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You know what they say about Aussies abroad

Tory Maguire

by Tory Maguire

06 Oct 08:45am

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Filed under: Afghanistan, Julia Gillard, Nato, Politics, Tony Abbott

144 comments

Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are both on their first overseas jaunts since the election and neither of them seems to be enjoying themselves very much.

Wish you were here - or that I was at home. Picture: Gary Ramage and Britta Campion

Even though no one believed him for a second, Tony “Iron Man” Abbott’s jetlag excuse for not visiting Afghanistan has turned into a real snafu, and Gillard has admitted she’d rather just stay home altogether.

Let’s deal with Abbott first.

What Abbott should have said when Gillard first put it out there she’d offered him a spot on her plane to Kabul was “thanks but no thanks, I’ve already got my own trip planned.”

Instead the man who campaigned for 36 hours straight in the days before the election said he was worried about turning up in Britain jet lagged.

It was a really dumb thing to say. It looked like a lie, which is never a good look. And anyone who thought he was telling the truth would have concluded the Opposition Leader was being a big baby, and that he should have shown more respect to the 1550 Australian troops currently in Afghanistan.

The whole argument, fueled by Gillard’s gleeful admissions of her own travel stamina, has only served to distract from issues that are frankly much more important - like what the hell we’re doing in Afghanistan anyway.

Then last night on the 7.30 Report Kerry O’Brien asked Gillard if during her deep-end introduction to foreign policy at NATO she’d managed to find her comfort zone.

The PM said this:

Foreign policy is not my passion. It’s not what I’ve spent my life doing. I came into politics predominantly to make a difference to opportunity questions; particularly [to] make a difference in education.

So yes, if I had a choice, I’d probably be more (comfortable) in a school watching kids learn to read in Australia than here in Brussels at international meetings.

That’s what took me into politics, that kind of education work.

But obviously in this role I will serve as Prime Minister doing the full job, and the full job includes coming to places like Brussels to be a feisty advocate for Australia’s national interest.

It sounded a bit like she’d rather be a school teacher and that by jetting off to Brussels she was doing us all a big favour. It’s enough to make Kevin Rudd’s hair curl.

Gillard is already up against it trying to stamp her authority on a Prime Ministership that got off to such a shaky start. If she’s feeling a bit out of her depth, she should fake it ‘til she makes it.

And as for Abbott - he shouldn’t make up silly excuses no one will ever buy.

A lot of us lose our heads a bit when we’re on a big trip - but it’s actually the most important time not to misplace your common sense.

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144 comments

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    • C1 says:

      07:59am | 06/10/10

      I am a conservative voter (lay it out there at the start) but what the hell was Tony thinking!!!! Anything would have been better than the line he threw out there.  i have to admit it is not a good look and it is more ammo for Labor to throw at him.

      As for Gillard - I appreciate some policy areas are not for everybody, but one of the key roles of PM is to represent our national interests overseas. it is not something that can be picked up from a briefing paper that is read on the flight to the next destination.
      I believe she will not be a regular traveller simply because she has to be at home to keep her whole government from falling apart.

      Reply

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      09:39am | 06/10/10

      Hey !  What a stupid beat up this Afghanistan visit has become .  Gillard as Prime Minister , certainly should go visit our troops , but this current obsession by the media and pushed by Gillard , that the Opposition Leader should also be there is just a lot of nitpicking garbage designed to embarrass Tony Abbott.
      Gillard is the P.M. , it is her place to make the visit representing Australia, not Tony Abbott .
      As you have stated here C1 ,  :  ” ....but one of the key roles of P.M. is to represent our national interests overseas. “
      Exactly right !  All you are doing is taking the opportunity to have a swipe
      at Tony Abbott .
        ”  i am a conservative voter….”  Bullsh@#  !
      As for Gillards overseas representations , do it , but leave Foreign Affairs to Kevin Rudd.

    • C1 says:

      10:23am | 06/10/10

      Wayne,

      I am a conservative voter - so that is no BS. Just because I support Tony Abbott does not mean that i will not state my opinion that his reason for not going was a terrible one for him. It was not a good look and in a world where perception means everything, Julia is playing a better game at this stage.
      I agree with you that this is nitpicking rubbish designed to target Abbott. This government must realise that the mileage from demonising one individual will ultimately fail, particularly when results are demanded for all of the promises made The media seems to take an unhealthy interest in anything Tony does or says and giving St Julia if not a free run then definitely a smoother ride.

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      10:49am | 06/10/10

      C1 :  My apologies ,  i am rather suspicious of comment in these columns from those who claim to be conservative voters then proceed to dump a bucket on the Coalition.  The fact that you have replied convinces me of your honesty. Yes , i accept that you would be critical of the excuse Abbott gave .  As it turns out , he was telling the truth about having arranged his trip before Gillard extended the invitation to join her in Afghanistan . This has now been confirmed by RAAF sources and Gillard has started backing off her claims to the contrary.
      Surely there are far more important matters for the P.M. to turn her attention to than this beat up.
      One commentator points out the stupidity of both leaders being together in a war zone if Abbott had gone with Gillard . Quite right too.

    • C1 says:

      11:14am | 06/10/10

      All good.

    • HappyCynic says:

      11:36am | 06/10/10

      @Wayne, no one is above criticism, not ever.  Both leaders of their respective parties are both highly inadequate and dare I say it, incompetent lunatics.  What’s worse is they’re the cream of the crop.

      Such one-eyed thinking (left vs. right) is for people who think the political process and by extension their political party is there to help them, or in other words, morons who literally are not smarter than a 5th grader wink

    • Wombat says:

      11:55am | 06/10/10

      Wayne

      There was never any possibility that both of our leaders would go. The Deputy PM didn’t go anywhere.

      Abbott is just a politician who recently lost an election, standing in front of a team of politicians who recently lost an election. Why should anyone be overly worried about the security of a politician who has just been rejected at an election by the Australian people?

      I bet Malcolm Turnbull would have gone.

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      05:59pm | 06/10/10

      Wombat :  Not real smart old mate.  We both know what i was saying .
      However , as the cookie would crumble to your way of thinking , if J.G. was run over by the proverbial tank , that would be one Labor vote less in the short term . One vote less on the floor of the House ..............

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      06:04pm | 06/10/10

      Happy Cynic :  As you appear to be coming from the Labor left , does this place you in the moron not smarter than a 5th grader category to which you refer.  ?

    • iansand says:

      06:22pm | 06/10/10

      Wayne Fehlhaber - Is complete cynicism and inhumanity a prerequisite to join the Liberal Party, or is it part of the group indoctrination sessions?

    • Reg says:

      07:20pm | 06/10/10

      See Tony welshes on the pairing again Wayne. A real demonstration of pairing would have had them handcuffed together in the same plane or run over by the same tank.  Wassa madder widcha?

    • Wombat says:

      09:20pm | 06/10/10

      Wayne

      Were you praying for that tank?

      Yes, I knew what you meant. I just wanted to point out that losing Tony would have little effect on the government (apart from the urgent scheduling of celebrations). Tony is not the stand-by PM. Of the 150 members of the H of R, Tony is approximately 77th in line to be PM. And I think Malcolm Turnbull might dispute even that.

      As for Julia having a mishap in Afghanistan, I’m sure that the Libs would have too much integrity to try to capitalise on such an event.

      And these “proverbial tanks”: are they the tanks that Tony wants to send to Afghanistan? I should let you and Tony know that contrary to Tony’s military fantasies (and your daydreams about Julia) deploying tanks in Oruzgan would not be a good idea.

      Unless Tony wants the tanks there for the sole purpose of running over Julia. Maybe he’s smarter than I thought.

    • persephone says:

      10:16pm | 06/10/10

      Wayne

      I do like the way the Conservatives are wishing for someone in the Labor party to die, in the belief that this would somehow instantly mean that half a dozen other people would gallop across the floor to help them form government.

      Firstly, I would never wish death on anyone for any reason, so I find the attitude a bit distasteful.

