LIKE MOST FUNDAMENTALISTS WHO SEE THINGS IN BLACK AND WHITE, TONY ABBOTT LACKS THE ABILITY TO MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON ANALYTICAL THOUGHT PROCESSES. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS HE SHOOTS FROM THE HIP AND IS ACCUSED OF BOTH HONESTY AND DISHONESTY
2
Tuesday, 29 June 2010 01:52
Philip Machanick
I like the claim that Abbott's view that only carefully scripted comments should be taken seriously is "honesty". To some people, shooting from the lip appears to be "honest" because dishonest people have to think carefully about what they are saying – a rather shallow analysis when you think about it. Someone trying to be scrupulously honest may also weigh every word to be sure they don't get some detail wrong.
3
Tuesday, 29 June 2010 11:56
Cumos71
I think a better descriptor for Tony Abbott is 'blunt', more than 'honest'. This makes him an entertaining, and seemingly refreshing choice of politician. His rhetorical intelligence allows him to logically sustain (or shift) purely political and dogmatic positions, but means that many of his 'self-evident truths' look half-baked and inconsistent after some brief reflection.
4
Tuesday, 06 July 2010 00:40
Hadrian
Seeing the way that Tony Abbott so closely cosied up to the mining industry will be remembered by voters of how partial he is. Rather than try to take a middle ground or mediation role he chose to throw everything overboard and oppose for the sake of opposing the Government's position. He was prepared to throw away 12 billion dollars income to the people with no constructive alternative. Now he has been revealed for his extreme reaction as a negotiated outcome acceptable to the mining companies would have been jetisoned by Abbot - indeed may still be slapped down in the Senate.
5
Saturday, 10 July 2010 03:28
Arjay
Tony Abbott is my local member.He performs far better in a live audience than in the media.On the media he chooses his words perhaps too carefully.He should drop the habit smacking of his lips as a pause to craft a carefully worded sentence.
While Tony is right wing,he could present a problem for the elites,since has has firm moral standards where he draws a line in the sand and that makes it difficult to corrupt him.
Julia is more mallable,and is not hampered by moral standards ordained by a higher authority.
Perhaps we will see the return of Malcolm Turnbull as being leader if Abbott wins, since the elites want a carbon tax to boost their profits.Carbon tax to me is economic enslavement.Carbon is the basis of life and the source of our energy.Eventually everything in our lives will be taxed under a ruse of AGW without any real proof of the cause or even whether it is just part of a longer term cycle.
The big question for me is; does Tony and the Coalition hold national sovereignty as being paramount to this global corporate mentality,that increasingly seeks more control over us?
6
Sunday, 18 July 2010 08:19
John Ward
Tony Abbott was as surprised to end up with th leadership as anyone.
He is a follower, and a supporter of corporates where the culture is intrinsically self serving and certainly not in Australian interests. As long as they invest capital into Australia is the criteria that matters!
A shallow man at best.
7
Sunday, 18 July 2010 19:38
Kenny Ng.
Tony Abbott is can't be trusted. I believe that he can't keep his promise what he say. I afraid if he will be rise up GST Tax 15% or 20% and make us to pay too much more than mining tax. This is all true if happen to us.
8
Sunday, 18 July 2010 23:29
Rosemarie Bishop
Frankly, Labor has proven they are liars. Let's give a christian man a chance. I think people today don't have many morals and that's why a man like Tony Abbott scares you. At least you know where a man stands when he is blunt. I think Tony Abbott will try his best to deliver what he promises and if he stands by his christian values than it can only be good.
9
Monday, 19 July 2010 05:19
Dion Giles
Eric Abetz has already signalled that an Abbott government would restore Work Choices by stealth. If Abbott were honest he would admit is and include it is his openly stated policies.
10
Monday, 19 July 2010 05:50
David Thomas
I would far rather Tony Abbott as someone who has a set of moral standards he is guided by and who admits that politicians sometimes lie than Julia Gillard who is apparently not guided by anything apart from the union movement and her own personal desire to be leader.
Unfortunately the media is intent on making much of the first FEMALE PM that Labor policies and failures are getting almost no mention. On the other hand Abbott is being lampooned at every opportunity and the media insists on reviving dead policies in order to ensure votes for Labor.
Most people vote the same way all their lives. Those who do not rely on the media for information. The media is not being honest or impartial. Until that changes and we no longer have compulsory preferential voting then there is no hope for real change.
11
Monday, 19 July 2010 08:52
Kenneth Acushla
Popularity Polls looks as though it will win the election. The real issues are not paramount in the minds of the media as to be politically correct is to be information incorrect.
