workers.

    So men work more hours and get paid more. Anyone want that made any clearer for them?

73. jamesSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    @ rimfire: Respect to you… I do feel the homosexuality issue is scary however I’m not convinced that Abbott’s election will have any impact on the regression of gay rights etc. It is a shame that the issue will unlikely progress in a positive direction until his leadership ends.

    @ J Fraser: :p

74. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    James the wage inequity can be fixed by paying women the same as men for the same job. It ain’t that hard.

    The REAL problem, as shown by many commenters here, is that our backward society still thinks there are gender-specific roles. A relationship should be a partnership with shared duties. I can assure you that a desire or ability to do housework is not innate. Do you TRULY believe that the “urge to procreate” is confined to women? Do you TRULY believe that women must be the prime care giver when parenting? You use parenting as an excuse as to why women don’t progress as far in their profession. Why should that be? Men are parents too. Why should they not share the duties so both parties are equally disadvantaged professionally whilst benefitting from spending time rearing their children?

    It is past time these archaic stereotypes were banished from our thinking.

75. IkaSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    Abbott clearly isn’t a ‘media-man’ like Rudd is. Rudd knows what to say to get the masses to agree. Abbott simply says what he believes and honestly I don’t have a problem with most of those quotes.
    It IS inevitable that there will be more women doing house work than men – and that is statistically the truth. Women are allowed to go learn men dominated professions and trades. But they aren’t because a lot simply don’t want to. If you, your husband, wife, friend etc are not part of the majority – then good on you but it doesn’t actually change the statistical facts.

    As for his other views.. I’m not a christian but they look like typical christian views and I personally never try to bash someones religious views.

    The author of this article clearly doesn’t know about women issues himself – the cervical cancer vaccine was highly controversial and only protects against a few (out of almost 100) types of virus that can lead to cervical cancer which is probably why he was apprehensive about making his daughters get it.

    The point of this article is beyond me. Why don’t we see if he does any good for women’s affairs before telling everyone why he’s such a terrible person?

76. J.FraserSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    Apparently Abbott is seeking advice on stopping the ACT from introducing more gay rights.

    Once again the childish “james” gets it wrong.

77. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 12:58 pm

    AndIWasNeverHere,

    In typical Conservative fashion, you did not use the actual quote which says “On the problem of businesses paying women on average 16 per cent less than they pay men in the same jobs”….emphasis on SAME job. Want that made any clearer?

78. AndIWasNeverHereSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:58 pm

    “You use parenting as an excuse as to why women don’t progress as far in their profession. Why should that be? Men are parents too.”

    “A 2007 Pew Research survey: Among working mothers with minor children, 60% said they would prefer to work part-time, while only 21% wanted to be in the office full-time (and 19% said they’d like to give up their job altogether). How about working fathers? Only 12% would choose part-time and 70% wanted to be full-time.”

    Why should that be? Because women don’t want it.

    Check. Mate.

79. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:58 pm

    theres a simple way to fix that 16% much higher in some profesions like dentistry were its more like 40% have women work in those roles in a system that promotes equal work for equal pay not pay based on age sex religion or race for long enuff(150+yrs) that all the ppl that belived in pay based on age sex or gender and there decendants that were directly influenced by them are dead, its a slow slow process easly disrupted by just a few years, there is now no hope of it happening in my childs life time or her child if she choses to have one. you ppl think were going back to the 50s were not society always moves forwards just sometimes it moves in wrong direction and it takes generations for such changes to come to a conclusion even if we change goverments in 4yrs there will be a bunch of now 12 yr olds that will pass on this bigotry to there grandchildren

80. CooperSeptember 19, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    I’m confused. You say that he makes poor word choices and that these are symptomatic of an underlying disrespect and stereotypical approach to politics, yet this article begins with an ad hominem attack that laughs at the fact that he has big ears. Some consistency is needed.

81. AndIWasNeverHereSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    @kayelee1

    That survey was done by the US Labor Department and was generalised across 1,000s of full-time jobs. You can pipe up about the word ‘same’ as much as you like but the survey clearly shows that men work longer than women on average, and as such, should be paid more than women.

82. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 1:04 pm

    Ika tell me why it is inevitable that there will be more women doing housework than men. Yes it is statistically no doubt true still….does that make it right? Time women grew past the slave mentality, time they stopped thinking being attractive is a required attribute, time they were recognised as equals, time they stopped viewing childbirth as a role-defining event.

83. Hadden NuffSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:05 pm

    Who the hell is michael taylor, and why is he so full of vitriol? Someone tell him nobody likes a sore loser…

84. Ricky PannSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:06 pm

    I wanna know if Abbott is going to attend Womens conferences and represent women? Maybe chair a few conferences? Share those incredible insights and perspective into the feminine condition? I can see Tony the suffragette up there rivaling Gemaine. Will he take his position seriously? Lop it off for the cause perhaps?.

    Seriously folks, Abbott is on record saying what he has as a matter of public record. Its his DNA we confirm that he has not been altered genetically because he don’t do stem cells. He is not misunderstood or taken out of context. The very fact that he has anointed himself to this position is confirmation of his own insensitivity and ignorance. The problem with Liberals is they think everything is a footy match for the pugilists of propaganda.

    Just remember the ALP is 1.4% in front of the Libs in primary before that coalition crapola. 50% of the vote is not a mandate of anything, its not a majority and it sure as hell does not reflect truly community attitudes in the main.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/results/party-totals/

85. jamesSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:10 pm

    @ J Fraser: i didn’t say he wouldn’t try, just that nothing he does will regress from where it is today. The gay rights you speak of are not yet in situ therefore him blocking them does little to regress from the current position, just inhibits us from moving forward but now we are just mincing words.

    @ Kaylee: if it were as simple as that it would be so. I don’t believe that overall there are gender specific roles, just that statistically speaking an overwhelming majority of woman assume the role of carer. These are simply facts and there is nothing stopping this role from being reversed. I understand your point that there are still existing stereotypes which requires educating however @ the OP I still feel that Abbott genuinely promotes a positive message toward woman’s rights and equality regardless of his ability to verbalize them.

86. RoswellSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:10 pm

    Michael, I think you have a troll. One who doesn’t like you quoting Tony Abbott’s rubbish.

87. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:12 pm

    Yes, Roswell. I noticed. Leads me to ask who the hell is Hadden Nuff, apart from someone who hides behind a fake name when attacking others here?

88. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 1:16 pm

    Gawd talking to conservatives gives me a headache. The figures I am quoting are for women doing the exact same job as men…..you are comparing people doing different jobs or different hours.

    On the matter of your 6 year old survey in America, perhaps if we made it easier for women to continue working by improving workplace flexibility and childcare we could start to change these ridiculous attitudes that women and men have different responsibilities in parenting or running the household.

    This article shows a different view to your survey.

    http://orangelinecareer.com/2013/07/15/do-women-want-to-work-or-not/

89. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 1:20 pm

    So James, I am to ignore everything Tony actually says and instead believe he has some hidden positive message that he is unable to verbalise. I feel so much better now knowing Tony “gets” me after all.

90. Möbius EckoSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    What survey AndIWasNeverHere?

    You have quoted it but not given a source.

    Plus your statement of, “…survey clearly shows that men work longer than women on average, and as such, should be paid more than women.” is wrong because when pay is compared for equivalence it’s not done on how many hours worked but on the hourly rate. If the hourly rate was the same for both and men worked longer then of course they would get more, but in most cases the hourly rate for the same job is less for women and has gone backwards in this country in recent years, including under the previous government.

    And it’s an arrogance to call an argument won, “check mate”, before it has been conceded or run its course.

91. Peter HSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    Hi all.

    Now I know I’m going to get smashed for the following as I did the last time I participated in one of these forums, so here we go.

    All of you on the left, you people have to stop this tirade of unsubstantiated hate against Tony Abbott. Very little of the vile crap you accuse him of has actually come from his mouth and as for those things he DID say in the past, I defy anyone to listen to the man today and actually say his opinion and thoughts on womans issues has not shifted towards the interests of women themselves.

    Now I won’t be so bold as to say that he is a Womans Issues Champion, because he is not. But I will say I believe he will, over the coming months and years, land in the center, and isn’t that what we really want. A situation where everybody is treated as a person first and only, not as a woman, man, aboriginal, ethnic etc.

    Since Gillard masogony speech, I have watched with great interest Tony Abbotts performance and I can’t say he has ever displayed sucj views, at least not publicly.

    As a conservative, I actually think we need a vocal left to center our countries moral compass and guide us to a middle ground where we can all live well.

    But when you guys go on these hateful, stupid and unfounded tirades, well you do yourself no favours at all.

    Julia Gillard could have been a great Prime Minister but the fact is SHE divided the sexes, SHE divided the socio economic groups, SHE made the greates of errors in trying pit her constituants against eachother and in the end SHE paid for it and made the Labor party poorer in the process.

    Is Tony Abbott a shinning light for womens issues? NO.

    Will he do a good job in this port folio? We’ll see.

    Is he a decent man? Funny thing is, many people in the middle say he is.

    Food for thought people.

    Peter H

92. AndIWasNeverHereSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    “Gawd talking to conservatives gives me a headache. The figures I am quoting are for women doing the exact same job as men…..you are comparing people doing different jobs or different hours.”

    God. Talking to lefties gives me a headache. My point is that if you extrapolate the data across ‘SAME’ jobs, the numbers would suggest that for those in the ‘SAME’ jobs, men will be working longer hours. Basic quantitative analysis.

    “6 year old survey in America”

    Because America and Australia are SO different and working patterns have changed SO drastically since 2007.

    “This article shows a different view to your survey.”

    Worst. Article. Ever. Never, ever use that for an argument again because…

    “And they like to work. In our study of 118 college-educated women, we found that fully 75% liked to work and wanted to work.”

    …if you’re going to use a survey of 118 women in college versus the Pew research which surveyed ALL women, your argument is in a lot of trouble.

    Oh and back to this:

    “Gawd talking to conservatives gives me a headache.”

    I voted ALP in 2007. LNP in 2010. LNP in 2013. And if someone in the ALP has the foresight to skip f**king Shorten and Albanese and promote Jason Clare to the leader, I’ll vote ALP in 2016.

93. AndIWasNeverHereSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:28 pm

    Mobius

    “is wrong because when pay is compared for equivalence it’s not done on how many hours worked but on the hourly rate.”

    Full-time jobs have salaries, not hourly rates. So your argument is invalid.

94. Andre13September 19, 2013 at 1:30 pm

    Oh my, I feel for you all, all the way from NZ. I am so sorry, I think you have voted in a clone of the clown we currently have over here. (hopefully, soon to be gone)

    some unfortunate predictions:
    Gst to rise
    Tax for the rich to lower
    Tax for the poor and struggling middle classes to rise
    Benefits to be cut
    Higher unemployment
    degrading your environmental protection polices
    degrading Australia.

95. Möbius EckoSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    A salary package with a basis of an hourly rate. Why does my pay packet table the hourly rate I earn and I work full time?

    The can you answer why women executives up to CEO in major companies are paid less than male executives, often less than a male executive in a smaller company?

96. Peter HSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    One HUGE correction here.

    Women should always get the same pay for the same job. This is a massive failing of our system and which ever government for not correcting this issue.

    I actually believe this should be any governments Top Agenda items.

    Thanks Peter H

97. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    Pew survey researched all women??????? Gee I must have been out when they contacted me. What a load of hogwash. The link I provided gave a “different view”. I did not quote it as representing ALL women like you are trying to do. How dumb do you think I am?

    You seem to be missing the point that I think it is time we changed our thinking. There is NO reason why women should do more housework than men. There is NO reason why women should be expected to devote more time to parenting than men. Just because it is currently the situation does NOT mean we should accept it.

98. AndIWasNeverHereSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:36 pm

    @Peter

    “Women should always get the same pay for the same job. This is a massive failing of our system and which ever government for not correcting this issue.”

    But what if a man consistently puts in more hours on that job? And is rewarded with a bigger pay rise by his boss for the commitment?

    @Kaylee

    Your argument has descended to sarcasm now. I’m switching off.

    @Andre13

    I’m predicting we invade NZ too. But I will agree with the unemployment. After all, it reached a three year high the day before the election.

99. DaveSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN LADIES & KEEP YA MOUTH SHUT!

100. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 1:40 pm

     And Peter H…every quote here can be substantiated. They are on record. These are the things that Tony Abbott has said, starting from Uni days right up until this election. He hasn’t changed one iota as evinced by his “housewives ironing”, “sex appeal’, “body contact” and “not-bad-looking daughters” comments during the election campaign.

     For him to appoint himself as Minister for Women’s Affairs is just ridiculous. That job should go to a woman but he chose not to employ any. No wonder Judi Moylan chose to retire. She is a woman I respect greatly but she would never get anywhere in Abbott government.

101. Hannah BurrellSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:47 pm

     Australian women are going to get irreversibly f***ed by Tony Abbott. Especially if he criminalises abortion and takes womens lives out of their own hands.

102. Möbius EckoSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:57 pm

     AndIWasNeverHere

     But what if a woman puts in as many hours on that job, and is rewarded with a smaller pay by the boss for the commitment, which is what happens?

     “Your argument has descended to sarcasm now. I’m switching off.” Means I can’t argue against that sound logic so I’m going to ignore it before I look any dumber.

103. LornaSeptember 19, 2013 at 2:00 pm

     @Hannah Burrell: “Australian women are going to get irreversibly f***ed by Tony Abbott.”

     … Ironically. Since he doesn’t think women should be having sex unless blissfully married…

104. Jan SmithSeptember 19, 2013 at 2:20 pm

     Tony wants to take over the office of Women’s Affairs so I suggest we all help him by sending him a tampon.

     Join the “Tampon for Tony” campaign by snail-mailing him a tampon to:
     Minister for Women,
     The Hon Tony Abbott,
     Parliament House,
     Canberra, 2600.