      Secondly, any vote held under these circumstances (assuming the one vote mattered) would not be accepted as binding by the GG, who would be aware that it didn’t reflect the democratic will of the people (as they were one rep short).

      Thirdly, it assumes Parliament was sitting at the time. It is not unusual for a vacancy to come up and be filled in the time Parliament isn’t sitting.

      Fourthly, it assumes that the indies would immediately switch alliances. There are five and a Green. Evidence is that four of these support the government and one of the others has said he wouldn’t vote to bring it down. Admittedly, it would only take a couple of the four government supporters to switch, but it’s still a big ask. Certainly nothing in Abbott’s behaviour would encourage them to do so.

      Fifthly, the assumption seems to be that any such by election would be lost by the government. In this scenario, we’re talking about one of the safest seats in the country. Not going to happen.

      I realise that these dreams keep the hope alive, guys, but seriously, how long are you going to deny reality? The full three years?

    • MarK says:

      07:33am | 07/10/10

      The distasteful thing here is Gillard using our troops as a means to denigrate Abbott unfairly, cowardly and without cause.

      She is a disgrace.

      Everything else is spin, same old same old. Nothing has changed except the leader is more untrustworthy, has less convictions and is more inept than Rudd.

      6 months tops.

    • Liz says:

      12:14pm | 07/10/10

      Gosh an honest voter, you must be the only one who admits it!
      Julia went to a good school that’s why she’s interested in education.We can’t all love everything.

    • persephone says:

      08:00am | 06/10/10

      So you criticise one politician for being truthful and one for lying?

      Just shows that, whatever they do, pollies can’t win.

      Reply

    • Joel says:

      09:01am | 06/10/10

      Abbott can’t announce when he is going to Afghanistan and it’s sounds likely he had already arranged to visit Afghanistan, and Gillard is aware of it according to reports. He had to use an excuse and couldn’t obviously tell the truth of when his visit would be for security reasons as is always the case. Meanwhile the Prime Minister of Australia is overseas announcing she has little interest in foreign affairs and would rather be at home watching kids in a class room? She’s such a “truthful” class act as Prime Minister.

    • MarK says:

      06:11pm | 06/10/10

      Hahahahahaha pers.

      Spin baby spin.

      She knew. She is informed of travel requests and approves them to the warzone

      Or did she send her aide to another meeting and he forgot to report back.

      OMFG - don’t tell me she forgets to go to briefings and meetings that concern security of the Nation. Well maybe she skips them because they are about stuff that tends to happen overseas. Hard to be interested in security meetings if your “passion” is elsewhere.

      This has blown up in her face. What a disgraceful and deceitful woman we have.

      How embarrassing that the PM cannot rise above the snivelling lies and innuendo in this new paradigm.

      Same old Labor.

    • Reg says:

      07:32pm | 06/10/10

      FFUuuuuurk, I don’t have to read any of that, Tony Abbott gave a response that put his own comfort before all else. Typical.

    • nosthow says:

      08:05am | 06/10/10

      Its a measure of the man Tors that Abbott defended himself for not bothering to visit our fighting diggers in Afghanistan by saying “I dont want to be jet lagged”. I mean how weak and shameful is that and he is the man who says he should be PM ! You have to be joking. Climate change is crap says this lightweight as well. Abbott is a bad look here and overseas - all feathers and no bird !

      Reply

    • Ryan says:

      08:38am | 06/10/10

      @nosthow: wow there is a surprise, that stuck record repeating the same inane drivel.. over and over and over, guess you have a new scratch not to mention the lowness of our unelected PM using Afghanistan as a political stunt to do what Labor does best and run a smear campaign.

    • persephone says:

      08:50am | 06/10/10

      He can go without sleep to participate in an Iron man competition. He can go without sleep to campaign during an election.

      But he can’t go without sleep to visit our troops.

    • TimB says:

      09:29am | 06/10/10

      Perse, he doesn’t need to go and visit the troops just because Julia says “jump”.

      He’s not her pet, he’ll go in his own good time.

    • Nicole says:

      09:44am | 06/10/10

      It has been made very clear that Abbott had already planed to visit our troops. It has been made very clear that Gillard was well aware of this and again, chose to use it to make him look bad.
      Should he have used the jet lag excuse? No, it was stupid. But I sure as hell wouldn’t want to go anywhere with her either.

    • MarK says:

      09:53am | 06/10/10

      Sheep go bahhhh

      Pers on behalf of the Labor party and the left go bad Tony

      http://www.news.com.au/national/prime-minister-julia-gillard-ups-ante-on-tony-abbott-afghanistan-travel-decision/story-e6frfkvr-1225934656084

      Salient points

      “Australian Defence Force sources have confirmed they had organised Mr Abbott’s trip before Ms Gillard had invited her opposite number to join her.”

      Someone has been caught telling porkie pies Julia. Trying to score a few cheap shots eh?

      I love this. This is the sign of a major PM back pedal.

      “I’d happily refer people to the exact words of everything I’ve said over the last few days, the only thing I’ve said about Mr Abbott’s travel plans are they are a matter for Mr Abbott, I’ve never said anything else, and I certainly don’t intend to.”

      Let us focus

      “I’d happily refer people to the exact words of everything I’ve said over the last few day”

      Code for some smartie in the office thought up this scheme but thank god I left myself wiggle room to by only smearing with innuendo.

      Coward.

    • Bobster says:

      09:59am | 06/10/10

      @ Nicole,

      It’s been made pretty clear? Yeah, by Joe Hockey, after the gaffe. Not exactly a reliable source.

      Who knows if he planned it or not.

      It’s easy enough to say you planned it to get away from the jetlag stuff up, but who really knows for sure (given the obvious stupidity in announcing the time and date of a political leader’s visit to a warzone). This shall remain unknown.

      I believe Gillard didn’t attack on it in the first instance either actually. It was only after Tony made the jetlag call and there was no way she could ignore that.

    • TheRealDave says:

      10:04am | 06/10/10

      What a load of bollocks Nicole. HE was caught out being his usual Abbott self by saying he was going to be ‘too tired’ to visit the troops when he was offered a free ride. Now the excuses are coming out ‘oh I didn’t mean it that way’ and now ‘I was going to visit them sometime soon’..... yeah bullshit. No votes or photo ops so its not important for Tony.

      Some bollocky Conservative conference in Pomgolia is far more important for the rAbbott than the Australian troops HIS party sent to war.

      Election over - the Lib halter they have on Abbott is starting to slip.

      I await with baited breath the next bit of ‘Real’ Tony that slips out wink

    • MarK says:

      10:10am | 06/10/10

      Click the link above Dave and Bob.

      Slaient point repeated for your benefit

      “Australian Defence Force sources have confirmed they had organised Mr Abbott’s trip before Ms Gillard had invited her opposite number to join her.”

      Now the careful Julia emerges

      “I’d happily refer people to the exact words of everything I’ve said over the last few day”

      Got to be careful what you say outside of the protection that parliamentary protection provides.

      Inept overreach by Gillard. Disgusting that she seeks to score cheap political points over our soldiers. Shame.

      Bahhhhhh

    • Nicole says:

      10:12am | 06/10/10

      Bobster, TheRealDave, what MarK said !

    • Bobster says:

      10:33am | 06/10/10

      @ Nicole, these are all issues Abbott could have avoided he was sharper than your average sledge hammer.

      Here’s what happened - Abbott and Gillard are politicians. Politician 1 said something from which Politician 2 could get some mileage. Politician 2 did so and got some mileage.

      It’s kinda like a microcosm of the debt/BER/pink bats rubbish that Tony and Joe peddled for several months.

      It’s called politics and I, for one, have serious problems with any politician who is yet to master the art of politics.

      Having said that, Julia showed they’re both as bad as each other within a couple of hours of it so scores are level - again.

    • persephone says:

      10:34am | 06/10/10

      Salient points:

      The PM did not ‘out’ Tony Abbott on this. She responded to questions asked by the journalists about his failure to take up his offer.

      I don’t know how the journos knew, but it is the media who made it an issue, not the PM.

      More importantly, it’s Tony Abbott’s pathetic answer that made it an issue.

