The Commonwealth Government’s travel advisory for Indonesia is unambiguous: defer all non-essential travel. As Foreign Minister Alexander Downer reiterated on AM this morning, it’s been that way for a long time.
So
what was Tony Abbott, a member of the Federal Cabinet, doing there in
defiance of his government’s own advice? Not giving in to terror? We
know the Monk likes macho posturing.
Or do we have a truly fearless Health Minister? Yesterday’s Sunday program ran big with a feature on the bird flu beat up. There is only one effective drug, Tamiflu, and not enough to go around – which led Ross Coulthart to the obvious question:
ROSS COULTHART: For example, will you be on the list?
TONY
ABBOTT: Well, I suppose that would depend upon whether the Chief
Medical Officer thought that the Health Minister was an essential
worker under these circumstances. Plainly, you don’t want the ordinary
functions of government to break down. On the other hand, you don’t
want people to think leaders are looking after themselves while the
rest of them are exposed to a potentially deadly threat…
The non-essential Tony Abbott.
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