     And don’t forget to ask him why we have to pay a tax on them? If you can’t afford to send a tampon – which many pensioners/single Mothers/Newstart recipients – can’t afford – then please at least sign this petition: http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/axe-the-tampontax-bloodyoutrage

105. LivonneSeptember 19, 2013 at 2:51 pm

     Let’s not forget he’s also removed the Minister for Science, so he obviously thinks that the breakthroughs Australians have been making in cures for cancer, and all sorts of other conditions, isn’t important. Minister for women?? Thanks Tony.. we’d rather Mr Magoo than you.. He’s got much better vision

106. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 2:54 pm

     @peter said same, that implys comitment hrs ectra 2 comparable in every way bar gender(or race, age, religion or class of birth) individuals. you need to observe your internal bias there “)

107. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 2:55 pm

     also lol at
     dave high 5 i sliped that 1 in earlyer:P

108. SeanSeptember 19, 2013 at 2:57 pm

     I’m with you DAVE

109. jamesSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:15 pm

     @ Mobius: the article you posted (the one that opens) suggests that woman have a higher prevalence of working part time. By this standard woman are unlikely to be paid the same rate at the least due to over time/penalty rates etc. I am not claiming that woman should not be paid the same rate for the same amount of work. I believe everyone should be treated the equally however I can understand in part why they don’t. There is a suggestion in that article that men should work part time as well however this ideal is nonsensical. In my industry (mining and construction and many others) there is significant benefit for working full time in the way of penalty rates and promotion.People working part time do not progress in their careers. it would be fantastic if fathers spent more time with their children however should someone wish to progress in their respective career field, full time (often extended hours) and uninterrupted employment is required.I don’t think it is fair that woman are not paid equally as men however I do understand why it is so. I would happily have my partner work full time and I work part time and take care of my children however in many cases this is not viable.

110. Luigi FossaSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:15 pm

     This thing about Tony Abbott and issues with women is a bit ‘over the top’… some of these comments a nit-picky and childish…it appears all this has been used as some form of propaganda..”fatti Furbi”…!!!

111. wordsbyannieroseSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:22 pm

     Hi. I have written a short response to your blog here: http://wordsbyannierose.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/why-tony-abbott-is-the-ideal-candidate-for-minister-of-womens-affairs/
     I would love to know what you think! Cheers, annierose

112. Möbius EckoSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:27 pm

     You missed the point james and more or less advocate that only men work full time and leave women to fill up the part time positions.

     Why can’t it be shared and even in your industry? Why can’t women be entitled to full time jobs as much as men. This is the same as the wage discrimination where women get less pay for the same job and hours, but in this case it’s done by giving men the full time jobs and women the part time ones.

113. Jude PriceSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:30 pm

     Okay Ladies, the new Ministries’ first job is to check your Irons are in order?
     Mr Abbott “Are your Irons in order?”
     Australian Women “Check!”
     Mr Abbott “That’s my job done, then, next!”

114. Jan Moon (@kiwicatz52)September 19, 2013 at 3:33 pm

     I would rather be a woman elected a role, or having been promoted to a role by merit and not as part of a ‘quota’ I find the quota idea demeaning. We need a govt that knows what it’s doing, instead of our previous one which made things up as they went along (confirmed by Joel Fitzgibbon recently) we have had enough sexist and misogynist politic to last for ages – just let the Libs get on an govern, and then comment – how can you comment about what they do when they’ve only just started. Too many sore losers and luvvies out there

115. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:36 pm

     Annierose, I read your post and congratulations on a great piece. It’s always good to read something in the independent media that offers a different view.

     I do hope you’re right, but if you’re wrong I won’t be jumping to say “I told you so”. 😉

116. ChisterSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:40 pm

     Apart from the Barbara Ramjan and Ali Eckerman allegations (which are pure and utter rot) all these points are quite relevant, and a lot of the commentators here would do well to take Mr Abbotts advice on board.

117. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:45 pm

     @ jan im guna make this my last post lol but heres a artical that may intrest by a liberal also a woman on the new ministry ties in nicely with selection by merit
     http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-17/boyce-women-in-politics/4962620

118. andrewSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:46 pm

     This is a combination of misinformation and comments taken out of context. There are many policies to be criticized as well as deceptions and imperfections regarding Tony Abbot. He is a traditionalist and he is old-fashioned but this is nothing more than an ugly smear campaign. Although he believes men are better suited to some things than women he is not some sort of hateful chauvinist. Feel free to be factually correct next time.

119. Carol TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:49 pm

     Jan, unless the *boy’s own system* means that in spite of your merit you are overlooked for the position because of your gender. It can also of course work the other way around in some industries eg child care where it is almost impossible for a man to obtain employment in that industry. However, this is one of the few exceptions where being a female is an advantage rather than a disadvantage in employment. Australia still has one of the lowest ratios of women who earn at the executive level…surely this cannot be due solely to women not having “merit”.

120. Ian StewartSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:49 pm

     Sounds like a challenge for him and his party, how long will he stick with his old values.

121. jamesSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:50 pm

     No I get the point and I agree with you in principle. Woman should be able to and are permitted to work the same amount of hours and there are some stigmas that exist relating to woman not being suitable for certain industries that needs to be abolished however there will (most likely) always be some discrepancy in the representation of sexes in these industries. There is also a concept around maternal instinct that regardless of what you may believe appears to exist and there are also jobs for which woman are probably not suited (ie: scaffolding, rigging, fitters and yes there are some woman who can do these jobs) who are extremely high wage earners. I would like nothing more than to see a significant increase in woman working in these industries as gender equality not only improves our society as a whole but also adds to the culture within the workforce however I am not convinced that it will ever be achieved (50:50) due to a multitude of reasons. I do feel that we are capable of significant improvement however I feel that time is required. There is a significant shift ongoing presently in that field. Mining giant BHP now has a minimum 30% employment of woman policy which is a significant improvement on what was. Going back to the OP, yes Tony appears to be somewhat conservative in nature and things that come out of his mouth at times are quite thoughtless however I feel the context of a lot of his statements is taken away and he is in a great position to make positive change in this regard. Only time will tell if he is able to adapt to the learning curve he is about to embark on.

122. drongoSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:51 pm

     quite possibly a step back in time to a better day is beneficial for everyone. Who has a horse and cart for sale?

123. rossleighbrisbaneSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:53 pm

     Don’t forget to vote

124. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 3:55 pm

     annierose I read your blog asserting that Tony will be ideal as Minister for Women’s Affairs. You ask us to look at the policies and stop scaremongering. It IS the policies that are scary. This was my response to you.

     Oh yes Tony will be ideal. Let’s look at the policies shall we?

     1. He will spend billions on an inequitable Paid Parental Leave scheme that benefits “women of calibre” to the detriment of self-funded retirees and ultimately all of us who will bear the cost.

     2. He will delay (read scrap) the Superannuation Guarantee increase.

     3. He will abolish the superannuation co-contribution for those earning less than $37,000.

     4. He will abolish the schoolkids bonus.

     5. He will not increase the tax free threshold to $19,400 (and I will be surprised if he keeps it at $18,200).

     6. He will abolish the Early Years Quality Fund (EYQF) – a pool of money that selected childcare centres can draw on for wage increases to retain and improve the standard of their staff.

     7. He will only fund education reform for 4 years.

     8. He will not act on climate change or renewable energy. What a great legacy for our kids.

     9. He was part of a government that imposed GST on tampons and sanitary napkins but not on condoms or lubricants.

     10. He has publicly opposed and then expressed concern about RU486 and the cervical cancer vaccine. One wonders what changes may be made to Medicare and the PBS.

     Now tell me again why Tony will be a good Minister for Women’s Affairs?

125. BrianSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:58 pm

     Jan Moon, I think you have missed the point on quota vs merit in the new cabinet. The choice was Abbott’s alone and since it’s a selection rather than a vote would you not agree that from the available pool there should be more than one female worthy of preferment.
     This smacks of political payback to me. The men chosen by Abbott are the people who supported his elevation to the leadership and if you look through the list you’ll also observe that their reported views largely reflect Abbott’s own. So if they were chosen for any reason it was because they’ll follow the leader in lockstep. Very meritorious that. No need for ability, Tony’s got all they need.

126. MattSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:59 pm

     Jan Moon, so you are saying there are no women qualified by merit to warrant a position in the cabinet in the LNP government… Logic should tell you that if women are equal to men then the representation should be, at the least, closer to 50/50. Now I fully understand there aren’t as many women in politics as men, I understand that is true and it is one reason there will be less, but just a _solitary_ woman in the cabinet…? Surely, even you can see that that is totally inadequate?

127. Ricky PannSeptember 19, 2013 at 3:59 pm

     AndIwasneverhere seems to be here? Go figure?
     So nobody sees the ionic stupidity of a man appointing himself to a position that could only possibly be done by a woman but the errr umm Left? Seriously? Is that it? if anybody is going to argue the toss..wake up….you too don’t get it… 🙄

128. Carol TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:00 pm

     Andrew, to modern younger women Abbott’s ideas about women are so archaic as to be almost laughable..that is if he hadn’t already mooted putting his ideas into practice (Abbott’s own words not some supposed Leftie conspiracy theory) which include restricting unmarried women’s access to birth control and bringing in a 2-tier system of marriage one of which includes returning to pre-1975 fault-based divorce.

     Under Mr Abbott’s marriage plan, heterosexual couples can sign up to a fault-based model, like the former Matrimonial Causes Act

     This would mean a return to “the good old days” where women were trapped in abusive relationships (not necessarily pertaining to physical violence), unable to divorce because they were unable to prove to the court’s satisfaction that their husband was “at fault” or even more common, unable to start divorce proceedings to prove fault because they simply did not have the $30,000 or so dollars to take the matter to court. If Abbott is unaware of the implications for women such as coercion into marriage of the fault-based divorce model, then he certainly does not deserve to be Australia’s leader in this matter.

129. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:01 pm

     Yes, Ricky, I do see the stupidity. 😉

130. archanarchistSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:02 pm

     @kirisi you forgot hes also anti no fault devorce and anti abortion from statements on record repeatedly since before he was even made leader

131. kayelee1September 19, 2013 at 4:08 pm

     Foremost in the multitude of reasons as to why Tony Abbott should not be Minister for Women’s Affiars is the fact that he is a MAN. Apparently there are no women who merit a say in their own affairs. FFS wake up! Tony is the PM for Infrastructure, Indigenous Affairs, Women’s Affairs, National Security, Deregulation, and relations with State Governments. When will he fit in his bike rides and fire-fighting and surf life-saving and volunteering in Indigenous communities? Oh and running the country?

     What a wanka!

132. BrianSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:21 pm

     kayelee1, Really is the point isn’t it. With a wheelbarrow load like that, one can only guess at the attention these important areas will receive. But Tone’s the man. I’m sure he thinks if anyone can do it, it’s him. At least he won’t be home at night pestering that nice family of his. Lucky sods.

133. Creatrix TiaraSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:21 pm

     Almost all the Ministers for Immigration to date have been White and Australian-born. 2 were born in England, and 1 was formerly the Minister for Indigenous Affairs though I don’t know if that really means anything.

     Where’s the outrage over them representing a group that doesn’t apply to them?

134. martinmemoSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:22 pm

     “The circus clown with the big ears” Have some respect for your prime minster. You should be ashamed; He has done nothing wrong and you are basing you opinions on socialist and far left media & negative ad campaigns.

135. Ricky PannSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:23 pm

     Oh I seem to have dropped an R. How ironic..

     http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/rickypann/women6_zpsb37f9414.jpg

     http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/rickypann/women5_zpsc62645ee.jpg

     http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/rickypann/women4_zpsa40114a2.jpg

     http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/rickypann/women3_zps35177d73.jpg

     http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/rickypann/women2_zps5a649b86.jpg

     http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o310/rickypann/women1_zps7d2dd145.jpg

136. Ricky PannSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:31 pm

     Hey Martinmemo i’ll put you on the don’t get it with a penis list along with creatrix tiara who seem to think that it has nothing to do with gender FFS.. Maybe Tony will do a load of ironing in a dress whilst deliberating? 🙄

137. ClaytonSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:38 pm

     well i didn’t vote for the c*nt [didnt vote]

138. Og MudboneSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:39 pm

     Neither did I Clayton 🙂 Hence my rather abrupt comment above.

139. Og MudboneSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:45 pm

     Ok well not going down (!), that’s ridiculous, but he is an asshole 🙂 🙂

140. Zim ZippySeptember 19, 2013 at 4:50 pm

     Look he’s got 3 daughters and a wife, I think he know’s what he’s doing! Relax.

141. Og MudboneSeptember 19, 2013 at 5:00 pm

     Well yeah, let’s hope so (knows what he’s doing that is). It is still stupid to have removed (or re-assigned) the climate change information / research services, but who knows, things may not be as bad as some (including me) are now thinking. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes you just never know! I retract my first comment, I had a terrible AARGHHH moment!

142. Fed upSeptember 19, 2013 at 5:00 pm

     dies=does sorry

143. Fed upSeptember 19, 2013 at 5:12 pm

     “martinmemo”

     We give him more respect, than he gave to those that went before him.

144. RegSeptember 19, 2013 at 5:17 pm

     I don’t like Abbott one bit but I also don’t think that a scepticism about the efficacy of the HPV vaccine qualifies him as a misogynist. I tried to persuade my daughter from having it too because it was poorly tested and based on flawed science.

145. Og MudboneSeptember 19, 2013 at 5:18 pm

     +1 to Fed up’s comment.

     If martinmemo can prove, without reasonable doubt, that abbott has done nothing wrong, and that the media are also to blame for corrupt and biased reports AND the negative campaigns, I’ll listen intently. Until then…………

146. BenSeptember 19, 2013 at 5:35 pm

     He should be forced to step down. This guy is a joke and actually offensive. Can the government be petitioned to remove him and his outdated ideas from politics permanently?