      Very easy to say wtte of “Of course I will be visiting our troops sometime in the future’ - doesn’ t create any security risks.

      And note: the unnamed ‘sources’ don’t say that the PM knew that TA had already arranged a trip.

      Bottom line: I agree with Nicole. It was a stupid response for Tony to make, and that’s why it became an issue.

    • MarK says:

      11:11am | 06/10/10

      Hahahahaha

      Now the backdown comes from everywhere including on the boards here.

      Unnmaed sources. Lolwat?

      “Australian Defence Force sources have confirmed they had organised Mr Abbott’s trip before Ms Gillard had invited her opposite number to join her.”

      Clearly named source. Australian Defence Forces. Read.

      Are you implying as an attempt to save the PM’s face that the defence forces of this country lie about stuff to protect the leader of the opposition?

      By implication are you then saying the defence forces are running a campaign against the PM?

      Are you trashing the word of the defence forces and the journalist Tom Wald who has had many articles published in that excellent and unbiased newspaper The Age of making stuff up that could hurt the PM.

      Shame.

      This is beautiful.

      Now pers with all the moral authority of a person that thinks it is acceptable to trash all your pre election promises becasue….well just because it suits…now thinks the defence force fibs.

      Pro tip pers. If the defence force says Abbott had a trip booked I think I will believe them. I also am of the belief the PM gets notified and approves such trips being sort of risky and all.

      The PM tried a quick one and got caught.

      LAWL…unamed sources hahahaha

    • persephone says:

      11:25am | 06/10/10

      MarK

      I can say ‘ADF sources tell me that they were unaware of Abbott’s visit” - my source may be a janitor at the local barracks, but that’s an ADF source.

      There is no reason to use unnamed ADF sources if the information is correct. They can put out a media release.

      As for the rest, I know insane laughter is all you’ve got.  I’d be like that too, if I were trying to defend Abbott.

    • MarK says:

      03:28pm | 06/10/10

      Sure pers don’t take my word on it.

      http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/defence/point-scoring-over-troops-and-breakdown-in-bipartisanship-is-appalling-says-ada/story-e6frg8yo-1225934798761

      Oh dear.

      Appears I might have been on to something at 8.30 this morning eh?

      Tsk tsk.

      Now the ADA is onto this

      “ADA executive director Neil James agreed there had been breakdown in bipartisanship over Afghanistan, and said politicians’ visits to troops should not be politicised.”

      he goes on

      “We’re the non-partisan public interest watchdog here. We’re appalled. Absolutely appalled by this,” he said.

      hmmmmm

      “Mr James said Mr Abbott had planned to visit Afghanistan before Ms Gillard extended her invitation and there was a longstanding convention that opposition leaders and prime ministers did not visit war zones at the same time.

      “The trip was organised by the Coalition a long time ago,” he said.

      Wow oh wow….it appears Julia may have to start spinning real quick.

      “Professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University, Hugh White, also came to Mr Abbott’s defence and said he suspected the government was “playing politics” by seeking to criticise him for not visiting with the Prime Minister.”

      OMG even the ANU is on the coalitions side here.

      So lets get down to it. Who are we going to blame for this disgraceful and shameful act of politicising a visit to the troops put in harms way,

      Who is the protagonist. Who is the morally corrupt and obviously vicious party here. Who would play with other peoples lives to score points.

      “He pointed the finger at Labor, claiming it was more at fault for politicising the issue. But he also took a swipe at the media coverage of Mr Abbott’s decision as “just disgraceful”.

      “The original fault lies with stupid media speculation.

      “But, also, there should have been more restraint by politicians. And it hurts me to say this as a non- partisan observer, but the fault lies mainly with Labor.”:

      Have a nice day pers.

    • GreekSnake says:

      03:58pm | 06/10/10

      Ah persephone is re-employed by the ALP machine now that it has secured a minority government and allocated funds. Welcome back.

      If you honestly believed the bad lie that Abbott used to avoid the topic of visiting a war zone then you really do deserve the flak you cop.

      Any politician that has ever traveled to a war zone knows that announcing the time and date of your visit will compromise security, both for the politician and for the troops protecting them. Why would Abbott in his right mind, announce when he is going?

      Furthermore, any trip to a war zone on government money is approved by the PM her self. Joolya knows very well that Tony has his own trip planned. It’s just a stunt, cheap but effective.

      The tasteless recruitment of mourning families of fallen diggers is a pretty pathetic move on the ALP front… But did we expect any better?

    • persephone says:

      05:26pm | 06/10/10

      MarK

      Oh dear.

      Just because someone says they’re disinterested and apolitical does not mean they are.

      And if the ADA is aware of a politician’s travel itinerary, they shouldn’t be. They are not a government or Defence Force agency. If they have the access to sensitive information like this, it should be a matter for investigation.

      But let’s go through the baby steps, shall we?

      Gillard visits troops in Afghanistan. After the trip, as the reponse to a direct questions, she confirms that Abbott had been invited.

      Now, she could have refused to answer the question, I suppose.

      If she had refused to confirm Abbott was invited, however, the spin on that would have been that she failed to include Abbott on this important trip and where was the kinder, gentler new paradigm?

      Having confirmed that yes, she had extended the hand of bipartisanship to Abbott, the obvious thing for the journos to do was ask him why he didn’t go.

      He gave a stupid, stupid answer, and it’s gone from there.

      Entirely a situation of Abbott’s own making.

      As for endangering Abbott’s life by revealing he plans to visit Afghanistan, that’s entirely Joe Hockey’s fault.

      So who’s to blame? Abbott for his stupid answer. If he had answered non commitally (“Look, as you know, guys, it’s not a good idea to discuss when and whether I intend to visit A. It’s a matter of national security, you know. My intinerary was already decided before the PM made the offer” or even “No comment”) there wouldn’t have been an issue.

      He was the one who made it sound like he valued his sleep more than visiting the troops. So blame him for being inept and (possibly) tired and emotional after a long flight.

      GreekSnake

      He didn’t have to use a bad lie. That’s the whole point.

      And ‘planning a trip’ and ‘having it approved’ are two distinct steps. Just because one has happened doesn’t mean the other has.

      The biggest threat to Abbott’s security came from Hockey. No one needed to know that Abbott planned to visit in the near future.

      And no, I don’t get paid for this. Thanks for the compliment, though. I must be really doing this well.

    • Aitch B says:

      08:12pm | 06/10/10

      @Pers

      Where in the article does it say that the ADA knew about Abbott’s intentions BEFORE this all came up? Nowhere!! Do you not think it’s possible that they now know after the ADF’s revelations?

      Rubbish statement, Pers…......

      Also, if Gillard was aware of protocol in regard to PMs and leaders of the Opposition visting troops together then she shouldn’t have invited him. Either poorly advised or more likely the obvious snatching of an opportunity to get stuck into Abbott. If you think she should have invited him because of the new ‘lovey dovey paradigm’ and ‘extending the hand of bipartisanship’ you are a fool.

      Sure Abbott’s response was stupid. About as stupid as Gillard post-election calling off all pre-election bets on policies because the goal posts had moved.

      Seems that many here think Gillard smells of roses and is infallible. I’ve seen her in action in Parliament and outside enough to know that she will take any and every opportunity to score political points and denigrate her adversaries any way she can.

      Hardly a wolf in sheep’s clothing….. more like a black mamba dressed up as a worm!

    • Heather says:

      08:30am | 06/10/10

      I heard Julia last night and imagined how Kevin must have cringed. She sounded like a dill; most of her comments came across like a last minute stand-in at a conference, reading someone else’s research that she didn’t understand, nor care about.

      Reply

    • MarK says:

      08:30am | 06/10/10

      At least we have cleared up who will be running foreign affairs.

      And of course there can be no possible other explanation for Abbotts lie. None at all.