12
Monday, 19 July 2010 12:22
wayne barnett
The unfortunate thing about speaking to the media is that when it is put into writing we don't get to hear how it is said,the tone of voice ect.As such the reporters can then put their spin on it and make it out for something that it is not.We hear sound bites and rarely see or hear the full statement.We are led by what the media wants us to see and hear.
Therefore we see people like Mr Abbott and Ms Gillard speaking very very carefully.Measuring every word they say because they know that they will be misquoted and taken out of context.
I believe that almost all elected pollies go into the job with only the best of intentions.Unfortunatly we have been fed the perception that all of them are liars and thieves whose only aim in politics is to get everything they can out of it for themselves.
This is far from the truth.
13
Wednesday, 21 July 2010 01:55
Kirsty
I am dumb founded to hear that so many people are willing to vote a PM in simply because of her hair colour or gender!! Or people not willing to vote for someone because they have religious morals. So this means we have many Australians willing to vote for an incompetent party who have proved that they can't (or won't) hold to any of their promises and who feels no obligation to even try to tell the truth. Mr Rudd apoligised to the stolen generation but would not apologise to the 4 families who lost loved ones in the botched insulation scheme. THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!
As for the complaint that the LNP supports big businesses/industries/the rich and only wants to tax the poor- look at the figures. Most Australians pay what
$15 000 or so in income tax a year- they are entitled to health care rebates, the stimulis packages, rebates for solar electricity/water tanks/home insulation etc. Whereas businesses and the rich pay millions in tax and are not entitled to those things- ah yes but they don't need it people say.. so they should pay taxes so everyone else can benefit but not themselves. Considering most businesses, entrepenuers and industry take huge risks and work hard for their money why should they keep footing the bill to run the country. People grumble that the GST may go up 5% but think it's fair to tax industry an extra 40%. It is the rich (individuals, businesses and industries) who keep this country alive. They should pay their taxes and should support the country BUT if the Gov't does not look after them then they will move elsewhere and then watch the GST rise!! It was our great economy and the safety measure put in place by the coalition that got us through the GFC.
14
Friday, 23 July 2010 01:36
Elizabeth
I find it difficult to understand why the benign Mr. Abbott - he of strong community spirit, he of strong values, which are not force fed to people - he of above average intelligence can be seen so negatively, by so many.
Clearly the above says I find Tony Abbott to be likeable, honest and highly likely to be a very good PM should he win the election.
Why do I think this? He actually cares more about Australia, Australians and their future than his opposite number who seems to care more about power than for honesty or Australia's best interests, no matter how much she attempts to show otherwise.
She is hollow, Abbott is not. He has depth and decency.
What is it someone wrote about two Queensland politicians recently?
One was a mile wide and an inch deep, the other an inch wide and a mile deep. In my mind Abbott is the latter.
15
Friday, 23 July 2010 02:51
John Ward
Tony thinks he is smuggling a turkey, when he is the turkey.
16
Friday, 23 July 2010 04:52
denise
I think the Liberal party should fight back re budgie smugglers. After all Tony Abbott is a surf lifesaver and as such wears speedos. Are these people really making fun of sich an institution
17
Friday, 23 July 2010 05:48
Sam
Too many of you seem to put faith in Abbott's faith. Bear in mind, hundreds of catholic priests have tons of faith, yet are pedafiles. No reflection on Tony, just saying the the 'moral highound' often covers up atrocious sins, therefore one's belief or lack thereof should be ignored.
18
Friday, 23 July 2010 07:08
Francis McGrath
My opinion is that I would prefer a competent thief with integrity to an honest incompetent.
Lord save us all from well meaning men. Why are all the competent men dumped from positions of responsibility?
19
Friday, 23 July 2010 07:29
Chris Phillips
Conservatives try to support people who create wealth while socialists just tend to distribute it to those that make little contribution
20
Friday, 23 July 2010 07:37
John Ward
Oh Kristy,
I had the opportunity to fly for two days in 1979 in a 747 on the 'Lang Hanckock 70th birthday flight'. On that flight the captains of industry, in particular the mining industry and John Singleton, Joh Bjelke and Flo, International press etc.
We flew up the east coast over Fraser Island inland over coal fields of Qld, at each point we were addressed by the miners shown video promotional material and collected handouts. The emphasis on the enormity of the country and the opportunity before us of the wealth we are now beginning to see.
We then went across the NT uranium deposits out over the NW shelf Oil rigs, then down over the Pilbara.
At that point Gina Hanckock made this astonishing claim "My father and I have the potential wealth one hundred times greater than all the Arab Oil Sheiks potential wealth put together". And she went on to say" It will take one thousand years to extract the deposits we own at the rate we are mining".