147. RizSeptember 19, 2013 at 5:40 pm

     Well shit….

148. Kat ShuardSeptember 19, 2013 at 5:44 pm

     The same male who also said ‘I understand’ to a 33 year old woman who had just undergone a bilateral mastectomy who was explaining the details of ‘cessation of care legislation’ and why she had to resume caring for her disabled child, against doctors recommendation, less than 6 days after the operation. That woman was me!

149. Og MudboneSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:03 pm

     Cripes Kat that’s pretty full on. Can’t imagine what you were thinking. Could try to imagine but how awfully frustrating.

150. Jaki George - GamlynSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:04 pm

     This is disgusting

151. Kat ShuardSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:07 pm

     That was in front of national media. So I retained my composure and told him ‘No! No, you don’t understand!’

152. Ricky PannSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:22 pm

     And there is the point Right there Kat for that idiotic comment that he 3 daughters and a wife by Zim Zippy. He may have vaginas around him and have seen a few but he don’t own one and it doesn’t mean he knows shit about women’s issues nor should he recommend to legislate for them..Kats gets it she well and truly understands.

153. kSeptember 19, 2013 at 6:22 pm

     Do you always have to be so negative?

154. peterSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:12 pm

     omfg you women willnever be happy till you are all running the country wel f@#$ing it. you had your chance with the female ronald n all she wanted to do is give her cabnet a rise and take any doller that she could off ppl .i realy thin youneed to back up and stop acting like a bunch of spoilt little school girls…you say hes exest but all iv heard is women bagging him out befor he even gets his shot,now thats just lame

155. peterSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:24 pm

     well have you ever thought he might not have anyone…(whos a women that is best for that so called job..i just know if someone baged the red rabbit like that she would have them locked up ….give him a go then if he dosn’t do dam good job witch he will then worry about it…there are plenty of ppl in australia who saythings that maybe best not said but atleasthe holds nothing back. go abbott 😉

156. RebeccaSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:30 pm

     A man knows very little of what woman actually need. That is the one position that should in all good sense be held by a woman.

157. peterSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:31 pm

     if i was judged by what i was like growing up iwouldnt bewho i am today..we all grow and learn from mistakes if if you think you dont make them you will never learn a thing

158. JaycoSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:33 pm

     Most of his quotes represent the opinions and beliefs of a large portion of society. Those beliefs and opinions are so often ridiculed as so called progressives take the moral high ground. Calling our prime minister a “circus clown with the big ears” is stooping so low, and you should be ashamed of yourself.

159. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:38 pm

     Jayco, under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have used that phrase and reconsidered publishing it, but I felt it fitted in well with the subject matter. Other than that, yes, it would have been unnecessary. But am I ashamed of myself? No.

160. VickiSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:48 pm

     Actually Abbott has three daughters. The third one works overseas and during the last election campaign stated that her father was a ‘disfunctional dad’. The younger two who still live at home, stated in the Sun Herald during the current campaign that he is never home. So I would suggest it was really Margie who did the heavy lifting of raising the girls.

161. Carol TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 7:56 pm

     Peter, we and if you read the comments many *people* (not just those who you might know or who you suspect might be females) are uncomfortable with Abbott’s STATED comments about women. Indeed, Abbott may come up with progressive policies pertaining to issues which are of assistance to women (and their partners, male and female and their children) but so far all that he has stated is: paying executive women $75,000 to take time off when bubs arrives (why are some women and their babies of more value than others?) and his previous “policy” of making au pairs and live in nannies tax deductible at the expense of improvements to the sort of care the rest of Australia has to contend with, the over-priced and under-resourced regular child care industry.

     Why do I think that Abbott’s sexist? To tell the truth, I don’t. However, I do worry about his elitist attitude – the superiority of the male and the superiority of the well-to-do.

162. Möbius EckoSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:10 pm

     Jayco isn’t the first I’ve read since Abbott won office and it will ramp up over the coming months, the demands from the conservatives to treat the Prime Minister of this country with respect.

     That no respect was shown to the Labor PMs, especially Gillard, is besides the point and it’s not hypocrisy apparently that they demand a different standard for treating Liberal leaders than others.

     I never read or heard one conservative saying that those who so savagely abused Gillard should be ashamed of themselves, indeed many condoned the abuse and some even engaged in baser abuse.

163. Möbius EckoSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:30 pm

     Thanks for the lucid clarification james. Good points and I agree and you obviously have more first hand knowledge on this than I do.

     Still, and I don’t know the prevalence not having the facts to hand, using part time work over full time as a form of sex discrimination does occur just as it does for wages.

164. Shona KenrickSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:40 pm

     One woman in his cabinet? It’s certainly a boys club, the disgusting dinner menu for Julia, there is a clear lack of respect for women in this country. I can’t imagine how bad this might get.

165. PaulineSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:44 pm

     @ Jan Smith

     Tampons are taxed because it is a manufactured product – value and effort has been added to produce a tampon from cotton including its packaging therefore GST which is a form of Value Added Tax is applicable. It has nothing to do with the fact that it is a feminine product. In fact, it sounds completely logically to me rather than a “Bloody Outrage”. The fact that you’re using a tampon as a way to belittle Tony Abbot (and trust me I think he’s a complete joke and not fit to be the leader of his own family let alone leader of our country) is sexist in itself as you’re suggesting that to be a woman is an embarrassment.

     For the record, I am a woman and I use feminine products. Gender equality is about equality for both men and women, not mistreating one over the other.

     #BloodyOutrage #StopSensationalism #UsingSexToPushYourOwnPersonalAgenda

166. FrancescaSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:03 pm

     I couldn’t care less about the tampon tax, I do however care that a misogynistic, ex-priest, is the minister for MY affairs. And with only one female minister, you would’ve thought it would have made sense, and possibly even help the man, if he put a woman in charge of women’s affairs. Just saying. Who voted this muppet in?

167. Emily WittSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:08 pm

     Reblogged this on A Keyboard and an Open Mind and commented:
     Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse…

168. John from the Perth hilsSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:23 pm

     Just what part of democracy do you folks not understand? The article was highly disrespectful and seems to have provoked a feeding frenzy of left wing sisters. Get over it the people of Australia have spoken.

169. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:28 pm

     John, I think you’ll find that most people have accepted the decision, whilst obviously not agreeing with it. But what a good many people – left and right – have difficulty accepting that aTony Abbott is the Minister for Women’s Affairs. You can’t tell me he’s the best person for the job.

170. This GirlSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:30 pm

     Well I’m not an Abbott supporter, but I have to say that if you were just to read this article, without going through to check the actual references, you’re not getting a full picture. A lots of these quotes could easily be taken out of context.
     And Abbott as Minister for Womens Affairs is ridiculous – I’m not comforted by having Michaelia Cash as his assistant either..

171. SueQSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:35 pm

     To Kayelee1, Carley and Carol Taylor
     Where were you when Julia Gillard was likening married women as being prostitutes for their husbands?
     Where were you when Julia Gillard was sleeping with married men?
     And she’s currently under police investigation as we speak for her disgraceful conduct when she was a lawyer when she was representing the AWU and her then (married) boyfriend! Preliminary court cases for this case have already begun in recent weeks.
     But look out… Tony (may or may not have) punched a wall 30 years ago OMG!
     Do you really think Australia wasn’t an embarrassment to the rest of the world when we had Gillard???
     While I don’t agree with everything Tony Abbot says, I know who I would rather represent ME and represent Australia!
     And to Peter H – well said! It’s sort of like the “pendulum effect” I think- it went SOOOO far the other way, it’s time to bring it back somewhere to mid-centre.
     Chill everyone- the people have spoken.

172. Carol TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:11 pm

     SueQ, where was I in 1984?? Because that is when the statement was published – no Gillard didn’t say it, it was via an article written not by Gillard herself but distributed by the now defunct Union of Australian Students during Ms Gillard’s student days. On the other hand I know that Gillard is a staunch non-believer in the institution of marriage, but then so are many women these days preferring to retain their legal independence.

173. Unka KevinSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:26 pm

     After being sworn in with his ministry, didn’t M Rabbitt espouse that he would govern using a fair, practical commonsense go for ALL Australians – NOT using “ideologies”. The article clearly shows how well Tony is for the Women’s Affairs ministry …………. he has all of the qualifications for that significant PLUM ROLL (next best thing to a PLUM TART!) Unka Kevin.

174. Theyre All as bad as each other.September 19, 2013 at 10:45 pm

     Who is the Minister for Male Affairs? oh and Carol Taylor, now Julia no longer has a need for a public partner she has dumped her man and the dog.

175. SueQSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:45 pm

     Carol Taylor …I stand corrected- Julia Gillard did not write it- she was, however, the President of that Union and it wasn’t just “distributed” as you suggested- it was actually an adopted policy on prostitution of that Union that she was PRESIDENT OF and it said, in part: “Prostitution takes many forms and is not only the exchange of money for sex. … Prostitution in marriage is the transaction of sex in return for love, security and house-keeping.”
     It’s not a crime to think this way- it’s a free country – don’t get me wrong- but let’s not pretend she is a champion of all women!
     All the other facts in my earlier post are, however, correct.

176. JoshSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:51 pm

     I’m sorry, when I read a news website that describes the subject as “the circus-clown with the big ears” I lose all hope for an unbiased article and subsequently dismiss the credibility of all involved in the ensuing hate posts. If you wish to comment on the actions of the currently elected prime minister FOR THE LOVE OF GOD do not subject his physical appearance to ridicule. If he were a woman you would be ashamed of yourself we don’t vote on individuals, or there appearances, just there policies. As a labor voter in the last election, i just want to say ‘have some respect.’ Contrary to what everyone seems to believe I doubt the country will burn to the ground in the next three years and I fail to see how he’s going to singlehandedly undo everything feminism has achieved, its not like he plans to undo any laws made, or pass legislation to limit women.

177. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:08 pm

     Josh, it was said in a satirical way instead of meaning to be derogative. I’m sorry if you were offended.

178. benSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:17 pm

     Why not give him a go?

179. Michael TaylorSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:28 pm

     Ben, do you mean like he gave Julia Gillard a go?

180. Ricky PannSeptember 19, 2013 at 11:39 pm

     John Howard was the Prime miniature and Considering the disgusting Vitriol leveled at Gillard while Abbott stood in front a sign saying ditch the witch, you are objecting to A dysfunctional megalomaniac big eared Clown Joke making himself minister for women’s affairs? Oh right you are…This is Tony Abbott’s version of ruling for all Australians. I have no respect for Abbott at all and I won’t start now..so frankly Josh get over it, its not a football match FFS.

181. Stephen WaldockSeptember 20, 2013 at 12:41 am

     i think this shit is crazy my question is why isn’t there a minister for men’s affairs.
     also you vote this douche bag in good work morons!

182. HannahSeptember 20, 2013 at 1:37 am

     With only one woman in the Cabinet, THERE IS CLEARLY NO NEED FOR A MINSTER FOR MEN’S AFFAIRS. Let’s not get petulant. This article and this discussion exist because of the painfully obvious discrimination against women in Australian politics, especially under a conservative government. We have had ONE female PM, and she was endlessly ridiculed and tormented with gender-based slander. Men get it just fine, so why not help out your fellow human beings?? It’s not you against us, it’s about equality. Clearly, we are not equal.

183. JoshSeptember 20, 2013 at 1:46 am

     Michael Taylor: ok… But satirical or no its still unnecessary
     Ricky Pann: Congratulations on stooping to Tony’s level, I voted for Labor FFS and I hated the level of vitriol levelled at any of the leaders for any reason, its just plain stupid. I fail to see how it helps make the world a better place. would the tired worn adage of ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’ be wasted on you?

184. Marc De GratSeptember 20, 2013 at 2:47 am

     You all whinge about Tony’s traditional views but they are just personal opinions of his which won’t be put into practice. However, who spearheaded the policy to increase the time of maternity leave available as well as the entitled pay? That would be Tony Abbott.

185. akhlishbutlerSeptember 20, 2013 at 3:55 am

     Reblogged this on Stay tuned for Latest Updates and Events over the Globe.

186. AliceSeptember 20, 2013 at 6:37 am

     Who is the minister for men’s issues?

187. coralSeptember 20, 2013 at 7:59 am

     nice to know England isn’t the only place politics is going down the drain.

188. ashleySeptember 20, 2013 at 8:27 am

     I can see his point on many of the issues.

189. Ricky PannSeptember 20, 2013 at 9:04 am

     So Josh what would you have me do start pretending that this flat earthed neanderthal is OK because he is the PM? It neither validates him nor makes this ridiculous act less offensive, rather confirms everything that I actually know to be true about Abbott 10 fold.Do you not see the irony of a man that stand in front of a sighn like that then anoints himseld as minister for womans affars.? Tone set the Tone, i’m simply judging this fake fest by its own actions which so far are grandiosely ridiculous.

190. Michael TaylorSeptember 20, 2013 at 9:06 am

     Tone set the Tone

     Sums it up exactly, Ricky.

191. ASeptember 20, 2013 at 9:47 am

     ‘Women don’t have a choice’ just like Australia, but for some reason the over opinionated masses are caught up in this wet dream-like disillusion that we, the public, THE GENDER MIXED PUBLIC actually has some, or ANY SAY AT ALL over who the leaders being put in the places that they reside. Along with the power that goes with these privileges of seating.

     It’s so very sad to think that so many minds have been masturbated and manipulated into a bend shape, to help snap your own very necks.

     Have fun society, I let no one influence my decisions of who or when to hate.
     Better go start living in the desert, boys.
     RUN for the hills.
     And bury your heads in fear that your neck is delicate, bird-like, and so breakable when already twisted.

192. Kaye LeeSeptember 20, 2013 at 10:36 am

     Oh where to begin.

     Pauline, you assert that tampons attract GST because they are a manufactured item. WRONG! Condoms do not have GST, lubricants do not have GST, aids like walking sticks do not have GST, shower caps do not have GST. Have another think petal.