      Reply

    • LG says:

      12:07pm | 06/10/10

      While it seems possible that the statement was poorly chosen cover for whatever reason, have you considered that Abbott may have been telling the truth? Maybe he really was worried about jetlag. Personally I don’t like jetlag, I get very grumpy when I’m tired.
      But maybe you’re right - maybe he did lie and there was another possible explanation. Perhaps something like the fact you can only take his word when it comes through on prepared written statements?

    • Joan says:

      08:39am | 06/10/10

      Gillard always sounds like a school teacher speaking to the `littlies`- period.  Now she admits she is more comfortable playing headmistress,  surprised ? No. Once you start outsourcing Labor policy implementation to Brown, Milne, Oakeshott, Windsor you know that this is a PM who lacks confidence in her own and Labor abilities.

      Reply

    • T.Chong says:

      09:46am | 06/10/10

      Just like Abbott was going to outsource industrial relations and tax revue to the mining oligarchy and we saw Howard and Downer outsource foreign policy to the US State dept and the pentagon.

    • Joan says:

      10:29am | 06/10/10

      T. Chong -Don’t recall any problems with industrial relations during Howard era once the wharfies got sorted out. Most workers employed by mining sector are laughing all the way to the bank and Australia is reaping plenty of taxes from mining sector, so much so Henry can’t get his predictions right. According to Gillard Australia is fighting the Taliband. some new group?- last time I heard it was the Taliban.. perhaps she should have a conversation with USA the key player in the deadly Afghan game instead whinging that Abbott did not go with her to carry her handbag….. what happened to Tim? Tim could do her hair and carry her handbag,

    • persephone says:

      11:27am | 06/10/10

      Joan

      so WorkChoices wasn’t the reason Howard was voted out?

      So I guess his government was just bad in general, then.

    • Ryan says:

      12:06pm | 06/10/10

      @Joan: I will have to agree with pers on this one, the Libs were voted out because of the massive fear and smear campaign run against workchoices, it is clear that they weren’t ready for that onslaught of lies.

    • persephone says:

      12:46pm | 06/10/10

      To use my favourite Gareth Evans quote:

      “We weren’ t running a scare campaign. We were just telling the truth. It wasn’t our fault that the truth was scary.”

    • Scarneck says:

      08:42am | 06/10/10

      I thought Kevin Rudd was Foreign Minister? I disagree this will distract from major issues. I think it depends in what context you take Gillard’s comments; she’s not saying this foreign relations ‘stuff’ is not important, just, she would rather be home doing what she does best…looking after her pupils! As for Abbott, as Tori said, just ‘SNAFU’...another day, same…......

      Reply

    • Reader says:

      08:49am | 06/10/10

      It is rather thick to say: “It sounded a bit like she’d rather be a school teacher and that by jetting off to Brussels she was doing us all a big favour”. That’s not really what she said or what she meant. She’s found herself in politics as a PM but that’s not why she came into the political arena in the first place. It’s a lot of learning even when you become a Prime Minister before you feel in your comfort zone. Just recall Li’ll Johnny gaffes when he became the PM. He did not look comfortable at all in this role on the international scene at that time

      Reply

    • C1 says:

      10:28am | 06/10/10

      What is this about her finding herself as PM!!! It was not as if she happened to walking past Rudd’s office when the plotters said - Hey Julia have we got a plan for you!!.

      She entered politics for one reason only ad that is to aspire to the highest office in the land. If she wanted to enter politics for any other reason, you would be seeing her in the backbenches or long gone. You do not make the choices she has made in her life (personal, political, lifestyle) unless you have a clear goal. She has reached it and now she has to perform because there is only one way to go now - it depends on how long.

    • Reader says:

      12:11pm | 06/10/10

      @C1 - You know, she was Rudd’s deputy right from the beginning, and as we all voted in 2007 it was clear she’ll be Rudd’s successor at some stage in the future. As the old saying goes: “If you don’t make things happen, things will happen to you”. Rudd failed to deliver on a number of fronts as a leader. Not that policies were wrong. Someone had to say that, however cruel it may look, it was not a military coup, just a change of a captain who lost his way.

    • Joan says:

      08:59am | 06/10/10

      Don’t Ozzies just focus on the petty? -, so Abbott didn’t go to Afghanistan.Why did he have to? - just cos Gillard was going- ... what did she achieve but a photoshoot .  ... big deal. How many troops actually met her??? Did she frighten the` Taliband`  she talked about in 7..30pm- ? You bet she didn’t -not even the Taliban.  Lets debate whether Australia should be in Afghanistan…. not what the right answer is for the reason for not going to Afghanistan.

      Reply

    • Mike T says:

      07:03pm | 06/10/10

      Here Here Joan….....

      Could not agree more, the fact that both the PM’s and TA’s comments have made such a big deal is petty beyond belief even if they were both delivered in a poor manner.

      We ask why politicians waffle and say nothing of substance?? this is a perfect example of why they do this…becasue the moment they deliver something that can be missintrepreted the media and the public jump all over it…

    • Bob Higgs says:

      09:10am | 06/10/10

      Abbotts jetlag must be pretty severe, and he travels business class.  It is not just a simple white untruth and that we should all forget about.  The underlying reason to snub our gallant Australian soldiers is that he prefers to hobnob with old Oxbridge chums, than get his hands dirty paying respect to our “peasant soldiers’.  His olde English school tie has a stronger pull on him than Australian concerns.  At least we know now that he will not govern for Australians, but for the priviledge and advantage and his alma mater.  Egalitarian Australia? not if Tony Abbott can help it.

      Reply

    • Joan says:

      10:55am | 06/10/10

      `snub our gallant Australian soldiers ` so was this an invitation from the soldiers?... I believe it was an invitation from Gillard.- Abbott snubbed no soldier or Gillard for that matter. .  As for Jetlag it has nothing to do with the quality of the seat its all about your bodyclock.  Some people suffer greatly from jetlag….others don’t….. just like with hayfever some people experience extreme reactions during Spring yet others enjoy spring without even a sneeze. I don’t sneer at people with hayfever symptoms or jetlag symptoms… they are real. I am very happy for Abbott to meet up with new British leader and see how they will deal with stew left by British Labour. after all Gillard has handed the wheel to conga line of Brown, Milne, Oakeshott, Windsor the new Labor brain pool of wisdom that Labor is drawing from for Labor policy management…. Abbott is right to be ready -  I predict that the worst is yet to come for Australia under Gillard and Co.

    • persephone says:

      11:31am | 06/10/10

      Yes, I hope Abbott pays careful attention to the British leader, who wants action on climate change and to cut back on middle class welfare.

    • Andrew says:

      09:11am | 06/10/10

      What the hell is Julia Gillard doing as Prime Minister if she has no interest in Foriegn Affarirs??? God Help Australia! The woman is a twit.

      Reply

    • Max Vaunted says:

      09:36am | 06/10/10

      It’s not a good look when our Prime Minister refers to the enemy of our forces in Afghanistan as the “Taliband”, as she did on a number of occasions on the 7.30 Report last night. You can’t help getting the feeling that her knowledge of the world outside the party room may be seriously lacking, as even my 14 year old daughter was able to point out.

    • Christian Real says:

      09:38am | 06/10/10

      Julia Gillard has appointed Kevin Rudd as Foreign Affairs Minister,that is his portfolio,not hers.

    • Philip Crowley says:

      10:22am | 06/10/10

      FFS get real Christian!!!!!! Gillard is the Prime Minister for gods sake. If you can’t see any negative implications in a PM who has little interest in anything outside a classroom, or the Party Room, you are a dullard Sir. Gillard is doing her utmost to make Kevin Rudd look like the greatest PM our country has known, and compared to her , he shines.

    • MarK says:

      10:30am | 06/10/10

      Exactly Philip.

      Said it before and will say it again.

      It looks like Rudd was the brains of the operation and that is truly scary.

    • Will Y says:

      09:30am | 06/10/10

      For me, there’s no question; Tony was being honest when he said he was concerned about turning up jet lagged to a conservative gathering in Britain. But the priority about attending such a gathering in “The Old Country” is more indicative of his historical time lag than his attitude to our troops out there in Afgahanistan defending American hegemony. What’s wrong with Tony just telling a truth, even if he leaves out the other reasons for how he set this priority. What’s interesting is that Tony is still naive enough not to see the handgrenade the invitation represented when it was first extended.