How is that for resource security?? Some risk eh?
If anyone really thinks these corporates will walk away from that sort of wealth after they just raised the price to china by 100% over the last year to eighteen months, you will have to think again.
These types of people will still be mining when the planet is no longer livable.
I think the only thing today's miners will pull out is a sharp pencils to trim back profits on paper to avoid paying tax.
Menzies talked about ‘faceless men’ in the ACTU. Now our Tony uses the same slur. Yet, corporations are set up in such a way that the cowards behind them can snipe, lie and destroy lives and reputations with impunity.
Corporations are able to use the shareholder’s money to as we saw lately, defeat climate science at Copenhagen to reverse President Obama’s decision to suspend deep water oil exploration, to defeat mining taxes and ultimately use the Nazi infiltrated political system in this country to bring down a Prime Minister.
Kirsty, having truth on your side and science on your side is not enough when the laws of Limited by Guarantee allow directors to hide behind corporate ‘person hood’ to avoid responsibility for the harm that the do. The Chinese have the right idea; they do not recognise this legal fiction. They slam the crooks in jail and hold those that harm others to account, as the only way to combat the sociopaths that they are.
On asylum seekers; Egon Kisch was a Jewish communist and anti-war activist he was a vocal critic of Adolf Hitler’s regime.
When Kisch wanted to come to visit Australia in 1934, Menzies pointed out that “every civilized country had the right to determine who should or should not be allowed in”, and that “since Kisch was a revolutionary and that revolution involved violence, he was not to be permitted entry”.
Did you notice that nothing has changed?
As for Safety in roof spaces.Tony Abbott was Minister for Health in 2005 when 1,790 people died at work for the year and 39,510 people were fully incapacitated on his watch. He now has the gall to use the recent tragedies of 4 deaths at work for his political purposes.
This man has no shame.
If we suffered 34 killed in Afghanistan and 780 fully incapacitated each week, it would be a national tragedy.
The dollar cost to Australia of 2005 workplace losses was $Billion 57.5.
The Queensland workplace watchdog has refused to comment on the progress of the investigations or which, if any, charges it may consider in the insulation deaths.
It has also refused to name the companies involved.
In the case of Ruben Barnes, it refers to an apparent electrical fault in the ceiling cavity.
"A cable supplying the stove circuit was damaged by a ceiling fixing screw causing the supporting metal ceiling batten to become energised at approximately 240 volts."
The charge killed the Rockhampton 16-year-old on November 18 last year, despite desperate attempts by two of his workmates to resuscitate him. The roof space was a death trap before the poor kid went in there!
While Tony is right wing,he could present a problem for the elites,since has has firm moral standards where he draws a line in the sand and that makes it difficult to corrupt him.
Julia is more mallable,and is not hampered by moral standards ordained by a higher authority.
Perhaps we will see the return of Malcolm Turnbull as being leader if Abbott wins, since the elites want a carbon tax to boost their profits.Carbon tax to me is economic enslavement.Carbon is the basis of life and the source of our energy.Eventually everything in our lives will be taxed under a ruse of AGW without any real proof of the cause or even whether it is just part of a longer term cycle.
The big question for me is; does Tony and the Coalition hold national sovereignty as being paramount to this global corporate mentality,that increasingly seeks more control over us?
He is a follower, and a supporter of corporates where the culture is intrinsically self serving and certainly not in Australian interests. As long as they invest capital into Australia is the criteria that matters!
A shallow man at best.
Unfortunately the media is intent on making much of the first FEMALE PM that Labor policies and failures are getting almost no mention. On the other hand Abbott is being lampooned at every opportunity and the media insists on reviving dead policies in order to ensure votes for Labor.
Most people vote the same way all their lives. Those who do not rely on the media for information. The media is not being honest or impartial. Until that changes and we no longer have compulsory preferential voting then there is no hope for real change.
Therefore we see people like Mr Abbott and Ms Gillard speaking very very carefully.Measuring every word they say because they know that they will be misquoted and taken out of context.
I believe that almost all elected pollies go into the job with only the best of intentions.Unfortunatly we have been fed the perception that all of them are liars and thieves whose only aim in politics is to get everything they can out of it for themselves.
This is far from the truth.