     John from Perth, you say the people have spoken. Does that mean that we no longer entitled to discuss politics or the decisions made by our politicians? As has been pointed out, the Liberal Party received less votes than the Labor Party. I fully intend to hold this government to account and I will not be silenced by people like you.

     SueQ you sound like you might enjoy Larry Pickering’s page. He spouts that same drivel. If you attended University you will realise that the uni papers are renowned for their radical articles. Having attended university with Tony Abbott I was subjected to many of his extreme right wing articles and interviews where he made it VERY obvious that he considered women were not fit to fill positions of authority.

     Regarding the AWU slush fund, Julia Gillard is NOT under investigation and never has been. She has never been interviewed by the police and she won’t be so stop with the lies.

     And who the hell are you to talk about who someone chooses as their partner? Why is it relevant to you? Julie Bishop has flitted from one man to the next, some married some not, and I recently stayed in the same hotel as her where she was with a man who is not her current partner, not that it is any of my business (or yours I might add).

     As far as how the world viewed us under Ms Gillard’s tenure in office, you obviously do NOT read overseas press. The Labor government has been held up as an example for their success in saving our economy from the GFC. Julia was widely praised for her skills including the recent negotiations with China. Her misogyny speech was viewed and applauded around the world. The negative press came from the vile treatment she had to endure from the Coalition and the media. That is what made us a laughing stock

     Marc de Grat, you say Tony won’t enforce his personal views. Then why is he seeking legal advice to challenge the ACT decision to legalise gay marriage?

     This article is about the arrogance of a man appointing himself as Minister for Women’s Affairs and how incongruous it is considering his publicly stated views on women over decades. He continues to make highly inappropriate remarks and he most definitely does NOT “get” it!

193. JH13September 20, 2013 at 10:47 am

     You would think that Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia, would scoop up the best job for himself. So far he seems to be handing out Minister jobs to people who have the most skills for those particular roles. Look at the Minister for Indigenous Affairs.

     Tony Abbot obviously believes he is the right “man” for “women’s affairs.” The questions surround why he actually thinks and believes he’s the right guy for the job. What are his intentions and motives? Is it that he believes he is the most equipped, or does he just want to take control of the female population of Australia and impllement ideologies on marriage, housework and virginity on them? He could have good intentions, afterall. Although his ministry is highly suspicious and reminiscent of an older more sexist and racist Australia.

194. jadzia49September 20, 2013 at 10:50 am

     Why hasn’t he appointed a woman for Men’s Affairs? After all, we live in an equal world, don’t we!

195. jadzia49September 20, 2013 at 11:06 am

     How would you men feel then?

196. spSeptember 20, 2013 at 11:08 am

     Well some of these comments are just disgusting, hateful and shows the real mindset of the other side! just pathetic comments really! and so bias!

197. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 11:45 am

     Thank you for that well thought out contribution sp. You have laid out a convincing argument for why Tony Abbott should anoint himself as spokesman for women.

198. SueQSeptember 20, 2013 at 11:45 am

     KayeLee I do not read “uni papers” and I didn’t get my knowledge from Pickering’s page- he doesn’t actually mention the AWU much these days. Whether you like it or not, or believe it or not, Julia Gillard IS a ‘person of interest’ in a current ongoing Victorian Fraud Squad investigation regarding, among other things, the “slush fund” and the house that was purchased from this slush fund (Gillard was at the house auction). And a few court cases are currently going through the courts now in an effort for some involved to have papers (which were seized from Julia Gillard’s and others’ files from Slater and Gordon under warrant this year) with-held from this upcoming court case. You can google it if you like and then choose which pages you believe and which you don’t believe- but it is actually true.
     Anyway, this article isn’t about Julia Gillard so all this is a bit off-topic I guess- I was just stating which person I would rather to represent Australia and the reasons for it, and thought I needed to correct mis-information being printed here.

199. Andy BlundenSeptember 20, 2013 at 11:54 am

     More hyperbole and rubbish from the disaffected idiots who lost the election and just want to carry out their continuous hatred of men and Tony in particular. Yes indeed the very characteristics of misandry. Of course if a man criticised a woman for her looks there would be outrage, but not here! Was that a real quote of his words? I do not think so. Is it not relevant to mention the very poor performance of the women of the Labor cabinet? Keep publishing your rubbish you are making the real women who want promotion on merit throw up in the corner.

200. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 12:57 pm

     Andy Blunden,

     Michael did paraphrase the ironing quote as shown by the rest of the sentence. The actual quote was far more insulting. To explain to Australian women the complex issue of carbon pricing, Tony chose to tell us that ironing would be more expensive. Is that implying that we are incapable of understanding the science and economics or more likely that he is? All of the others are direct Tony quotes which are referenced in the article. I would have gone further and highlighted Tony’s many sexist gaffes during his campaign as I have mentioned in previous comments.

     It makes me laugh how many people now know and misuse the word misandry. Finding Tony Abbott completely inappropriate for the self-appointed job of Minister for Women’s Affairs does not mean I hate men.

     Could you please elaborate on “the poor performance of women in the Labor cabinet” because I think they did an admirable job getting through almost 600 pieces of legislation whilst ignoring the vitriolic abuse and constant interjections and obfuscation and negativity from the Opposition. I could post the very long list of things they achieved but I am sure you have seen it before.

     And thank you for telling us what REAL women want from the male perspective. Equal pay would be a good start. And if you are telling me that the people Tony Abbott has appointed to his Cabinet are the best for the job then heaven help us.

     Christopher Pyne for education – he asked no questions about education, he assured us the funding wasn’t broken, he called education reform a Conski, and then adopted the policy the day before the campaign saying we are on the same page because someone told us it was a vote winner).

     Peter Dutton for health – the former policeman who walked out of the Stolen Generation Apology preferring to offer his resignation rather than take part in what he considered “political tokenism”. He also thinks the Acknowledgement of the traditional owners is “boring”. He also asked no questions about health.

     Barnaby Joyce – is that the Chattanooga choo choo

     Bronwyn Bishop as Speaker – the woman who was thrown out of Parliament countless times, who wasted countless hours on frivoulous points of order and Suspension of standing orders.

     Julie Bishop for Foreign Affairs – the woman who continues to insult and try to bully Indonesia saying she doesn’t need their co-operation and won’t be asking for it.

     I could go on and on and on ….Tony Abbott for Women and Indigenous people. Merit you say???????

201. Möbius EckoSeptember 20, 2013 at 1:10 pm

     kayelee it’s worse on Bishop the younger being Minister for Foreign Affairs after insulting the Indonesians, and from memory the Chinese once in relation to Rudd. She actually verballed the Indonesians, and they weren’t happy about it, stating the Bishop the younger had all but called them liars.

     Face to face with the Indonesians she stated they had said one thing, yet back home she said they had stated something entirely different.

202. what Prime Minister?September 20, 2013 at 1:12 pm

     What happens if you happen to be an indigenous woman in Australia? Apparently we have no hope in the world. We can’t even do simple things like housework because we don’t have the mental faculties due to out different physiology, according to Tony Abbott.

     Tony Abbott is no geneticist, and without a Minister for Science, he has no hope of backing up his claim with scientific evidence!

203. sylvia theSeptember 20, 2013 at 1:19 pm

     “The circus clown with the big ears” ?
     Hard to take the rest of the article seriously after a blunder like that. Not funny, not satirical, just simply shouldn’t go there.

204. Fed upSeptember 20, 2013 at 1:33 pm

     Maybe the question should be, why does he want to be spokesman for women. Why has it to be in the inner cabinet.

     The only reason can think of, that he can control any thing that arises, that does not fit in with his values.

     Allows him to continue his yearly stunt, and excuse for camping. He does not.get them, as he believes.

205. BacchusSeptember 20, 2013 at 1:49 pm

     Yet an entire article about Julia Gillard’s ear lobes in the self-described ‘country’s leading national news brand, boasting unparalleled national and global news and business journalism‘ is fine “sylvia the” whinger?

206. fast trackedSeptember 20, 2013 at 1:57 pm

     The Cirvical Cancer Vaccine was fast tracked to Australia with insufficient safety studies and the same vaccine is currently is no longer being recommended by the government in Japan because it’s caused infertility in women. So when Abbot said he won’t be rushing his daughters out to get it, I feel he was looking out for the women in his family when he made that decision.

207. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 1:59 pm

     I can’t understand why Aboriginal women would be upset…I mean look at Tony’s track record.

     One problem: no-one, including within the media, ever stopped to ask Aboriginal people if they actually wanted a “Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs”, and in particular whether or not they wanted Abbott.
     As it turns out, they apparently don’t.

     The average vote directed to Labor in identifiably Aboriginal communities outside the Northern Territory was 71 per cent.

     By any reasonable analysis, Aboriginal people overwhelmingly do not want Tony Abbott as the “Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs”, and at a punt the Coalition’s stated election policies probably helped solidify that view.

     Only two of those policies ever got serious mainstream airing in the course of the election campaign.
     The first was Abbott’s plan to appoint a new National Indigenous Council, a policy tried and failed the last time the Coalition was in power. The NIC is a group of hand-picked blackfellas who will advise the Prime Minister directly on Aboriginal policy. It will be headed by former Labor Party president Warren Mundine – a man who has never been elected to any Aboriginal leadership position – with support from Pearson and Professor Marcia Langton.

     Pearson and Langton, in their defence, are formidable intellects. But they also happen to be possibly the only two people in the nation less popular than Mundine among Aboriginal people.

     The only other policy to get any mainstream coverage – and only then by accident in the dying days of the campaign – was incoming Treasurer Joe Hockey’s admission that more than $40 million would be cut from Aboriginal Legal Aid.

     The area has been grossly underfunded for two decades, and Labor continued that during its first term in office. It finally lifted funding marginally a few years ago – at a time when jailing rates reached stratospheric dimensions – and now the Coalition is planning to axe it again.

     http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-12/graham-prime-minister-for-indigenous-affairs/4951900

     So when weeks are days and days cost tens of thousands of dollars and volunteering is photo ops and not listening to the traditional owners of the land you have to rename these volunteering trips. Tony Abbott’s very expensive, tax payer funded, private jet flown, not listening tours of outback Australia.

     Next time an LNP member or journalist drops the “Abbott volunteers for weeks in Indigenous communities” line, call bullshit and then refer them to the figures. Three days and nearly $45000 in flights alone…, if that’s volunteering the rest of us are really doing it all wrong.

     Abbott, the Truth and Cost of his Indigenous Volunteering

     Indigenous people travelled for three days to get to Canberra to put their case to a Parliamentary committee; Tony Abbott walked in late, didn’t apologise, sat down and then fell asleep.

     http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/tony-abbott-and-human-decency/

     Prime Minister John Howard has again ruled out ever saying sorry to the stolen generation, on the 10th anniversary of a report into the difficult period in Australia’s history.

     Audience members at a forum held at Parliament House in Canberra to mark the report’s anniversary constantly interrupted a speech by Health Minister Tony Abbott, calling for an apology.

     Mr Abbott continued with his speech amid the heckling and audible groans from the audience.

     The minister later said the debate on indigenous affairs had moved on from the issue of an apology.

     “The important thing for reconciliation is what happens in the hearts of individual people,” Mr Abbott said.

     “A lot of very good things have happened over the last generation and I would rather dwell on the good that’s been done rather than engage in something that which is more likely to be debated.”

     http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sorry-again-the-hardest-word-to-stolen-generation/2007/05/24/1179601573467.html

     Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson handled his response to the stolen generations apology “magnificently”, says Federal Opposition spokesman for indigenous affairs Tony Abbott.

     Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s historic apology was greeted by a prolonged standing ovation yesterday while Dr Nelson received a largely critical response.

     Across the country, crowds watching the event on large screens turned their backs on Dr Nelson’s speech, in which rejected calls for compensation for the stolen generations.

     Mr Abbott backed his party leader and told ABC radio: “It was a very difficult topic for him to address, given the emotion of the day, given the history of the coalition on this subject.”

     “I thought he handled it magnificently.”

     http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/02/14/1202760433686.html

208. Möbius EckoSeptember 20, 2013 at 2:03 pm

     fast tracked can you post the source for that.

     On Wikipedia they state it has been taken up by 80 countries and though it only covers some high risk areas it is successful.

     The health ministry decided June 14 to withdraw its recommendation for a vaccination to protect girls against cervical cancer after hundreds complained about possible side effects, including long-term pain and numbness.

     The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is not suspending the use of the vaccination, but it has instructed local governments not to promote the use of the medicine while studies are conducted on the matter.

     “The decision (not to recommend the vaccination) does not mean that the vaccine itself is problematic from the viewpoint of safety,” said Mariko Momoi, vice president of the International University of Health and Welfare, who headed a ministry task force looking into the matter. “By implementing investigations, we want to offer information that can make the people feel more at ease.”

     I have not yet found anything about it causing infertility in Japan.

209. BacchusSeptember 20, 2013 at 2:27 pm

     Also the US is recommending an increase in vaccination Mö:

     The announcement is in stark contrast to the pronouncement last week by health officials in the United States that vaccination rates in teenage girls should be increased after a study concluded that estimated vaccine effectiveness is “high.”

     The other glaring lie anomoly in “fast tracked’s” rant:
     “The Cirvical Cancer Vaccine was fast tracked to Australia”

     The HPV vaccine against cervical cancer was developed and patented in Australia by Ian Frazer and his team at the Translational Research Institute in conjunction with research at a couple of US universities.

210. Möbius EckoSeptember 20, 2013 at 2:36 pm

     This looks like another case of put a lie out there and let the rabble (e.g. Boltites) run with it. Even when the facts come out and the lie revealed with the source, usually Ltd News, having to retract, the damage has been done and the lie perpetrated and propagated to become firm fact forever in many minds.

     BER, HIP, Carbon Price and so many others are just some examples.