      As for Julia? What real difference does her 24-hour appearance make (assuming it was that long), other than to take a few of the troops out of the front line for the photo-opportunity?. I suspect the real battle she’s fighting in Afghanisation is focused on the marginal seats back home in Oz once the disfunctional 43rd Australian parliament implodes, in the not too distant future, under the pressure of our present, rare experiment with representative democracy. To be fair,  I suppose her presence does provide some moral/morale reinforcement for the dirty job our children find themselves doing in this seemingly distant, irrelevant outpost. Are we still calling it a War on Terror? I wonder what we’ll call it ten-years from now? And I wonder how we’ll view Australia’s involvement and this little political paragraph in the global scheme of things?

      Reply

    • Marg says:

      10:19am | 06/10/10

      I agree Will Y, Tony Abbott does suffer foot-in-mouth but basically he is a decent man. On the other hand Julia Gillard or “GI Julia” should not be trying to gain political points by using Abbott’s refusal to go with her as some sort of cowardice. Let’s face it, the troops would much prefer to be entertained by some concerts with talented musicians than posing for photos with this ehomaniac.

    • Andrew says:

      09:32am | 06/10/10

      Jooolia should stay at home with the rest of the cast of Kath and Kim and let “Travel’n Kevin” do the hard yards.  As PM,  Kev got his work experience for the role as Foreign Minister, best stick to the path of least resistance.

      Reply

    • Matt says:

      09:33am | 06/10/10

      Taking the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader of a country into a war zone together would be too much of a security risk. Check with anyone who works in war zone security. Gillard asking Abbott to accompany her was naive and stupid and now trying to make political miles out of Abbotts refusal is low class politics. Julia Gillard has a lot to learn as Prime Minister.

      Reply

    • Bobster says:

      10:17am | 06/10/10

      Dear The Punch,

      Could someone put together a timeline on this please - Gillard didn’t start it, as usual the media did and from what I’ve seen she was quite gracious until Abbott pulled out that jetlag howler.

      And as we all know, every argument put by Joe Hockey is automatically invalid and probably untrue.

      But Matt’s quite right in that it would be idiotic to put the PM and Opposition leader (who in this situation is probably front-runner for PM) in a position where they could both be wiped out in one shot.

    • Muzz says:

      10:37am | 06/10/10

      I thought Gillard said she had asked Abbott to go with her to Afghanistan? She obviously not only has no interest in Foreign Affairs but none what so ever in Security matters. She really is just a school Mistress.

    • persephone says:

      10:37am | 06/10/10

      Why? If they both got killed, all that happens is that the party rooms elect new leaders.

      It’s not like the board of a big company, or the US President and Vice President, where if the leaders are wiped out there is no easy way to replace them.

      Our system of government is robust enough to deal with problems like this.

    • Wombat says:

      12:20pm | 06/10/10

      Rubbish. This idea that our politicians are too precious to lose is absurd. There is no shortage of politicians. For every one of them there are a hundred competent people who would gladly take their job.

      Howard with his flak jacket on addressing a rally of people he had p#ssed off, snipers on Sydney rooftops during APEC, ordinary people being pushed and manhandled by thuggish police: is that the sort of country we want Australia to be?

      The politicians are supposed to be there to serve us! If they don’t like the risks then they should get a new job.

      The people that we can’t afford to lose are the young men and women that are sent off to war by our “precious” politicians. As long as we are at war, all of our politicians should be required to spend as much time as possible in that war zone (preferably on the front line).

      Politicians are disposable. Our soldiers are not.

    • Steve Putnam says:

      09:20am | 09/10/10

      Abbott started this mess himself. Afghanistan is one area where the politics has been neutral and by both sides of politics being present there as one, the diggers would see that they had the unambiguous support of the country. The story got wings when the families of soldiers serving in Afghanistan, on hearing Abbott’s lame excuse for not attending, voiced there concerns on talkback radio.

    • ibast says:

      09:44am | 06/10/10

      Why has Abbott gone to London and who is paying for it?

      Reply

    • MarK says:

      09:54am | 06/10/10

      Why has Gillard gone overseas and who is paying for it?

      She says she is not interested in foreign affairs.

      This is an outrage.

      Hahahahahaha

    • Bobster says:

      10:02am | 06/10/10

      1. To talk to other tories (who are in legitimate minority government) about evil Labor/Labour parties.
      2. Twiggy Forrest and Clive Palmer

    • ibast says:

      10:15am | 06/10/10

      Firstly Mark, she is the Prime Minister and thus both entitled and sometimes (all but) required to attend events such as this.

      Secondly she didn’t say she didn’t have an interest, she said it was not her passion.

      Thirdly, I’m just asking the question about Abbott.  No opinion expressed.

    • MarK says:

      10:27am | 06/10/10

      I am also asking a question.

      Secondly as the opposition leader he is both entitled and sometimes (all but) required to attend events such as this.

      Thirdly I chose to express an opinion in the same post thus saving time.

      /shudder…stop it. Don’t use passion and talk about Gillard in the same sentence. It scares me.

      I also laughed….....oh look a puppy…......

    • persephone says:

      11:34am | 06/10/10

      Big difference, MarK.

      The PM is attending an international meeting of government leaders.

      Tony Abbott is attending a party political event.

    • Christian Real says:

      11:43am | 06/10/10

      ibast
      Perhaps Tony Abbott wanted to visit his place of birth, seeing that he was born in London,England on the 4th November,1957.

    • Nicole says:

      11:46am | 06/10/10

      I don’t even know why Gillard is attending. As she said, she’s not that interested. A PM who’s not really interested in foreign affairs? Such PM material.

    • ibast says:

      12:14pm | 06/10/10

      Mark,
      “Secondly as the opposition leader he is both entitled and sometimes (all but) required to attend events such as this.”

      Actually, I don’t know the whole story, but from information I have, this is a party political event.  He is not representing the Australian people here and he is not representing his electorate.  So he is neither required nor entitled to attend an event such as this.

      So I ask again, who is paying for it?

    • Bobster says:

      12:27pm | 06/10/10

      So Rudd used to go overseas all the time and that was bad.

      Gillard wants to stay at home and that’s bad.

    • Likes Joining Dots says:

      05:42pm | 06/10/10

      @ Christian Real
      C’mon, you do know Julia was born in the UK right?

    • Ben in Canberra says:

      09:51am | 06/10/10

      If Gillard didn’t want to be in the position where she was representing our nation overseas, she should have told Arbib and Shorten that when they told her to knock on Rudd’s door back in June. All of us have things in our professional lives that we probably don’t particularly enjoy, but that doesn’t mean that you articulate it on national television whilst at a forum for world leaders; it’s an incredibly amatuerish thing to say.

      As for Abbott; very poor choice of words indeed, but I agree with Matt that having the PM and alternate in the same warzone at the same time is a foolhardy and naive suggestion that Gillard’s office should have been aware of.

      Reply

    • notsurprised says:

      09:58am | 06/10/10

      What’s the bet that if TA had landed in Afghanistan the lefties would be bitching about him trying to turn our diggers efforts into a “Photo opportunity” or a “Political stunt” in competition with Joolya. Either way they’ll find something to beat up.

      Reply

    • Bobster says:

      03:15pm | 06/10/10

      Those tricky lefties. Gosh darn them all.

    • iansand says:

      09:58am | 06/10/10

      Abbott could (and should) have said “I have already arranged a visit and Ms Gillard is aware of that.  I thank her for the invitation, however”.  But he didn’t and there seems to be no sensible reason why he didn’t.  That’s the problem.  I don’t know exactly what it says about the quality of the man.  It does fit in with the idea that he can only be trusted when reading from a script.  It was a dumb thing to say, and dumb politics in the circumstances.

      Reply

    • MarK says:

      10:13am | 06/10/10

      Totally agree.

      No go on and follow the train of thought that will lead you to Gillard using our troops as political capital to smear the opposition with.