As for the complaint that the LNP supports big businesses/industries/the rich and only wants to tax the poor- look at the figures. Most Australians pay what
$15 000 or so in income tax a year- they are entitled to health care rebates, the stimulis packages, rebates for solar electricity/water tanks/home insulation etc. Whereas businesses and the rich pay millions in tax and are not entitled to those things- ah yes but they don't need it people say.. so they should pay taxes so everyone else can benefit but not themselves. Considering most businesses, entrepenuers and industry take huge risks and work hard for their money why should they keep footing the bill to run the country. People grumble that the GST may go up 5% but think it's fair to tax industry an extra 40%. It is the rich (individuals, businesses and industries) who keep this country alive. They should pay their taxes and should support the country BUT if the Gov't does not look after them then they will move elsewhere and then watch the GST rise!! It was our great economy and the safety measure put in place by the coalition that got us through the GFC.
Clearly the above says I find Tony Abbott to be likeable, honest and highly likely to be a very good PM should he win the election.
Why do I think this? He actually cares more about Australia, Australians and their future than his opposite number who seems to care more about power than for honesty or Australia's best interests, no matter how much she attempts to show otherwise.
She is hollow, Abbott is not. He has depth and decency.
What is it someone wrote about two Queensland politicians recently?
One was a mile wide and an inch deep, the other an inch wide and a mile deep. In my mind Abbott is the latter.
Lord save us all from well meaning men. Why are all the competent men dumped from positions of responsibility?
I had the opportunity to fly for two days in 1979 in a 747 on the 'Lang Hanckock 70th birthday flight'. On that flight the captains of industry, in particular the mining industry and John Singleton, Joh Bjelke and Flo, International press etc.
We flew up the east coast over Fraser Island inland over coal fields of Qld, at each point we were addressed by the miners shown video promotional material and collected handouts. The emphasis on the enormity of the country and the opportunity before us of the wealth we are now beginning to see.
We then went across the NT uranium deposits out over the NW shelf Oil rigs, then down over the Pilbara.
At that point Gina Hanckock made this astonishing claim "My father and I have the potential wealth one hundred times greater than all the Arab Oil Sheiks potential wealth put together". And she went on to say" It will take one thousand years to extract the deposits we own at the rate we are mining".
How is that for resource security?? Some risk eh?
If anyone really thinks these corporates will walk away from that sort of wealth after they just raised the price to china by 100% over the last year to eighteen months, you will have to think again.
These types of people will still be mining when the planet is no longer livable.
I think the only thing today's miners will pull out is a sharp pencils to trim back profits on paper to avoid paying tax.
Menzies talked about ‘faceless men’ in the ACTU. Now our Tony uses the same slur. Yet, corporations are set up in such a way that the cowards behind them can snipe, lie and destroy lives and reputations with impunity.
Corporations are able to use the shareholder’s money to as we saw lately, defeat climate science at Copenhagen to reverse President Obama’s decision to suspend deep water oil exploration, to defeat mining taxes and ultimately use the Nazi infiltrated political system in this country to bring down a Prime Minister.
Kirsty, having truth on your side and science on your side is not enough when the laws of Limited by Guarantee allow directors to hide behind corporate ‘person hood’ to avoid responsibility for the harm that the do. The Chinese have the right idea; they do not recognise this legal fiction. They slam the crooks in jail and hold those that harm others to account, as the only way to combat the sociopaths that they are.
On asylum seekers; Egon Kisch was a Jewish communist and anti-war activist he was a vocal critic of Adolf Hitler’s regime.
When Kisch wanted to come to visit Australia in 1934, Menzies pointed out that “every civilized country had the right to determine who should or should not be allowed in”, and that “since Kisch was a revolutionary and that revolution involved violence, he was not to be permitted entry”.
Did you notice that nothing has changed?
As for Safety in roof spaces.Tony Abbott was Minister for Health in 2005 when 1,790 people died at work for the year and 39,510 people were fully incapacitated on his watch. He now has the gall to use the recent tragedies of 4 deaths at work for his political purposes.
This man has no shame.
If we suffered 34 killed in Afghanistan and 780 fully incapacitated each week, it would be a national tragedy.
The dollar cost to Australia of 2005 workplace losses was $Billion 57.5.
http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/EAD5247E-98E7-4750-A35E-A6BC9B1E7781/0/CostsofWorkRelatedInjuryAndDisease_Mar2009
The Queensland workplace watchdog has refused to comment on the progress of the investigations or which, if any, charges it may consider in the insulation deaths.
It has also refused to name the companies involved.
In the case of Ruben Barnes, it refers to an apparent electrical fault in the ceiling cavity.
"A cable supplying the stove circuit was damaged by a ceiling fixing screw causing the supporting metal ceiling batten to become energised at approximately 240 volts."
The charge killed the Rockhampton 16-year-old on November 18 last year, despite desperate attempts by two of his workmates to resuscitate him. The roof space was a death trap before the poor kid went in there!