211. AlexSeptember 20, 2013 at 2:59 pm

     What absolute tosh. You should be ashamed of yourself for writing such rubbish.

212. Pingback: Maybe Tony Abbott Is Just Trolling Us All | Junkee

213. Ellena QuatermassSeptember 20, 2013 at 3:06 pm

     You start your article with an insult and it’s downhill from there. Well done Michael Taylor. And please don’t speak on my behalf.

214. dianaSeptember 20, 2013 at 3:08 pm

     I just want my people (I am an indigenous female, from the stolen generation) to get on with their lives and stop dwelling in the past like you lot. Get your heads out of the sand and enjoy living in the best country on earth. Why do you think so many people are trying to get here by one way or another.

215. fast trackedSeptember 20, 2013 at 3:30 pm

     Marketing the HPV Vaccines to Prevent Cervical Cancer

216. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 3:40 pm

     fast tracked that link is to s story written by a woman who runs an anti-vaccination page. People like her should be prosecuted. Babies die because of misinformation from people like her.

217. fast trackedSeptember 20, 2013 at 3:41 pm

     Oh, I guess the ‘to Australia’ was my mistake but it was fast tracked. I’m still looking for the infertitily in Japan source but I’d rather not get into the whole Vaccine debate. Also Cirvical cancer from the the strain of HPV strains can be prevented from regular pap smears.

218. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 3:43 pm

     Diana I would imagine the Apology went some way towards helping us get on with the future. Your assertion that we have our “heads in the sand” or the implication that we do not enjoy living here has no basis in fact. The people that post here are usually far better informed than those who rely on the MSM for their news and one reason we ARE so vocal is because we care so much about our country and do NOT want it sent backwards!

219. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 3:45 pm

     pap smears don’t prevent disease fast tracked…they identify it. Surely prevention is better than cure?

220. Möbius EckoSeptember 20, 2013 at 3:46 pm

     That’s a good article and source doing research on the vaccine, worth looking further into, but nowhere does it say that it caused infertility in women in Japan as you contend.

     So far, an estimated 3.28 million people have received the vaccination in Japan alone. However, 1,968 cases of possible side effects, including body pain, have been reported.

     Loss of fertility is not mentioned in any of the side effects.

     So can you please give us the source for the infertility claim?

     As to India the vaccinations were suspended after four girls died because of:

     …exploitation of participants and violation of ethical guidelines during the earlier “clinical trials” of the vaccine.

     There are questions to be answered and genuine concerns about the HPV vaccine but making unfounded claims is not the way to table them.

     Plus the fact the anti-vaccination crowd have jumped on this to not only can it but to use it as a basis to ban all vaccinations does not help clarify the picture.

221. Ian CamlettSeptember 20, 2013 at 3:47 pm

     You call your publication “an information alternative”. An alternative to what exactly? Truth? Reason? Honesty? “The circus clown with big ears” – if this is the alternative I think I will stick to the tried and tested!

222. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 3:51 pm

     The medicines watchdog has found no evidence to link the genital warts vaccine, which has been credited with a dramatic reduction in the occurrence of the illness, to premature ovarian failure and infertility. Out of 6.7 million doses of Gardasil distributed in Australia between 2006 and the end of last year, one 16 year old girl suffered premature ovarian failure though no link to the vaccine was proven.

     It is interesting to note that it was Michaelia Cash, Tony’s sidekick for Women’s Affairs, that raised this concern in Parliament.

223. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 3:52 pm

     https://ama.com.au/ausmed/no-link-between-gardasil-and-infertility-tga

224. Fed upSeptember 20, 2013 at 3:57 pm

     Abbott’s complaint about the vaccination was not based on safety.

     It was base on the age of the girls, that were to be vaccinated.

     It was alleged that the vaccination would lead to promiscuity.

     Yes, vaccinating girls against the possible disease, that led to infertility would make them promiscuous.

     Many in the Coalition agreed., Those ministers are now back in the driving seat.
     Yes, Abbott keeping womens issues to himself,, does indeed drive the agenda. I am sure nothing that embarrass him, will see the light of day.

     Another diversion hits th dust.

225. BacchusSeptember 20, 2013 at 4:05 pm

     “An alternative to what exactly?”

     An alternative to the normal misleading crud the likes of Ian Camlett reads, obviously… ;(

226. Fed upSeptember 20, 2013 at 4:41 pm

     Michael Taylor, I am surprised that you do not know, one can only talk about Labor PMs like that, especially female ones.

     I thought you would know that one must always treat PM Abbott with the greatest respect.

     Did you not know, he is above reproach and born ti rule.

227. Philip ArtsSeptember 20, 2013 at 4:55 pm

     Tony Abbott’s self-appointment as the Minister for Women’s Affairs is as absurd as the proposition embedded in the Constitution that a bloke can competently represent a woman’s life experience. The entire system of governance we have in Australia, in particular in the delivery of justice in the Courts, is based on the guesswork involved with establishing what might be on the mind of the opposite sex, superbly dysfunctional as is obvious from the evidence of the modern world. Once the argument between assimilation feminists of the twentieth century and those who’ve moved on to become self determination feminists of the 21st, that allowed Abbott to waltz straight through, is resolved, the provision of women’s legislatures to remedy misogyny will become self evident, imho.

228. K LeeSeptember 20, 2013 at 5:02 pm

     Agree what what others have said about the ‘circus’ comment, but moving on…..just love seeing all of Tony’s little paternalistic and/or philogynistic mumblings over time. He really gets women, doesn’t he (not).

229. Ian CamlettSeptember 20, 2013 at 5:19 pm

     unsubscribe

230. Fed upSeptember 20, 2013 at 5:29 pm

     “………….Which brings us to the third point, Tony Abbott’s political pet, the $6 billion-a-year paid parental leave scheme (PPL) which, he likes to argue, is going to help ‘women of calibre’ stay on in the workforce after they have children.

     If that is its purpose, why has he put it in Social Services?…..

     http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-19/summers-status-of-women/4968946?WT.mc_id=newsmail

231. Fed upSeptember 20, 2013 at 5:32 pm

     “…………….The government’s principal childcare policy is to refer the entire matter to the Productivity Commission. This is fine but it ought not be done in isolation from PPL.

     The Productivity Commission has already done extensive work on PPL (at the direction of Julia Gillard when she was Minister for Employment) and it would make sense to ask them to report on how to best integrate PPL and childcare policy so as to boost women’s participation and productivity.

     It would be logical, therefore, to have the two policy areas sitting together in the bureaucracy and not, as now seems to be the case, in departmental homes that appear to be at odds with the stated aims of policy.

     That might well have to be the first thing the Office for Women points out to its new boss, the Prime Minister, when they make their long awaited move back to the centre of power………”

     http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-19/summers-status-of-women/4968946?WT.mc_id=newsmail

232. Bruno GehrigSeptember 20, 2013 at 5:55 pm

     Unreal how politics gets under one’s skin. However there is a time that one has to realize that the people have spoken. Just get on with it and stop putting out personal cheap-shots. The election is over, the lefties have lost, simple as that. Maybe next time round there will be a different result, we’ll see. But it surely won’t be because of those one-eyed “my way is the only way” attitudes that are displayed here. A good read, none the less, may I say….

233. DadiusSeptember 20, 2013 at 5:58 pm

     Well Michael Taylor, your a credit to everything that most of Australia voted against at the last election. And you still have not got the message. The act of criticism means that you place yourself morally above the person you attack. How much time have you spent saving lives, fighting bush fires, raising charity funds (especially for women) and teaching aboriginal kids, in those filthy camps to give them a chance in life? You sad, sorry, pathetic man.
     Hold up the mirror mate!

     We now have a decent Prime Minister not Monty Python of the left.

234. jayanarSeptember 20, 2013 at 6:41 pm

     Looks like the Coalition bottom-feeders, far from still partying in the flush of their orgiastic triumph, have chosen to flock over here and bore us with their serial mendacity yet again.

     Worried are you? Frightened that the tissue of lies surrounding your prime minister is starting to show some holes?

     Let’s dissect you one at a time

     SueQ September 20, 2013 • 11:45 am

     The Press Council has taken stern measures to pull Fairfax and Mark Baker into line for his article

     Wouldn’t like to think that you might theoretically be listed on the legal action which Gillard will no doubt now take against the organisation – the bit on the writ which will read “& Anor.”

     Andy Blunden September 20, 2013 • 11:54 am

     You know we don’t have to subside into silence just because your lot won. On the contrary we need to be twice as active in shining a light into the ensuing murk your government will create.

     And do not ever presume to speak for women – though I guess you Liberal fanboys just cannot help yourselves.
     .
     sylvia the September 20, 2013 • 1:19 pm

     I’m with Bacchus there. Go away and snuggle up to Rupe and his cage-liners. They’ll create the fantasy land you seek.

     fast tracked September 20, 2013 • 3:30 pm

     Oh here we go, the fringe dwellers have arrived. We have a TGA which would have Gardasil pulled in an instant were there the slightest doubts about it.

     I seem to remember the same hysteria about the Pill which is probably the most researched and tested pharmaceutical in history. We still have it occurring with RU486, the “morning after” pill which so upset your prime minister

     Funny how medicine which gives women independence and surety is immediately subjected to the scrutiny of the half-baked and the misogynistic.

     And it is “cervical” not “cirvical”. If you are going to argue with titans learn to spell.

     Ian Camlett has unsubscribed – good

     Bruno Gehrig September 20, 2013 • 5:55 pm

     See my response to Andy Blunden. You don’t have to stay, there are plenty of right-wing blogs for you to play at.

     Dadius September 20, 2013 • 5:58 pm

     Are you talking about your prime minister? Because those activities, while being great photo ops, are firstly of dubious provenance and secondly are in no way indicative of anyone’s fitness to be prime minister.

     Especially not your boy’s.

235. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 7:12 pm

     Dadius do you have ANY idea how much Tony charges the taxpayer to fly around doing his photo ops which you like to call “saving lives” and “fighting fires” and “teaching Aboriginal kids”? Do you not understand that has been a carefully calculated image created to suck people like you in?

     http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/no-matter-what-its-always-about-me.html

     http://www.phonytonyabbott.com/blog/how-the-taxpayer-paid-for-tony-abbott-to-compete-in-surf-races

     Abbott, the Truth and Cost of his Indigenous Volunteering

236. John from the Perth hilsSeptember 20, 2013 at 7:38 pm

     Oh boy
     I

237. John from the Perth hillsSeptember 20, 2013 at 7:49 pm

     I see that there is an alternate Universe out there. Go ahead and rage lefty sisters but currently sanity rules and your words are a cry in the wilderness. Get over it and get a life. I too have unsubscribed and will not be offering further oxygen to this nonsense. Over and definitely out!
     Michael, your article was intended to be offensive to any normal person and it was. Play the ball and not the person, if I said that Julia was a red headed fat bummed Pinocchio there would be cries of outrage from the sisters and rightly so so why should your comments about Tony Abbott be seen as fair game?
     Out of here…..ll

238. MitzySeptember 20, 2013 at 10:18 pm

     Kayelee1 – Try to read a little bit more broadly and open your mind. You may be able to then make some informed comments!

239. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 10:26 pm

     Mitzy I can pretty much guarantee you that I read FAR more broadly than you do. Is there something to which you would like to direct my attention specifically? Please share your ‘wisdom’. I would be most interested in reading why you think Tony Abbott should be Minister for Women’s Affairs or why he deserves to be the Prime Minister of our country. I would love to hear you explain how his policies are better. Or are you like most LNP voters and have no friggin idea of what you have just done?

240. SueQSeptember 20, 2013 at 10:26 pm

     To jayanar
     Re me being “theoretically listed” on the legal action by Julia Gillard…shaking in my boots NOT. But I did get a good laugh out of it thanks.
     Re “The Press Council has taken stern measures to pull Fairfax and Mark Baker into line for his article” NOT.

     The Press Council has released ANOTHER statement today regarding this mis-reporting on that link you put up (as well as other websites like it). Here is the link from the Press Council’s update on this issue: http://www.presscouncil.org.au/apc-update-20-september-2013/
     which says:

     “Some websites have misrepresented the Council’s recent adjudication about two articles in Fairfax Media newspapers concerning law firm Slater and Gordon.
     The Council’s responsibilities in responding to the complaint did not require it to accept or reject the truth of any of the assertions made by or against Slater and Gordon in relation to Ms Gillard’s work at the firm.
     Accordingly, it did not do so. It also did not rule that the journalist in questions had “fabricated evidence” as claimed in one website.
     What the Council did rule was that Slater and Gordon should have been given an opportunity by Fairfax Media to respond to some of the assertions made against it in the articles before they were published.
     These misrepresentations of the adjudication have been assumed to be true by some of the commenters on the websites, leading to further misrepresentations about parties involved in them and about the Council.”

     Embarrased much jaynar??
     This original story just popped up on my facebook page from a greenie nephew of mine (a lovely young man- just has different views to me is all). I might just unsubscribe now and leave you all to it- if you are going to believe all this type of stuff without questioning then so be it. As for me… I am a bit more thorough in my research. I actually know what’s going on.
     Bye

241. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 10:31 pm

     SueQ NOTHING you have posted to date shows you have ANY idea of what is going on.

242. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 10:34 pm

     Adjudication 1566: Slater & Gordon/The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Canberra Times (September 2013)
     A complaint by law firm Slater & Gordon about two articles relating to the role of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard while a partner at the firm and the impact of publicity about the matter on the friendship of two of the firm’s former partners. Both articles were published on 13 October 2012.
     The Council found that the publications failed to take reasonable steps to ensure fairness in the articles because they included seriously adverse statements by several people about Slater & Gordon on which the firm was given no opportunity to comment prior to publication. Accordingly, the complaint was upheld.

243. kayelee1September 20, 2013 at 11:04 pm

     Mitzy here is some light reading for you. You will find all the references at the end of the article.