      “I’d happily refer people to the exact words of everything I’ve said over the last few day” She said.

      Refer people to the exact words….lol. We all know what that means.

    • Bobster says:

      10:42am | 06/10/10

      It means she didn’t say any of the things you are claiming she did and, unfortunately, this one’s a media beat up and not an ALP beat up.

      Sadly Mark, not all bad things are the fault of the Labor Party - but life’s easier if you only have two options isn’t it?

    • Dash says:

      10:47am | 06/10/10

      MarK you are right! This is a political smear campaign designed to drag attention away from the ALPs issues. Perhaps trying to divert attention from the revelation about ALP members trying to backstab Gillard during the negotiations with independents. Or the fear that another rate rise is on the way or to divert attention from the Carbon tax lie and it’s obvious inflationary impact. Lets talk about plane travel and create an issue for the media to swallow rather that cop a lashing over the real issues!

    • Richard says:

      11:14am | 06/10/10

      How about iansand that he just said what he honestly felt to be the case? Just use a bit of empathy for once to put yourself in Abbott’s shoes. He would obviously be very very excited to meet the conservative Prime Minister of England, this is obviously a super big deal for someone of his nature/upbringing/education/values/whatever. He honestly felt that it was such an important matter that he wanted to be as fresh as possible.

    • Louisa says:

      10:03am | 06/10/10

      MISS Gillard should concenrate on her OWN education.

      Reply

    • Joan says:

      10:13am | 06/10/10

      Yeah that the Taliban is not Taliband as she kfpt on repeating 7.30 report.  Ignorance is bliss and that is what Gillard counts on.

    • Andrew says:

      12:16pm | 06/10/10

      If Joooolia is going to be forced in her role as PM to get on her big plane and go overseas and meet with her international peers it would be in the Nations interest to get her some much needed elocution lessons.

    • Joan says:

      01:02pm | 06/10/10

      Andrew.. Maybe she needs an English interpreter to interpret her Strine accent when overseas or they could run English subtitles as they do here with people with unusual English accents. If she can’t handle Mr Abbotts name you wonder how she manages with all them there foreign names of world leaders.

    • iansand says:

      05:48pm | 06/10/10

      Andrew & Joan - It was Mr Abbott kowtowing to the Pommy Tories.  They may have needed an interpreter.  I bet the boys in Afghanistan understood Ms Gillard perfectly.

    • Dash says:

      10:15am | 06/10/10

      Why bother quoting the PM Tory? She’s a compulsive liar! Why are people more concerned with the PMs photo opportunities, than the lie she told about the Carbon tax. Or about debating the inflationary impacts of such a move. Stop fluffing around with this crap and lets talk about the important things like why members of the “stable” ALP were trying to get independents to support Abbott. Or the fact that the green alliance stands for higher taxes, open borders, decriminalisation of drugs and the legalised murder of the ill. Or perhaps we should debate the continual interest rate rises, the impact of the second “stimulus” package on rates or the time it will take for the ALP to pay off it’s debt (if ever), why we never got :“root and branch” tax reform or “Cheaper better childcare”, or “more affordable housing”, or grocery choice, fuelwatch or the childcare facilities promised to us and never delivered by this government. Suely it’s more important to hold this government accountable than to fall headlong into the ALP propaganda machines spin?

      Reply

    • Bobster says:

      01:36pm | 06/10/10

      If the media hasn’t been covering all of these important issues you list, may I ask how you found out about them?

      It’s not all a commie plot, mate.

    • Super D says:

      10:19am | 06/10/10

      I think Abbott was concentrating more on what he didn’t want to say (ie I’m going on my way home) than what he was saying.  I reckon this is going to come back and bite Labor massively.

      The whole thing seems to be designed to win the days media cycle.  I thought that approach wasn’t part of the new paradigm?

      Reply

    • jb says:

      10:20am | 06/10/10

      and I quote…
      ‘Australian Defence Force sources have confirmed they had organised Mr Abbott’s trip before Ms Gillard had invited her opposite number to join her.
      Ms Gillard would have had to approve Mr Abbott’s travel plans.’
      Your girl is still playing the man instead of showing ANY interest in running this country, or is she admitting to not being interested in defence again by having someone else sign off on Abbotts travel detail.
      And Tony think before you speak please…

      Reply

    • jg says:

      11:31am | 06/10/10

      Taliband.

      haha.

      Reply

    • Anjuli says:

      12:03pm | 06/10/10

      The information from Joe Hockey on TV last night was that Tony had already locked in a visit to Afghanistan so just what is Gillard trying to do ,now the baddies know there is to be visit from another VIP. Yes! Tony was wrong to say what he did ,but I know from experience that after traveling to the UK from Australia I do not get any thing right for at least 48 hours.

      Reply

    • persephone says:

      12:43pm | 06/10/10

      So Hockey has put his leader at risk by foreshadowing his visit?

      Wouldn’t be an alterative motive, would there?

    • demeter says:

      12:55pm | 06/10/10

      Great stuff .....Tony is looking like an idiot as he too ‘tired’?

      But its not really an issue its simply isnt recommended that the PM and the opposition leader visit a war zone at the same time. Similar if the PM and the Australians Deputy PM Bob Brown should not travel to a war zone either.

      Reply

    • The Badger says:

      01:16pm | 06/10/10

      Interesting,

      I just went through the transcript of the 7:30 report and no where did I see the word Taliband.
      Guess this is something made up by the hard of hearing people who thought she was calling Dr. No -  Mr. Rabbott.
      I’d advise you lot not to travel overseas, because other people’s pronunciation of your version of the Kings English will obviously confuse you.

      Reply

    • MarK says:

      01:42pm | 06/10/10

      Noice. Real gud defeense thar mait.

      Didn’t know they wrote transcripts out phonetically. Maybe you should listen to the show…...oh sorry, that would be getting a broader view. Silly me.

    • Jane says:

      01:54pm | 06/10/10

      Nup, she definitely calls them the Taliband. How embarrassment.

    • The Badger says:

      01:59pm | 06/10/10

      I rest my case

      The people that made the transcript obviously heard Taliban.

      Mark here hears what he wants to hear.

      Mark you really must get some rest.

    • MarK says:

      02:30pm | 06/10/10

      You need to have a case to begin with to rest it.

      Just wanted to point that out to everyone as a general rule.

    • Nicole says:

      02:34pm | 06/10/10

      Badger, I’ve listened to it twice and she does say Taliband. But, so did Kerry O’Brien.

    • farkurnell says:

      06:07pm | 06/10/10

      Arn’t the Taliband touring with U2 this summer .Maybe Joolz and the Shandy Man can be the support act, thou probably one will end up at the MCG while the others at Acer Arena.

    • Reg says:

      07:50pm | 06/10/10

      For the uninitiated, N is a nasal consonant formed by placing the tip of the tongue just behind the upper front teeth, as in the word taliban.

      D is also a nasal plosive formed the same way. Now try saying the words “taliban and.”  The anticipation of the D in AND can result in inversion, even among the most aesthetic of English speakers. 

      Now let’s stop this petty rubbish.

    • Christian Real says:

      09:10pm | 06/10/10

      Badger,
      I also went through the transcipt of the 7.30 report and the word “taliband’ was never ever mentioned or written throughout it.
      It is obvious that the Liberal bloggers have deliberately misconstrued the word to suit their own misleading puposes.

    • TimB says:

      05:27am | 07/10/10

      Really Punch mods? You block my post simply because it contains contains a Youtube link and a question about how much faith Badger has in his own hearing?

      Let’s try this again.

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

      @ Badger and Christian-Look forward to your thoughts on the above.

      @ Reg- Yes I agree it’s a small minor thing by itself. And under most circumstances I wouldn’t care. But then you get the likes of Badger & Christian denying solid facts…the opportunity is too good to pass up.

