The polls are showing the public’s not too happy with Julia—and Tony’s right down as well. Barry Everingham comments.
My guess is that while ever Tony Abbott is Opposition Leader, Julia Gillard is safe. The monk doesn’t cut it with voters and for him to play on the Prime Minister’s lack of honesty is rich indeed.
Abbott was John Howard’s most loyal supporters—Honest John could do no wrong.
The blatant lies about the GST, children overboard, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, along with the embarrassing cringing to America’s most unpopular President—all swept under the carpet by Abbott.
Who will ever forget Tony Jones’ gotcha moment on Lateline in 2004, when Abbott lied outright about his latest meeting with Cardinal Pell. Jones walked him right into the trap – Abbott had no clue that Jones knew the day and time when the two men met.
[Watch the interview, as well as the Chaser's take on the infamous meeting.]
And of course Abbott famously admitted that unless what he promised was actually written down, what he promised was worthless.
If Gillard’s hold on the leadership of the Government is wavering, Abbott’s is reaching tsunami proportions; hovering around in the background with knives at the ready are Joe Hockey and Malcolm Turnbull—both true Liberals in the mould of the founder of their party, Robert Menzies.
By the end of the year, or earlier, one of them will have deposed Abbott and the once great party will be well rid of him. The first job of the new leader will be rejuvenate the Front Bench and dump – just for starters – the likes of Mirabella, Bernardi, Abetz, Dutton, Andrews, both the Bishop and Ruddock.
Then he will need to bring back a humanitarian image.
And when that happens, Cardinal Pell will no longer be setting the Opposition’s health and education policies—the Liberals have a hide to talk about faceless unelected men running Labor.
Gillard too will need to get her act together and neutralise Kevin Rudd. There’s no way he will ever regain the leadership and the mates he has left in the Party should take him to one side and tell him to cool it.
The general secretaryship of the UN is in his reach and the world will be at his feet—just where he wants it to be.
Interesting times are ahead.