244. kayelee1September 21, 2013 at 1:51 am

     It’s late and I should be in bed but I am still reeling from this announcement and the comments posted by some people here.

     It seems there are still many people who think housework (notably ironing) and parenting are the province of women. There are even women posting who feel grateful that the males in their household sometimes help. I have read from these people that women can’t have the same career aspirations because they are the ones who give birth.

     In 1975 I won a public speaking contest and the headline in the local newspaper the next day was “Schoolgirl pours scorn on sex bias”. I cannot believe that, almost 40 years on, I am having the same argument.

     Thankfully I grew up in a family that did not consider gender a dictator of what the rest of your life entailed. And even more importantly, I married a man who understands that we are a team and we change position depending on what the team needs at the time. I have adult children who are still at home. They are also part of the team who share the responsibilities.

     How on earth are we to move forward as a society when so many people still think women have designated roles? How do we address the harmful stereotypes that make children (and many adults) feel inadequate and unfulfilled?

     STOP TELLING ME THAT WOMEN DO THE HOUSEWORK AND PARENTING. That is YOUR reality and I feel very sorry for you.

245. BRUCESeptember 21, 2013 at 6:00 am

     This has got to be the biggest collection of strange and weird material I have ever seen – listen to yourselves – everyone should get a life and move on – think of those less fortunate. I don’t normally comment in places like this but I couldn’t resist!!

246. JillSeptember 21, 2013 at 9:03 am

     Dear kayelee1 – I am almost certain, after reading your many posts, that I have fallen in love with you. You rock my world.

247. Big NanaSeptember 21, 2013 at 10:16 am

     Kayelee1-putting comments in capitals doesn’t make them true! In this country, probably every country, the majority of housework and childcare is actually done by women, and that includes the ironing. That doesn’t mean that anyone, male or female automatically believes women are inferior to men because of it. Abbott’s wife runs a business, his daughters have university degrees. One is studying overseas, gasp! away from her father’s influence. Hardly the signs of a man who believes women need to be dominated.
     As for Abbott’s volunteering, well he was doing that long before he became leader of the opposition, in times when he received no publicity for his actions and never drew attention to what he was doing.
     Disliking a person for their deeds or policies is fine, but to distort facts to fit a personal agenda is the sign of a weak argument.

248. Kaye LeeSeptember 21, 2013 at 10:22 am

     Bruce, I have a life believe it or not, and I would even go so far as to suggest that I do a LOT more than you do to help those less fortunate than myself. It is precisely my desire for a more equal society and to protect vulnerable people that drives me to comment on sites like this because this government will screw those very people.

     And thank you Jill. I think you have just crystallised for me the approach we need to bring down this clown. We need more love.

     We need to love and protect our planet – not abolish carbon pricing, the move towards renewable energy, and environmental impact studies (now described as green tape).

     We need to love people around the world who are caught up in wars or ethnic violence – not demonise asylum seekers.

     We need to love those for whom enough food and clean water and shelter and education are only dreams – not cut 4.5 billion from Foreign Aid.

     We need to love our children – not cut education funding reform and childcare assistance and access to a fast NBN.

     We need to love people trying to raise a family on low incomes – not cut the schoolkids bonus and single parents pension.

     We need to love our older citizens and help everyone to prepare for a retirement with an income that allows them to live with dignity – not cut the superannuation co-contribution for low income earners and the increase in the superannuation guarantee and paperwork in aged care facilities.

     From what I have seen so far, Tony loves big business and rich people…oh and most of all…himself.

249. kayelee1September 21, 2013 at 10:43 am

     Big Nana, saying that “the majority of housework and childcare is actually done by women” does not make it right. There was a time when slaves did the majority of housework and childcare. We realised this was wrong and a war was fought to stop it. There is absolutely NO reason to think these things are the role of women. That idea is archaic and I cannot believe so many women are happy to accept the status quo – it just shows how brainwashed they are. It is past time that women should be given the same opportunities as men and, dare I say it, the same pay. Why should a woman be expected to give up her career because she is the one who physically carries the child? Why should a woman be responsible for the domestic duties? Just because your mum was the chief cook and bottle washer does not mean that it should be so in this day and age.

     And I don’t think Tony Abbott is capable of dominating anyone. He certainly tries intimidation but he doesn’t have the substance to be a dominant force anywhere at all. He is told what to do because he is a weak man with great personal ambition and he has no hesitation in doing whatever it takes to win.

     And as for his volunteering – he has been charging us a mozza for his photo shoots. When he decided to go to Nowra to “fight fires” the first thing he did was tweet about it before he grabbed his tame camera crew to head off with him. He went nowhere near a fire. He commandeered a truck and drove it 100m for the cameras.

     I can assure you it is exactly his deeds and his words and his policies that make me dislike this man and I challenge you to show where I have “distorted facts to fit a personal agenda”. It is YOU who has a weak argument if you try to defend this man.

250. JillSeptember 21, 2013 at 11:59 am

     “But how can I juggle my responsibilities as a parent and as a life partner, AND continue to work in my chosen career at the same time?? It seems I must choose one over the other and face criticism regardless of the choice I make” – said NO MAN EVER.

     Yes I do realise it is a broad generalisation, but sadly this is the truth for many, many women. kaylee1 – I thought you might like this.

     Where’s the love…

251. Big NanaSeptember 21, 2013 at 12:13 pm

     Kayelee1, you have just demeaned and diminished every woman on the planet who chooses to be a full time housewife and mother. Any woman can be a mother but not everyone can be a good one. I had a professional career for 30 years yet still chose to stay at home for all my children until they were school age. I was fortunate enough to have a husband who earned enough money to allow me to do this. You talk about childrearing as if it were a menial, unskilled job yet currently governments are demanding more are more tertiary training for child care workers. As far as carrying the child, well unless you can come up with an alternative, women are stuck with that.
     As for Abbott and his volunteering, you deliberately ignored my comment. As I stated, he has been doing this for many years, long before he came into the public eye to the degree he is now. That is called twisting facts to fit an agenda.

252. kayelee1September 21, 2013 at 12:38 pm

     How have I demeaned or diminished women? All I am asking for is that women be given the same choices and opportunities as men. And not every woman can be a mother, nor do some women consider it their inevitable duty.

     You say “I was fortunate enough to have a husband who earned enough money to allow me to do this.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could have shared that responsibility.

     I at NO stage said childrearing was a menial unskilled task. It is one of the most important responsibilities we face – WE meaning ALL parents, not just mothers. Your assertion that “currently governments are demanding more are more tertiary training for child care workers” is outdated since we got Abbott at the helm. The previous government certainly saw this as a priority but you are obviously unaware of the Coalition policy on childcare which is hardly surprising because it was only released on the Thursday night before the election. Let me fill you in.

     The Coalition’s child care policy confirms that Tony Abbott will cut the Early Years Quality Fund, set up by Federal Labor to supplement wage increases for child care workers.

     The Early Years Quality Fund provides $300 million to give better pay to child care workers.

     Cutting this Fund will mean no money to pay for these wage increases, meaning a Certificate III qualified child care worker would be around $5,800 worse off as a result of the Coalition’s policy.

     This cut will exacerbate the high staff turnover in this sector and will have an impact on increased child care fees, the biggest cost for child care providers. This will push fees up for parents because child care centres have already factored in this wage increase.

     The Coalition will also wind back basic quality standards that parents expect at child care centres – such as staff to child ratios and training standards for staff.

     But hey, as long as Tony keeps doing his fun runs, and surf swims, and bike rides (at our expense), everything should be just fine and dandy.

253. kayelee1September 21, 2013 at 1:02 pm

     Actually Big Nana your first line says it all. Apparently in YOUR mind it is only women that may make a choice to be a stay at home parent. In my opinion it is women like YOU who demean and diminish us.

254. Dan RowdenSeptember 21, 2013 at 1:03 pm

     kayelee1,

     Yes indeed, the dead of night announcement of the intended cut to the EYQF by the Coalition completely vindicates Labor’s continual calls for the Coalition to say where the cuts were going to be made. Instead, people fell for the “does this guy ever shup up” nonsense. Guess what, you should have listened to Rudd and Labor, methinks.

255. Big NanaSeptember 21, 2013 at 1:13 pm

     Kayelee, as your long rambling complaint was about Abbott’s attitude toward women I didn’t feel it was relevant to include men in the discussion. And it wouldn’t matter if Abbott won the Nobel Peace prize you would still depict him as satan so I won’t waste my time, a brick wall would make a better debating opponent. .

256. kayelee1September 21, 2013 at 1:13 pm

     Sorry…that last comment was overly harsh. What diminishes us all, men and women both, are the stereotypical roles which are still so prevalent in our society. We need to change our thinking. We need to move towards flexible workplace solutions that allow all people, regardless of gender, to achieve a balance between work and life choices. It is ALL about choice and sharing the load. We should not, in this day and age, see domestic duties as the responsibility of women any more than we should view the job of parenting as the domain of women.

257. Fed upSeptember 21, 2013 at 1:25 pm

     Big Nana, I am a great nanna, and I agree completely with Kayelee.

     I am sick of stay at homes mothers, telling others how to live.

     That is your choice. I have no problem with that. That is your business.

     What is being talked about, is the right to make choice. To make them,, without others sticking your noses in.

     Yes, big Nana, there are many types of families, many I suspect would condemn.

     When it comes to the kids, believe it a or not, all that matters us that they are loved.

     It matter naught, who provides the day to day care.

     Just as well, as a couple of centuries ago, many would have been bought up by mother, or in the families they were born into.

     Do you know why? Mothers died young. If mother was widowed, she had to find a new partner quickly to feed the kids.

     The kids of the wealthy were lucky to see their parents. Where bough up by nannies. Yes, low income women.

     It is about choice and what suits the family.

     The roles can and are being shared.

     Nana, you are out of place, demanding that all live as you do, No one is saying your choice was wrong. One hopes it was for you.

258. Fed upSeptember 21, 2013 at 1:26 pm

     homes-home

259. kayelee1September 21, 2013 at 1:30 pm

     I am not sure which “long rambling complaint” you are referring to but you will perhaps concede that I provide links to my sources to back up what I am saying. I am certain that we won’t have to consider what would happen if Tony won the Nobel Peace Prize (choke), but, as I knew Tony personally when we were at University together, you will have to come up with something to back up what you say before I will believe that he has changed from the sexist bully he was in those days, as nothing he has done to date indicates to me that his core beliefs have changed. You may consider yourself a master debater but you are sadly lacking in any facts to substantiate your argument.

260. jayanarSeptember 21, 2013 at 2:18 pm

     SueQ September 20, 2013 • 10:26 pm

     Well it seems Sue Q has done a bunk but I thought I’d come back and take one more swipe at her. However kaylee 1 has kindly saved me the effort. Thanks muchly.

     Big Nana September 21, 2013 • 12:13 pm

     As someone who did worked full-time and raise two kids, I can assure you that women can walk and chew gum at the same time.

     Furthermore a lot of what is domestic work is trivial and menial since it involves shoving around inanimate objects such as brooms, vacuum cleaners, washing and the like. We still have a disproportionate number of men who won’t get involved in this trivial and menial aspect though thankfully things are changing.

     The kids are not going to remember or care how often you washed the floor or did the ironing no matter what your prime minister thinks. They won’t even remember if you outsourced it to cleaners.

     They will remember being read to, talking about big and little issues with you, being taken to the park or the zoo, having your help with homework and having you turn up at the sports carnival or presentation night.

261. jayden branden boganSeptember 21, 2013 at 2:18 pm

     your tears are delicious

     his excellency Tony will continue to get this fine nation in shape after years of labor misrule.

262. ChrisSeptember 21, 2013 at 2:47 pm

     ======

     kayelee1
     September 21, 2013 • 1:51 am

     How on earth are we to move forward as a society when so many people still think women have designated roles?

     ======

     I find a lot of your posts quite well thought through and intelligent and i respect that. However i personally get frustrated when debating with people when they talk about none tangible things such as feelings and not cold hard facts.

     Fact is you have a vagina.

     Fact is you have breasts.

     Fact is you lactate.

     Fact is you have a designated role in society.

263. kayelee1September 21, 2013 at 3:19 pm

     Chris

     Fact is you have a penis and are equally responsible for the outcome of putting penises and vaginas together.

     Fact is that flexible workplace solutions and breast pumps allow women to breast feed AND work.

     Fact is my designated role in society is exactly the same as yours…..to leave the world a better place than you found it.

264. Fed upSeptember 21, 2013 at 6:51 pm

     Kaye, we all know where the male brain is to be found, or at least what drives it.

     Kaye, maybe we have been over estimating the opposite gender.

     Maye we were having ourselves on, believing they are our equal.,

     Now they believe, that penis, dictates their station in life.

265. Fed upSeptember 21, 2013 at 7:09 pm

     I imagine those women, who I assume have vaginas, holding top jobs across the world, feel about their sexual organs dictating their role in society.

266. SammySeptember 21, 2013 at 10:04 pm

     Kayelee and Fed up – What a puerile conversation.

267. Fed upSeptember 21, 2013 at 10:17 pm

     Sammy, you are so right. Congratulations.

268. kayelee1September 22, 2013 at 10:40 am

     Sammy how very interesting that you don’t mention Chris’s comment which told me that my vagina and breasts designate my role in society. My comment was in response to his.

269. Carol TaylorSeptember 22, 2013 at 11:26 am

     Quite right here..

     Departing Liberal senator Sue Boyce gave a scathing assessment of the merit argument this week, writing on the ABC’s The Drum: ”If I hear the phrase ‘woman of merit’ one more time I’ll, I’ll … do something drastic.

     ”When was the phrase ‘men of merit’ last used?” she asked. ”Is every male MP a ‘man of merit’?”

     To Boyce, arguments about merit were ”a nonsense”.

     ” ‘Women of merit’ is a term used by ultra-conservatives who want to maintain the status quo – it’s a smokescreen for sexism.”