    • Luke says:

      01:18pm | 06/10/10

      To say Abbott should show more respect in regards to our troops in Afghanistan for not travelling with Gillard is a low act. He has already planned to go to Afghanistan. You people who shoot your mouths off because you think you have scored a political point should keep your vile traps shut until you know the facts. Using our troops to score political points is is what I call not showing respect to our troops! He has been attending funerals for soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghanistan and meeting with their grieving families, if anyone understands the enormity of the responsibility and has much respect for our troops and their families it is Abbott.

      Reply

    • Mother Rose says:

      04:06pm | 06/10/10

      No Luke,
      It is more important for jet-lag Abbott to make it to Birmingham to meet with a bunch of Tories than it is to visit the troops the coalition sent to Afghanistan.
      After all, Abbott is a bit of a Luddite and can’t keep up with his pommie friends on facebook now can he?

      Wonder who paid for this junket. At least if he stopped in Afghanistan, he could have written the trip off as a business trip.

    • MarK says:

      06:17pm | 06/10/10

      I love how misinformed people are.

      Bahhhhh

    • Gregg says:

      03:22pm | 06/10/10

      The reference to Tony Abbott having a trip already planned to visit Afghanistan has been mentioned a number of times, the regular Laborers also seeing what they can attempt to make of further dissection to cover their pown premature pickiness.
      I suppose they would like Tony to have mentioned preceisely when and where he will visiut or perhaps we can rely on Gillard to have that leaked.
      Certainly you can expect some clever media types to try and get further info and so Tony has attempted not to give any hints of a trip, though good ole Joe has spilt his guts.

      Read the full story elsewhere:
      ” He has since admitted he chose his words poorly when explaining why he declined the invitation.

      “It was a very poor choice of words on my part and I apologise if I’ve created the wrong impression and I apologise if I’ve given offence, because the last thing I would want to do is give offence to the families of our troops,” he said.

      Opposition frontbencher Joe Hockey told Sky News that Mr Abbott had already arranged a trip to Afghanistan and Ms Gillard was playing silly games by issuing the invitation.

      “If Julia Gillard is going to play these sorts of politics on Afghanistan she is not worthy of her role as Prime Minister,” Mr Hockey said.

      “This is an area where you do not play political games and Julia Gillard is playing a dangerous political game in relation to Tony Abbott’s proposed visit to Afghanistan.

      “Julia Gillard knows the date has been locked in. It has been in the (books) for some period of time.

      “It is low-rent politics from Julia Gillard.

      “It’s Julia Gillard that is playing this game of snakes and ladders, and I say to Julia Gillard, be very careful of where you are treading.”

      However, Nationals Senate Leader Barnaby Joyce told triple j’s Hack program that Mr Abbott would now be regretting his decision.

      “Sometimes you make a decision where a couple of days later you think you should have made a different one. That’s called making a mistake, and all human beings make one of those,” he said.

      “Obviously he’s said he’s going to see the troops now he believes it’s a mistake, and when someone makes a mistake they should fix it up and that’s what he’s doing and that’s to be commended, not condemned.”

      Mr Abbott says he could have explained the situation better.

      “I have for quite some time had in preparation a visit to Afghanistan that will be taking place quite soon,” he said.

      “I can’t give you the exact date for obvious reasons, but it will be taking place quite soon and the Prime Minister knows all about this.

      “I just want to make it crystal clear that our troops in Afghanistan are important to me.

      “I fully support them and the last thing I would want to do is give the impression that my comfort and convenience is more important to me than the welfare of our troops.”

      And we know full well that Barnaby can always be relied upon too.

      But even the PM can choose words in a very evasive way, the 7:30 report being a prime example for when asked by Kerry about Afghan corruption and how she approached that in discussions in Kabul, she prattled on merrily about nothing too much at all!

      Then Kerry has to say ” But did you address corruption directly in your meeting with Karsai ”  And Gillard
      ” Ooh Oh Kerry ” and out came the typical cover line for I was bullshitting you Kerry!
      Some shyster we have in a PM and that says a lot more for her than what an Opposition leader may say about himself for not wanting to have disclosed that he has a trip planned to Afghanistan.

      Reply

    • PJ says:

      03:44pm | 06/10/10

      Hi Tory. What we have here are two important people to US explaining a simple situation. One can tell a lie and the other finds it most difficult. I would not trust Ms Doubtfire to handle the smoko money let alone this nation. Regards.

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      07:01pm | 06/10/10

      What, Tony Abbott dresses up in drag? And what does Tony Abbott have to do with your smoko money?

    • Mick says:

      04:21pm | 06/10/10

      What sort of Prime Minister says she would rather be in a class room talking to teachers and watching kids read? OMG, I bet any world Leaders listening to her would be gob smacked at our school Mistress PM. And people were saying Abbott didn’t look like PM material. Get home Jules to your education portfolio and leave the running of the country to Kevin then.

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      04:22pm | 06/10/10

      If anyone thinks that Australia matters in Afghanistan or Brussels, they are sadly mistaken…..

      Reply

    • Christian Real says:

      04:35pm | 06/10/10

      Luke
      It is simply amazing how the Liberalites attempt to condone Tony Abbott’s failure to put the priority of visiting our Australian troops before meeting his English Tory counterparts.
      Tony Abbott has clearly shown a lack of respect for our Service Men and women who are putting their lives on the line and whose lives are at risk on a daily basis.
      Tony Abbott could have accepted the Prime Minister’s offer to travel with her and visit our Australian Troops in a bipartisan arrangement, before jetting of to attend a meeting with the English   Tories in London.
      Abbott braggs about campaigning for 36 hours in days before the election,Abbott can run and finish in a triathalon and get photo shoots,and the media nick naming him ‘Ironman’, but he claims that he would be jet lagged by stopping over in Afghanistan to visit our troops.
      Tony Abbott’s flimsy and pathetic excuse shows that he is not even fit enough to be Leader of the Opposition,let alone an alternate Prime Minister in waiting.

      Reply

    • Muzz says:

      05:06pm | 06/10/10

      Abbott had already planned his trip to Afghanistan before Gillard asked him you fool. What planet are you on! And Luke’s right, trotting out this rubbish of lack of respect is a disgrace. Show some respect yourself to the diggers and stop using them as an excuse to score cheap political points, you should be ashamed.

    • TimB says:

      05:09pm | 06/10/10

      It is simply amazing that you think Tony should just drop his plans on Julia’s suggestion. This is the like bloody election debate argument all over again.

      He already had plans to visit at a later date. This has been proven.

      What is it with you and your incredible ability to ignore facts?

    • Nicole says:

      05:10pm | 06/10/10

      Good Lord Christian. Take those blinkers off will you? The ADF has confirmed that Abbott had arranged to visit our troops prior to Gillards invitation, infact, prior to her visit. He does not have to do anything Julia tells him to do, period. I do however recognise that his excuse was idiotic. What is more appalling is our PM admitting publicly that she really has no interest in foreign affairs. Now that’s a big smack in the face of the Australian people. Stop worrying about what Abbott is doing and focus on how Julia is making a total fool of herself.

    • MarK says:

      06:16pm | 06/10/10

      The spin is strong in this one.

      Forget it Nicole. It is pathetic.

      Gillard has trashed the office of the PM with her deceit and innuendo.

      She is a disgusting disgrace. It won’t stop here.

      What a complete error of judgment. What a lie she peddled.

    • Christian Real says:

      07:08pm | 06/10/10

      Muzz,
      The only line the Liberals seem to take is to attack the truth and to attempt to dumb down politically correct contributers to these blogs.
      I respect our Troops fighting in Afghanistan, and had I been in Tony Abbott’s position of opposition leader, I would have had no problem in accepting Prime Minister Gillards offer of a bipartisan visit from the leaders of both major political parties.

    • Christian Real says:

      07:17pm | 06/10/10

      Nicole
      That is why Julia Gillard and any other previous Prime Minister has a Minister for Foreign affairs.
      Alexander downer was John Howard’s Mister for foreign Affairs and Julia Gillard has Kevin Rudd to handle the portfolio of Minister for foreign affairs.
      In fact, I cannot recollect any previous Prime Minister that has handled the portfolio of minister for foreign Affairs themselves, they have always appointed someone else to take on that portfolio and task

    • Steve Putnam says:

      12:43pm | 09/10/10

      Hopefully while Abbott is in the UK David Cameron will take him aside and explain a few of the realities concerning climate and its possible impact on the planet. At least the British Tories, unlike their Australian counterparts, don’t have their heads buried in the sand on this issue.

