It’s safe to say that John Howard is not remembered fondly by the left.
The man who brought us WorkChoices, led a culture war against the intellectual classes and uttered the phrase “we will decide who comes to this country … ” was a stalwart of old-school conservatism (with a dash of populism thrown in to appeal to the western suburbs).
But there’s one thing that Howard did that most on the left — and many on the right — agree was good for Australia: he tightened our gun laws. In the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, he stood up to the gun lobby and forced the states to introduce tight restrictions to gun licencing and a ban on semi-automatic weapons. Thanks to Howard, we now have one of the lowest homicide by gun rates in the Western world.
The world noticed — and his swift action to address gun violence has gone down in history as a proud part of Howard’s legacy.
Tony Abbott is currently struggling to build a legacy for himself. He knows what he doesn’t stand for, but it’s hard to work out what he does.
Yesterday he strong-armed his party into voting against a conscience vote on same-sex marriage. He could have been the prime minister who made it possible for people to love each other equally before the law. If he had, he would have been remembered fondly by the two thirds of Australians — from both left and right — who support marriage equality.
But this is a PM, an ideologue, who would rather be remembered for what he stopped than move an inch from his staunchly conservative, and increasingly isolated, position.
Crikey, once again, you’re not wrong. Abbott will go down in history as a champion of nothing, a reformer of none, and achiever of zip. Still, he’s going to be hard to forget (I might have to have my memory wiped).
[He could have been the prime minister who made it possible for people to love each other equally before the law.]
Actually Crikey, he couldn’t.
That’s not who Tony Abbott is, or ever was.
His major legacy, will be being remembered as the worst PM in living memory.
I am confused, we want our Prime Minister to stand for something and everyone was in no doubt as to his view on this subject. He was voted in as the Prime Minister of Australia based on his various opinions and philosophies. Whatever your view on this most important subject, our Prime Minister has been consistent. He has not let his strong views be diluted by populism and a very vocal large minority. If he changed, in the face of all this criticism would he not equally be chastised for being shallow and not being consistent and true to himself. If we do not like the opinions and philosophies of the Prime Minister then we have the right to vote against him, but at this time we have a Prime Minister who is being consistent to himself and statements made to the public
Rodney – Could you supply us with some evidence for your seemingly fallacious comment, …”a very vocal large minority”?
Every poll I have seen says that upwards of two-thirds of the population agree with same sex marriage.
Could you please explain how that represents a “minority”???
Rodney Adler @ 3
“He has not let his strong views be diluted by populism and a very vocal large minority.”
Minority? When is 59% support for marriage equality a large minority?