     Yes indeed “women of merit” as judged by men..usually of little merit whatsoever…

     http://www.theage.com.au/comment/same-old-argument-from-same-old-men-of-merit-to-keep-status-quo-20130921-2u6qn.html#ixzz2fa3GK3Oz

270. BenSeptember 22, 2013 at 12:53 pm

     I suppose it is okay for Julia Gillard to call Tony Abbott a ‘weak man’ then? Could you imagine the uproar if he called her a ‘weak woman’, you would never make it out of parliament alive! In an election it is not presidential, you vote for the party not the leader and I seen nothing but rubbish from Labor, Rudd, Gillard, Rudd version 2, etc.

271. kayelee1September 22, 2013 at 1:05 pm

     There is no question that Tony Abbott is a weak man. His continual changes of policy show that. He is a weather vane who is more than happy to move to a diametrically opposed position if it appears advantageous to him.

     Malcolm Turnbull:

     “Tony himself has in just four or five months publicly advocated the blocking of the ETS, the passing of the ETS, the amending of the ETS and if the amendments were satisfactory passing it, and now the blocking of it.

     His only redeeming virtue in this remarkable lack of conviction is that every time he announced a new position to me he would preface it with “Mate, mate, I know I am a bit of a weather vane on this, but…..”

     Third, there is a major issue of integrity at stake here and Liberals should reflect very deeply on it. We have an Opposition whose current leadership dismisses the Howard Government’s ETS policy as being just a political ploy. We have an Opposition Leader who has in the space of a few months held every possible position on the issue, each one contradicting the position he expressed earlier. And finally we have an Opposition which negotiated amendments to the Rudd Government’s ETS, then reached agreement on those amendments and then, a week later, reneged on the agreement.

     Many Liberals are rightly dismayed that on this vital issue of climate change we are not simply without a policy, without any prospect of having a credible policy but we are now without integrity. We have given our opponents the irrefutable, undeniable evidence that we cannot be trusted.”

     http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/abbotts-climate-change-policy-is-bullshit-20091207-kdmb.html#ixzz2faRUNBP8

     And of course we have THIS pearler.

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eai3eKPEV5I

     And this

272. Fed upSeptember 22, 2013 at 1:16 pm

     Ben I have no trouble with anyone calling Ms. Gillard a weak., if they can prove that is what she is. That should have nothing to do with gender.

     By the way, I believe that Mr. Abbott will be proven to be a weak man. Nothing in his history up to now, in dictates this not being true.

     Now, if Ms. Gillard had called him weak, because he was a man, that would be different. If shew called him weak, it would be because that is jhow she seen him as a person.

     I suspect, that when many call a woman weak, the inference is, because her gender makes her weak.

     To call a man weak, could be seen, by some, as being weak, in spite of being a man. Yes, a insult indeed.

     But then we are not talking abouts insults, are we?

273. Möbius EckoSeptember 22, 2013 at 1:29 pm

     Ben. Abbott called Gillard a weak leader and many other things when in parliament, many in a deliberate low voice so as not to be picked up.

     He continually referred to Gillard as her or she, never by any title, honorific or even the courtesy of Ms Gillard, yet now across the social media we are getting demands from the right to have respect for the office and at least call Abbott PM if nothing else.

     No you don’t vote for the party or the leader, you vote for your local member for whatever reason you do so. Many do vote for their local purely on ideology and on who is leading the party of their choice and don’t really give a toss about how competent their member is, but still you vote for your local.

     Having said that, nowadays, to the detriment of this country, the entire election is focused on the leaders and the Abbott campaign ramped that up as never seen before, surpassing Kevin07. To say the election is not presidential is to miss the shift in politicking in this country.

274. Fed upSeptember 22, 2013 at 1:29 pm

     Ben, I also believe what we have between our legs, has any thing to do, with how our brain operates.

     That is what is puerile about what some have introduced into the conversation. Then they turn it back on women when they dare to object, and point out the stupidity of what has been put forwarded. Women never introduce that theme, as they see the proposition of biology defining ones worth as idiotic.

     What is highly insulting, and of little worth, is hearing the statement, “women of merit”

     We never hear the statement, “men of merit”,. It seems to be assumed, they are all by the fact of being male, meritorious.. When the men start talking about men of merit, it might make some sense, though it alludes me, what that sense would be.

     How about we move onto, must talking about people and forgetting about gender.

275. Fed upSeptember 22, 2013 at 1:30 pm

     Sorry must=just or even take the word out altogether.

276. kayelee1September 22, 2013 at 1:34 pm

     It is apparent to me that Tony’s cabinet was selected for reasons that have nothing to do with merit. In my opinion, the selections were either a reward for past support or an attempt to diffuse any future challenge.

277. Hazel PerrySeptember 22, 2013 at 3:41 pm

     As some of your Labour mates said about each other, go into an empty room lock the door and then say what you like. The people who admire and LIKE Tony Abbott outweigh the ones who don’t. The election results tell us this. TONY ABBOTT IS A GREAT GUY!!!!

278. kayelee1September 22, 2013 at 3:50 pm

     Hazel do you know Tony Abbott personally?

     Do you know what his policies are and how they will impact on you and your family?

     Do you realise that more people voted for Labor than for the Liberal Party?

     And I am sorry, being quiet is not my best thing and I fully intend to be VERY loud until we get rid of Tony Abbott.

279. Möbius EckoSeptember 22, 2013 at 4:37 pm

     Sorry Hazel but that’s not true. Even after the most vicious of character assassination programs run against a person over a long period of time in Gillard, whilst conversely a snow job of the highest order was undertaken on behalf of Abbott, poll after poll had Abbott with low approval ratings.

     He only managed preferred PM late in the cycle, and again that was on the back of a media blitz against Rudd and a huge PR effort polishing the the Abbott turd.

     Abbott is not well liked and if he had to stand on his own without the media propping him up he would have been turfed by his party a long time ago.

     And though it really counts for nought, as an anecdote our Managing Director, a staunch conservative, Howard admirer, and from a family with a long history of supporting the Liberal party along with having close friends from it, hates Abbott. Didn’t stop him voting for the local Liberal candidate, but he has never held back on making his displeasure of Abbott known and how he’s ruining the once great Liberal party.

280. BenSeptember 22, 2013 at 7:25 pm

     kayelee1, just how is climate change really a ‘vital’ issue. It is an issue, certainly not a vital issue and certainly an issue that is with us to stay. It is not just something you can quickly fix with a tax. I would also have scepticism about ETS which has problems in it just like a carbon tax, such as carbon ‘leakage’ with estimates around 20%, various loopholes etc. In any case, the extra cost is simply passed to the customer, and the amount of co2 in the atmosphere is still going up over 400ppm. You really want to effect climate change in the most significant way in Australia, you do something about all the coal fed power stations and our love of coal.

281. kayelee1September 22, 2013 at 7:39 pm

     I agree that we must do something about our use of fossil fuels which is EXACTLY what a price on carbon is designed to do. It makes polluters pay for the pollution they produce so it is in their best interests to find cleaner energy alternatives. It also levels the playing field for renewable energy alternatives making them commercially more competitive. Higher energy prices also made households think about their energy usage and changed behaviour.

282. Möbius EckoSeptember 22, 2013 at 7:58 pm

     Kayelee1 it also compensated them for the cost of technologies and efficiencies that decreased their pollution.

     Ben the carbon price was doing something about coal powered power stations. It was reducing the demand for them.

     Two examples I read of was in Victoria and NSW when they were planning new coal power stations. The calculations were that the stations were needed just to cater for the massive inefficiencies and energy waste in the States. The solution was to make infrastructure, buildings, homes and industry etc. more efficient and not only would the new stations not be needed the load on existing stations would be reduced.

     This was ignored because with cheap heavily subsidised coal power it was easier to just keep building power stations and encourage more energy use, wasteful or not, to make them financially viable than to go to the complexity and initial upfront expense of implementing and enforcing energy efficiencies.

283. kayelee1September 22, 2013 at 8:04 pm

     The carbon price also compensated households for increased expenses – in most cases they were better off- as well as helping the industries who were hardest hit. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation was also giving loans to renewable energy, sustainable practice and clean energy initiatives. Banks and the private sector had joined them in backing many of these projects.

284. TonesSeptember 23, 2013 at 1:06 am

     Micheal needs to get his facts straight, before printing crap like that. Media should be more accountable for what they print. If it’s not 100% accurate, then it should not be printed, If it’s below 100% accuracy, then they should be held accountable in court, for their slander.

285. Michael TaylorSeptember 23, 2013 at 1:17 am

     Tones, have you not followed the links? Tony Abbott did say those things.

     If you have an issue with them, perhaps you should take it up with the mainstream media outlets that first published them.

286. TiaraSeptember 23, 2013 at 5:52 am

     I never said anything directly about Tony Abbot’s decision to be Minister Of Things That Don’t Directly Pertain To Him – if anything I agree with the outrage about it.

     What I’m pointing out is that there hasn’t been any sort of outrage when this exact thing happens to the office of the Minister of Immigration (which also becomes of Multiculturalism / Citizenship / Border Protection). Just about everyone who’s held office is someone who has never had to deal with the immigration system, and most of them aren’t even of a “multicultural” background. You get stupid policies like “send the boats to PNG” because the people making these decisions have no idea what it’s like to be subject to those politics.

     I’m calling for equal attention.

287. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 7:07 am

     Tones, you have an interesting view point. Murdoch and the MSM can say what they like, but those in the fifth estate much be strictly truthful. Not that I have seen any lies on sites.

     I suspect, the trouble is, not that Michael has lied, but you do not agree with what has written.

     Now, just to keep us happy, list the lies, as you see them, and tell us why you believe they are lies.

     The name Tones is interesting. Can you explain why you have used it.

288. kayelee1September 23, 2013 at 7:15 am

     Tiara that is true of many portfolios.

     We now have Peter Dutton, a former policeman, in charge of Health, Mental Health, and Sport.

     We have social services minister Kevin Andrews, who has responsibility for all aged care, disability programmes, housing, all income-support payments and pensions, all settlement services for migrants and refugees and also multicultural affairs (colloquially known as the ‘bleeding heart’ portfolio in Abbottland). The social inclusion board – which advised the former government on the causes and effects of entrenched disadvantage – is being disbanded.

     Industry minister Ian Macfarlane is also responsible for “science policy, science engagement and awareness, promotion of collaborative research in science and technology, co-ordination of research policy, creation and development of research infrastructure, commercialisation and utilisation of public sector research relating to portfolio programmes and agencies and research grants and fellowships” as well as resources and energy.

     And of course, “Women’s policies and programs” as well as Indigenous affairs, deregulation, national security and relations with state governments are all specified responsibilities of Tony Abbott.

     And we have Scott Morrison for Immigration and Border Protection – (If any of those bastards get through our defences they will be immediately fitted with ankle bracelets and placed on an island somewhere).

     It’s rather depressing isn’t it.

289. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 7:29 am

     Kayelee, have you noticed the the PPL, which according to Abbott not a welfare payment, but work right, paid by Kevin Andrews.

     How can that be so? Board has resigned in total.

     Is that saying NBNlite is bull shit.

     Trouble is, it leaves the door open for Twiggy to come back. That man that failed with Optus and Telstra.

     This is day six. We have Morrison wonderful announcements to look forwarded to.

     Wonder what are wondrous events are to occur on this day. We might even see a live GM, telling us what she is up to. Hard to question a press release.

290. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 7:35 am

     We will find out, I assume, how all police forces are going to be informed, of every one that came by boat, that are living in their area.

     Still cannot understand why. These people commit no more crimes than anyone else.

     Why should the police expect them to be violent, if they approach them.

     That could be the only reason to be treated as criminals.

     Do the police check every name before they leave the station.

     Yes, ankle alarms would be cheaper. Make sure we demonised them fully.

     Would not it be better to do as Hitler did, force them to wear an armband, so all can ensure they? Give them wide berth.

291. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 7:46 am

     HAZEL, why is Abbott a great guy? A majority did elect Hitler at one stage. Well a majority of those who bothered to vote,

     Not saying Abbott is a Hitler, just saying, voters when lied to, can get it wrong.

292. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 7:58 am

     The Administrator on Christmas Island has said he will have to reconsider his position, if he and the two thousand people who live on the Island cannot talk about what happens around them.

     That last boat only had thirty people on it.

     Fits is with what Tony Burke said. Fewer boats coming, with many less passengers.

     Could Morrison problem be, that the Labor scheme is working, and there is no need for his outlandish scheme.

     Maybe Abbott should take a step back, put Morrison and his schemes on hold, until he visits Indonesia, and I suggest Pakistan and Malaya, before going ahead.

     Start by sending the three star general back to the defence forced. I am sure they can find better use for him.

     The first thing I would do if Morrison, Revert his orders to allot TPV, back to what Labor was giving, Bridging Visas. That is what the boat people fear more.

     I still have not heard Morrison explain why Bridging visa are softer, than his TPV.

293. Pingback: Welcome to Monday! ~ 23rd September 2013 | feminaust ~ for australian feminism

294. BenSeptember 23, 2013 at 9:16 am

     kayelee1, I disagree. Households can think about their behaviour with energy usage, but thinking about it and changing it are two different things. For many households the only way of changing it for the better, is to experience a colder winter. The gov doesn’t know if I have a woodheater or electric heat pump, if the power price goes up then thinking about going to woodheating and gas hot water seems counter productive to me. A carbon tax, levy, price, whatever you call it is negative not positive. It doesn’t address the real problem of climate change and I don’t see the point in it, as well as the majority of Australians.

295. kayelee1September 23, 2013 at 10:12 am

     Ben there are many things people can do to reduce their carbon footprint without freezing to death in winter. Turning off lights, switching to energy efficient light bulbs, using public transport, taking shorter showers and washing during off peak times, hanging clothes out rather than using a dryer, turning things off at the powerpoint etc etc

     This gives a brief discussion about the impact of the carbon price.

