Is it on? It looks like it could be on.
Either way, none of the options for Tony Abbott are now good. If Abbott manages to hold off this challenge, it won’t save him for very long — he’ll remain hostage to the next bad poll. A failed spill will split the party and demonstrate the extent of divisions within the Liberal backbench — leaving him, like Julia Gillard, with a substantial chunk of his own MPs publicly committed to another leader.
Both scenarios are unlikely to lead anywhere other than a spill down the track, and probably before the budget. The focus on the Liberals’ internal conflict, as it did with Labor, will cruel Abbott’s hopes of getting a clear run to get his message across to voters.
That’s why Monday’s Press Club address had to be an attempt to fundamentally reset the agenda, not a collection of recycled lines and electoral bribery. No amount of pleading by Abbott for the media and backbenchers to stop talking about him and start talking about how great his policies are will help.
In short, a lot of this is now out of Abbott’s hands. But given he’s the one responsible for creating this mess, he can hardly claim it’s unfair. Since the day he white-anted Malcolm Turnbull out of the Liberal leadership in 2009, he’s had the absolute loyalty of the party room, with Liberal MPs — whatever personal misgivings they might have had about him — willing him to succeed. That support is rapidly turning to ashes, and whether he’s prime minister for a few more days or a couple more months, responsibility for that rests entirely with him.
Regarding the press club address
This was a story of two failures
As you point out Abbott clearly failed to reset the agenda.
What you failed to point out is that in a room full of journalists when Abbott once again repeated the lie that the size of the deficit was unknown prior to the election not one of thje journalists has the wit, courage or capability to point out the situation was clearly laid out in the economic statements that were released before hand.
Part of the leadership woes that Australia face currently are due to the failure of the fourth estate to perform properly which in itself is a function of the concentration of media ownership.
@ThePav: Worse, the Fourth Estate had to maintain the fabricated fantasy that Murdoch had foisted on the public prior to the 2013 election. So asking questions would have revealed that the emperor (Murdoch, not Abbott, silly!) had no clothes.
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All Abbott’s policies are grate.
The fourth estate have been complicit in delivering this government – prepared to indulge Opposition leader Abbott (including letting him go missing inaction) while throwing their shoes at Labor, making themselves available to have those shoes thrown at them.
Abbott is terminal, if he doesn’t realise this he is dumber than I think, which is frightful.
Although there are other motivations for him to want to stay;
– manifest man of destiny (self-ennobled)
– frightening levels of ego
– utter bastardry
– completely delusional.
Take your choice.
Now the question is, will the next Prime Minister spend all their time fending off a white anting ex-PM?
Anyone willing to take bets on that?
With the final straw of a knighthood for Prince Philip, Abbott has confirmed himself as not so much the ‘infrastructure’ Prime Minister but, more aptly, the infradig Prime Minister.
He wanted the position so badly but, like a dog chasing a bus, once he caught up with it he didn’t have a clue what to do with it. And then, like the mutt, he lifted a leg on the tyre.