    • Dobbo says:

      04:35pm | 06/10/10

      This shocking failure of judgement will pursue Abbott through what remains of his leadership like a heat-seeking missile. And fancy silly old Hockey wanting to stand next to this doomed man and actually trying to defend the indefensible.
      Yep, there’s something really on the nose with Abbott’s “born to rule” mentality, even whiffing of the way the British commanders treated our troops in other wars.
      So now he stumbles out an apology but one wonders what the troops will be really thinking when Abbott finally makes it to Afghanistan.
      Maybe something along the lines of: arriving fresh for his Tory mates and learn how to win power is more important than coming over to support us.
      Meanwhile, Turnbull sits tight, out of sight.

      Reply

    • Richard says:

      06:13pm | 06/10/10

      You’re a bitter rambling fool dobbo with no sense of perspective, no understanding of history or world affairs, and an unbecoming bias distorted out of all proportion to true reality, which is that Tony Abbott is a political leader of consequence, in full command of the loyalty of his party, and the gravitas to mix with powerful people on the international stage.

      The best measure of Tony Abbott’s greatness the apoplexic way you left-wingers rage on and on and on about him, trying to blow the smallest little issue way out of proportion and paint him in a negative light. Well if that’s the only type of comment you’re able to make,  you really all are very small minded people.

    • nosthow says:

      06:14pm | 06/10/10

      Beautifully put Dobbo - on his return from OS Tony should take a drive past the Lodge and say goodbye to his chances of ever getting there having dropped the keys to it down the political sewer grate ! How lucky is Australia !

    • Reg says:

      12:33am | 07/10/10

      Terrific, I can hear Richard’s “Received Pronunciation” in every word. Umbrage in full flight tainted only by his reference to “true reality.” That—- is unforgivable..

    • nosthow says:

      04:42pm | 06/10/10

      The papers and news media are full of Abbotts paltry excuses trying to get out of his giant gaff and the more he talks the worse he looks on the World stage. All too late Tony old buddy - damage done fella !

      Reply

    • Christian Real says:

      08:53pm | 06/10/10

      From a story in ‘The Sydney Morning Herald”, ‘Abbott cops flak over Afghan excuse”, written by Phillip Coorey and Andrew tillett, on October 6,2010:
      This is extracts from that story:
      “On monday the herald revealed that Mr Abbott had declined Ms Gillard’s invitation and would visit troops at a later date”
      Mr Abbott’s office cited scheduling difficulties for not accompanying the Prime Minister yesterday. Mr abbott cited jet lag”
      “One senior liberal and key supporter of Mr abbott said the leader had made a serious political mistake.”
      “Bloody soldiers are dying and he’s talking about jet lag”,he said.
      * It would seem that Mr Abbott’s office and Mr Abbott have not got together to get their stories right,thus two different stories, two different excuses for Tony Abbott not accepting the Prime Minister’s bipartisan offer for both leaders to jointly visit the australian troops in Afghanistan.

      Reply

    • lindy says:

      11:07pm | 06/10/10

      Total media beat up. Shame. Both leaders gave good interviews on important matters and what bits were quoted and verballed .... ?  Total trashing of transfer of information from media to public.  No wonder our pollies resort to slogans and 6 oclock entertainment sound bites.

      Reply

    • Guestt says:

      02:40am | 07/10/10

      Neil James said Mr Abbott’s comments aimed to distract the Taliban and other potential terrorist organisations from an upcoming trip to the Middle East. He said Mr Abbott was expected to visit Australian troops in the coming weeks.

      “The Opposition leader has already organised a visit to Afghanistan,” he told The Manly Daily.“His comments were in fact a cover story to draw attention away from his visit.”


      Chris Uhlmann said this on ABC News24 (6/10/10):
      It was made known to journalists that Abbott was offered, but didn’t accept a trip with Gillard to Afghanistan.
      It’s not normally the case that it would become public, and that became public via the Gillard Labor government in some way, that much is at least obvious.
      This wouldn’t normally be something that would be canvassed, and Abbott was first put into that difficult position by Gillard.


      So it’s Julia Gillard that’s playing dirty politics with a serious issue like Afghanistan. 
      Rudd & Gillard were reported to have missed National Security meetings (Gillard even sending her bodyguard to fill in).  It’s appalling that she would trash Australia’s national security and potentially endangering lives by putting Abbott in that position in the first place.

      The jetlag gaffe would never have happened had Gillard’s Labor government (or people sympathetic to it) not leaked the info to journalists in the first place.

      Reply

    • Reg says:

      07:32am | 07/10/10

      No help there Guest t.

      So all we are hearing is cover stories and we don’t really know what’s happening while Tony is actually living it up in London Paris and New York while the prime minister is still in Canberra?

      This very column is nothing but a distraction to fool the terrorist sitting around in their explosive vests smoking Cuban cigars in Miami and Dusseldorf?  Sneaky!

    • Seano says:

      07:02am | 07/10/10

      However the conservative ranters spin it Abbott comes out of this looking either calous or cowardly.

      Considering his other personality traits include admitted liar and the sort of person who makes a deal with the intention of only keeping to it whilst things are going his way, Abbott is demonstratably not fit to lead this country.

      Reply

    • Vincent says:

      08:08am | 07/10/10

      I would say the Labor Party and the media come out of this looking like a ship of dishonest desperate fools. Just shows what side of the fence the majority of the media sit.

    • dobbo says:

      08:41am | 07/10/10

      No Richard, don’t feel particularly bitter although maybe can ramble.

      However, am totally baffled as to how Abbott, a right wing politician, could make such a blunder as to not support the troops and then to attempt to excuse himself, he the iron man, by saying he was “jet lagged”.

      What’s also baffling is how come Abbott didn’t simply say he was going to Afghanistan down the track rather than wheel out such an insult (even if obviously accidental) to the troops?

      Could it be his impending trip to Afghanistan wasn’t quite as well planned as it’s now claimed to be?

      He has apologised but thank god the man didn’t get to run the show (and hopefully never will).  As someone put it in a blog elsewhere - “Australia has dodged two bullets - one being Latham and now Abbott.”

      Reply

    • Marigold says:

      10:26am | 07/10/10

      You say - “However, am totally baffled as to how Abbott, a right wing politician, could make such a blunder as to not support the troops and then to attempt to excuse himself, he the iron man, by saying he was “jet lagged”.
      and then you say - “What’s also baffling is how come Abbott didn’t simply say he was going to Afghanistan down the track rather than wheel out such an insult (even if obviously accidental) to the troops?”
      So like so many other misleading posters and journo’s here, you are saying he is not supporting the troops and then your saying he is going to Afghanistan? Isn’t that supporting the troops in Afghanistan then? Doesn’t it also make your first comment incorrect?

    • dobbo says:

      11:39am | 07/10/10

      No Marigold…it just underlines how baffled I am. Then again serves me right for trying to understand the behaviour of the man who was put forward as Australia’s potential leader. But it also leaves me (and many others) relieved that he didn’t get the guernsey.

      Reply

    • Bob says:

      12:40pm | 07/10/10

      hey dobbo it’s called security mate, Im sure you understand that he can’t give dates and times when he’s going to Afghanistan. (better saying jetlagged, gives u fella’s something to do) Gotta luv you guys who play dumb just so you can have cheap shots at Abbott. and if your not playing dumb than you are a dumbo. And I guess you understand the behaviour of Gillard and Rudd though lol

    • dobbo says:

      12:56pm | 07/10/10

      Sure do understand this Bob. But this whinging stuff about jet lag is terrible look for man of iron. Anyway that’s the tag he’ll have to wear to Afghanistan when he finally fronts the troops.

      Anyway don’t need any cheap shots at Abbott. He does it all himself..right thru his own foot too.

      Reply
 
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