296. BenSeptember 23, 2013 at 10:28 am

     Ahh the ole switching off lights or going to more efficient bulbs bandwagon like that really makes a difference compared to heating or hot water. Nothing you have said explains how a tax is somehow meant to lower co2 atmosphere concentration, it is 400ppm and continuing to go up. It has been said that if humans were to suddenly disappear, then it would continue to go up before it started to go down. Let me say this again, the level of co2 in the atmosphere is still going up and it is going up at an exponential rate, the carbon tax is making no real world difference to the actual level of co2 in the atmosphere. To affect climate change on a global scale and to make any difference requires a complete reorganisation of society and technology. Adaption, mitigation, and the newer proposed climate engineering are the three ways to deal with climate change. Carbon tax addresses none of these. The co2 level of 400ppm is continuing to go up, and I will say it again and again, the carbon tax is not going to fix this, and it never will, and the majority of Australians would agree with this.

297. BenSeptember 23, 2013 at 10:35 am

     You come across as a very simple thinker. You need to think about the whole of society. You think it is as simple as hooking a solar panel up to a battery and think you’re green? You think if you drive a hybrid vehicle you are green? Think about all the variables for a minute, manufacturing all these panels and batteries in China is a process that negatively affects the environment. There are so many variables that I can see straight through your simple thinking.

298. kayelee1September 23, 2013 at 10:40 am

     I completely disagree. We are adapting through things like crops which require less water, we are mitigating by changing our energy usage and how it is generated. We need to reduce emissions by whatever range of means we have at our disposal and pricing pollution most definitely DOES contribute to changing practices for both individuals and businesses. And I disagree that a majority of Australians ignore the scientists and economists as you suggest. I take the word of the experts rather than radio shock jocks, gossip columnists, and people in the employ of the fossil fuel companies.

299. BenSeptember 23, 2013 at 11:45 am

     Pricing pollution does jack to the level of co2 in the atmosphere and the burden of proof is on you, otherwise it is all moot. Carbon tax is just an idealistic for the principal of it rather than having any meaningful effect on co2 concentration.

300. kayelee1September 23, 2013 at 12:20 pm

     I notice most of your “facts” are those put up by the Galileo Movement.

     This article answers many of your assertions.

     http://www.independentaustralia.net/2011/environment/galileo-movement-fabricates-science-to-fuel-climate-divide/

     We have to reduce fossil fuel use. One way to do this is to shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources. The other way is to reduce energy demands through increased efficiency.

     Both mechanisms have economic implications. In order to stimulate the private sector’s investment in renewables, governments can put a levy on fuels, which may be used to fund or subsidise new initiatives.

     To reduce demand, there are a number of solutions available, but most seek to raise the cost of carbon through taxes. There are a number of schemes under consideration, and a number already implemented. According to the article Pollution Economics in the New York Times, more than 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are now subject to carbon pricing systems. About 60 other states, provinces or countries are considering similar approaches, according to a recent World Bank report.

     Since a number of economic incentives are being tried, it seems too soon to declare them failures. It is interesting to note that while governments are having difficulty negotiating agreements on the global scale, regional schemes are already proving effective, flexible and popular. An important ingredient seems to be an accompanying tax reduction that makes the carbon tax revenue-neutral.

     In the long term, unless we drastically reduce the rate at which we are still emitting greenhouse gases, we are very likely to incur huge costs as a result of climate change. Part of these costs will be in adaptation, and the inevitable disruption. In part costs will escalate due to turmoil and uncertainty throughout the economic world. There will also be costs that cannot be quantified, particularly when we try to value a human life and its loss.

     We have to reduce our emissions. If we are to avoid draconian government intervention, carbon pricing schemes are a viable method of encouraging us to reduce fossil fuel use. Coupled with other measures to stimulate renewable energy development, putting a price on carbon may help us make the transition away from fossil fuels. And from our experience to date, it seems likely that carbon taxes, instead of bringing an economy to its knees, may well help transform an outdated system into one fitting for a sustainable century.

301. BenSeptember 23, 2013 at 1:23 pm

     Carbox Tax (doesn’t matter if you call it a price or a levy at the end of the day it is a TAX), does NOT encourage reduced fossil fuel use, it only forces the bigger companies to pass down the increased costs to the customer. Fact. Renewable energy is great and all, but you need something other than solar or wind to provide the base load to the grid, and Australia in this case uses coal. Another fact.

302. Möbius EckoSeptember 23, 2013 at 1:36 pm

     Not fact Ben. I really wish you would read up on renewable base load power and anything else for that matter before calling it a fact, or if you do then provide the evidence or source.

     A fact. The US has just joined the 10GW solar PV club, the fifth country to do so I believe.

     Australia has far more solar capacity than 10GW and we are being embarrassed by other countries with far less sunshine. Abbott will ensure we go even further backwards and destroy the environment including water supplies whilst he’s at it.

     Just because you call it a fact doesn’t make it one.

303. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 2:05 pm

     Just a reminder, , that we seem to have moved away from. Why price is put on carbon emissions.

     The idea is to make the production of power using fossil fuel dearer. Yes dearer. The reason, we need to do this, is so renewals become economical.

     This should lead to energy being produced, only by renewals, forcing coal and other fossil fuels out of the way. No fossil fuel, no emissions.

     Now before one starts jumping up and down, in the ling run, this means we will have cheaper energy produced by the renewals. Yes, cheaper. Many industry;s will find ways, of decreasing their power bill to near nothing, even adding to the grid.

     Why we need to price fossil fuels out of the picture, is because renewals are expensive to put in place, and cannot complete with coal at this stage.

     The renewals, once established, are much cheaper to maintain, and run over time.

     Just like the NBNCo, cheaper in the long run, and continues to be cheaper to maintain,.

304. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 2:09 pm

     The technology for renewals is now proven, and no longer experimental. One cannot say the same, for planting trees. or soil sequestration.

     Could someone remind Mr. Morrison, that Labor was moving the boat people off shore, or did he not notice.

     Once we move to power, produced by renewals, the production becomes more efficient and cheaper.

     It is the change over that is expensive.

305. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 2:11 pm

     The fact is, when any industry finds themselves with higher costs, they look for cheaper methods. Yes, there is limit one can pass down the line.

306. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 2:17 pm

     We already have new ways of producing aluminum thanks to the increase power costs. A much simple method, using different science. Yes, and in the process, the factories are cheaper to build and run.

     Will make all other mills obsolete.

     We already have meat processors, that are now adding to the grid, their power bills disappearing altogether.

     I live on the Central Coast, surrounded by power houses. My son, who works in the industry, has told me, many are already being mothballed, not reopening, as planned.

     What surprised me, is how successful, that CEF suite of legislation has been

307. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 2:19 pm

     I have seen a couple of pie factories, on the coast, with their roof covered with solar panels. Wonder what their power cost are.

308. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 2:23 pm

     By the way, the CEF suite of legislation, was much more than a price on carbon, The price that was put on carbon was used to finance industry in finding cheaper w

     Yes, demolition is always expensive, and often wasteful.

309. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 2:27 pm

     Ben, it is not a tax. All the experts agree on that. Are you saying the cost of your garbage collection is a tax. Some say it acts like a tax. I find that a little hard to understand.

     Do not pollute, do not not pay. .

     ABC 24

     Shorten in Canberra, on NBN. First question, do we really need NBN.

     Yes, we do.

310. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 2:29 pm

     ME, it is about more that solar power, anyway. Yes, it can meet base power, which is over exaggerated anyway.

311. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:01 pm

     Morrison getting irritated with questioning.

312. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:02 pm

     I think Morrison is feeling, no one is taking him seriously.

313. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:03 pm

     Why bother having weekly briefing, if nothing is to be announced.

314. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:04 pm

     Such arrogance!

315. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:05 pm

     I think Morrison might have a temper, and low tolerance threshold.

316. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:05 pm

     Last question called. Yes, Morrison deos need saving.

317. BenSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:18 pm

     Besides Hydro power which is location specific and already exploited and where it’s not already any proposals to build dams are met with Greenies jumping up and down, what are the other forms of renewable energy to supply the base load of the grid then?

318. BenSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:25 pm

     Fed Up, do you have any idea how expensive wind turbines cost and how much engineering goes into every single wind turbine? You do realise you still need to produce greenhouse gasses to manufacture ALL technology, including renewable technology?? Everyone here seems to think it’s as simple as a solar panel and that is just not the case. We buy solar technology from China. What I often see is that it is the less educated people with technology that somehow just seem to think that solar power will save us or something.

319. BenSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:31 pm

     Fed Up, you seem to think it is a simple matter of simply ‘establishing’ everything and walking away and it will all run itself indefinitely. Please tell me you are joking. Power generation, regardless of the type, is a continual investment that needs money to go into it for more money to come out. Some types of power and cheaper or more expensive to generate per KW hour.

320. Möbius EckoSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:32 pm

     Ben you are accusing us of simplifying it, yet it is you who is doing it. I’m not going into pages of explanations but if you want I can get together a bunch of sources and papers on the subject.

     Renewable is a viable alternative and in other countries and indeed the world it now makes up a significant percentage of the base load, and is increasing. It is now also cost competitive in many areas and because of that is being increasingly taken up.

     As to buying solar China. That’s an own goal. You can thank John Howard for that.

321. melaineSeptember 23, 2013 at 3:45 pm

     I suggest Ben visits RenewEnergy website… lots of answers to his questions there…

322. kayelee1September 23, 2013 at 4:10 pm

     Ben there is some validity in some things you say. I am moving over to johnlord’s article Murdoch vs Science if you would care to continue the discussion as I feel it a more appropriate thread for others to join in. Anyone else care to join me?

323. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 4:18 pm

     Ben, if you took the time to read what i said, you would see there, that i acknowledge the cost of setting up renewals.
     I pointed out, this is the reason that coal and other fossil fuel power houses have to be made more expensive.

     You will also find, once in place, they are cheaper to run. Maintenance will be cheaper as well. Even coal power

324. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 4:20 pm

     Yes, we did lead the world once in solar power. Not Labor’s fault, that many here gave up, and moved off shore to China.

     Regardless of that, the cost has rapidly decreased in the last few years. Will become even cheaper, as time goes on.

325. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 4:30 pm

     ME, the trouble for Ben, when talking about replaying fossil fuel with renewals, it is simple. Not the complicated problem that Ben is tempting to make out.

     What is also true, those fossil fuel, will be left in the ground, as they will have no monetary value.

     One cannot harness the sun, wind or rain, to sell, off to make money out of.

     One has only to look at how the petrol industry has held us to ransom, for over a century. Something appealing in that electric or even better, solar car.

     At the beginning of last century, petrol and electric cars where vying for top place. The petroleum industry ensure they won..

     Wonder what we would have now, if they stayed with the electric car.

     Maybe there would have been fewer wars, fewer economies bought to the brink of disaster.

326. Fed upSeptember 23, 2013 at 4:35 pm

     Ben, there are not many places in Australia, that are suitable for Hydro power, One really needs a permanent snow line for that.

     What I would like to know, how Abbott got away with his carbon tax scare in Tasmania, and the allegation it was leading to increase cost for business.

     How many fossil power houses are there in Tassie. How much carbon emissions would have been produced, that incurred a cost,

     No one ask Mr, Abbott that question.

     No, I did not say, that renewals would not required maintenance. I sad the cost of maintenance would be much less.

     Twisting what people say, does not fool anyone.

327. melaineSeptember 23, 2013 at 4:54 pm

     Whoops sorry Ben, that should have been reneweconomy.com.au… lots of info there…

328. BenSeptember 23, 2013 at 5:47 pm

     You still need a base load supply to the grid never the less, in which I was replying to the statement of base load being ‘overrated’. I don’t think it is overrated. In todays age people demand more and more continual up time of power with less and less brown/black outs. Much like how people demand better phone coverage and greater speed, yet those same people jump up and down when proposal to add a phone tower is put forward. The only renewable technology that can do base load is hydro power, and the only non-renewable technology with virtually no emissions that can do that is nuclear power. You can have solar and wind power, but what happens at night time? It might be getting better, but it’s not that good at harnessing moon-light as power, electric vehicles still don’t have the range yet, and a solar powered mass produced car will never happen unless your talking mega expensive triple-junction solar panels like NASA use. Fuel cell vehicles are by far the most promising technology for the future. Production of 20KW/hour+ lithium ion cobalt oxide battery packs is expensive and dirty manufacture process. I am not making anything simple, I think that going greener in an effective way is a very complex and difficult challenge more than people here make it out to be. I am just saying it how it is and know my engineering here.

     You know that wind farms even need to compete with greenies with the concern of birds flying into the turbines? Everything is not clear cut that you are all making it out to be.

329. Miss LouSeptember 23, 2013 at 7:38 pm

     Mr Abbott’s regressive views on women are well known, and for anyone who actually made the effort to become as informed as possible before placing their vote would have know this too.

     Sadly I think things became such a farce over the last year or so, people were just looking for a change. Of course I haven’t done a survey, so couldn’t say for sure.

     I personally have never, nor do I think I would ever vote for the Liberal Party, and that was long before Tony Abbott and his 3 and 4 word slogans came to leadership of the party (which I think was a miracle in itself)

     Their policies have not been consistent with my own values and honestly, I don’t think they are going to produce the best results for the majority of the country.

     Saying that, I’m not declaring it a total failure. It’s not looking good so far though.

330. KendraOctober 14, 2013 at 3:01 pm

     I’m lost for words too.
     There is a petition to let Abbott know what we think of his appointment.
     http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/prime-minister-tony-abbott-appoint-somebody-qualified-to-be-the-minister-for-women

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334. lawrencewinderMarch 7, 2014 at 11:47 pm

     At least my two daughters (25, 28 ) think Rabbott-the-Hun’s a talentless jerk!

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