91��̳ - Tony Abbott

‘Sleepwalking to war’ or eyes wide open?

William Briggs — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 14:30:00 +1000

Minister for Defence Richard Marles has made it clear that whatever happens in the Asia Pacific region, Australia will remain a loyal ally to the United States. William Briggs reports.

'Laugh while you still can' — night to raise laughs and funds in Sydney

Kerryn Smith — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 15:15:00 +1000

In a world of Donald Trump, climate change and the threat of World War III, we need a laugh and quick — before it is too late.

So 91��̳ Weekly has put together what should be an electrifyingly funny evening in Sydney on September 22. It even features a couple of well-known, if not exactly well-loved names with Donald Trump and Tony Abbott making an appearance on stage (via the impersonation skills of Jonas Holt)

Sinking in the polls, the Coalition drifts further right

Alex Bainbridge — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 16:45:00 +1000

The federal Coalition government has dropped further in the polls following the knifing of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Nevertheless, both new Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the hard right Peter Dutton/Tony Abbott faction in the Liberal Party seem determined to take politics even more to the right.

What was behind #Libspill 'madness'?

Peter Boyle — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 14:30:00 +1000

Deposed Liberals Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described the factional implosion in his party as “a kind of madness”. It sure looked like it — and there may be even more “madness” ahead.

Ramsay Centre struggles to find backers

Blair Vidakovich — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 11:30:00 +1000

Vice-chancellor of Australian National University (ANU) Brian Schmidt released a long statement on June 5 explaining why the university had ended negotiations to partner with the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation. He said it was because the centre wanted “unprecedented influence” as part of the deal.

Blackmail charges against CFMMEU officials John Setka, Shaun Reardon dropped

Kerry Smith — Wed, 16 May 2018 15:15:00 +1000

Blackmail charges brought against Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) leaders John Setka and Shaun Reardon were dropped by Victorian prosecutors on May 16 in a major embarrassment for the federal government’s trade union royal commission, police and prosecutors.

Cabinet Files reveal a sinister agenda

Susan Price — Fri, 02 Feb 2018 17:30:00 +1100

There is a real estate billboard on the Hume Highway in Sydney that declares: “Un-see this!”. Despite ASIO having seized the Cabinet Files from the offices of the ABC, the glimpses we have had of their contents will remain a reminder of the insidious agenda of successive Coalition governments and ministers.

We can’t “un-see” the evidence now.

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty

Susan Price — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 14:00:00 +1100

The emergency on Manus Island has sparked a renewal in the refugee rights movement, with large numbers of new activists coming to their first demonstrations. It has also inspired a range of creative direct actions, including acts of civil disobedience, which have complemented the large protests in the major cities and significant protest actions across regional towns and centres.

The thin end of the wedge

Richard McEncroe — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 11:00:00 +1100

In public debate “the thin end of the wedge” — the notion that once made, any penetration of the status quo will inevitably be followed by something greater — is an idiom invoked almost exclusively in the negative. It is an insufferable refrain of the perpetually fearful, the racist, the homophobic, the xenophobic, the Islamophobic, and the climate change-phobic.

It is one of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s favourite lines.

Tony Abbott’s turning people green left

Peter Boyle — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 11:00:00 +1100

Tony Abbott reckons a bit of global warming could be a good thing, especially if it comes with capitalist prosperity.

He’s checked a few pics of his local Manly Beach and has seen no signs of sea level rises (the islands that have already disappeared beneath the South Pacific being, conveniently, beyond the horizon).

Brawling over branding: Abbott v Turnbull

Peter Boyle — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 10:00:00 +1000

It doesn't take much to set off Tony Abbott and his right-wing shock-jock chorus, does it?

When Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull referred, in a speech in London, to the historical fact that Robert Menzies went to great pains back in 1944 to not call his new political party “conservative”, but rather the Liberal Party, Abbott and crew started howling.

Abbott vs Turnbull stoush veils ongoing class attacks

Jim McIlroy — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 10:00:00 +1000

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has re-launched his verbal war against his successor Malcolm Turnbull, with obvious relish.

In recent speeches, Abbott criticised leaked internal Liberal Party moves to bring forward a bill for marriage equality; called for an end to all new spending except for national security and infrastructure; and advocated freezing the country's — already inadequate — renewable energy target.

Tax the rich and abolish the GST

Alex Bainbridge — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 11:00:00 +1100

In yet another policy continuity with Tony Abbott, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is considering raising the goods and services tax (GST). Once again, this shows the government acting in the interests of big corporations and the super rich against the interests of ordinary people. The simple truth is that the GST is an unfair tax. Poor people pay a higher proportion of their income in GST than rich people.

No joke: Pacific outrage at climate inaction

Duncan Roden — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +1000

The tasteless joking between immigration minister Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Tony Abbott about the threat of rising sea levels to Pacific Islands — caught on a microphone after the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) meeting — sums up the Australian government's attitude to the victims of its climate inaction. The 46th PIF leaders' meeting in Port Moresby ended without reaching agreement on a united position to take to the Paris climate summit later this year. Pacific Island leaders could not convince Australia and New Zealand to agree on more ambitious targets.

New Zealand offers to take asylum seekers

Kathy Fairfax — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:00:00 +1100

The 267 asylum seekers facing deportation to Nauru and Manus Island by the Australian government could go to New Zealand if they are found to be refugees, the country's Prime Minister John Key said on February 15. Among those facing deportation are 37 babies born in Australia to asylum seeker parents, and another 54 children, some of whom are attending school. A High Court decision this month ruled Australia's offshore processing regime was legal.

Carlo's Corner: Thank god Turnbull has abandoned Abbott's politics

Carlo Sands — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 11:00:00 +1100

I am not sure if I fully understand recent political developments, but the message I am getting from the Malcolm Turnbull government is that we have to send babies to hellish prison camps or else the gay lobby will persecute Christian students. And we need a big increase in military spending or house prices will tragically collapse, or tragically rise, depending on which tragedy you wish to choose. Say what you will about the Turnbull government, it offers no shortages of tragedies.

Turnbull: Just a different shovel

Sam Wainwright — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 11:00:00 +1100

On the day Tony Abbott was rolled, one of my family members, who lives in Malcolm Turnbull's electorate of Wentworth, posted a one line warning on Facebook: "Beware the silver fox." Well, it proved true remarkably quickly. A concerted attack on Medicare is in full swing and it has one clear objective: dismantling public health care and replacing it with a US-style privatised system that costs more, delivers inferior outcomes and leaves the poorest to die.

Carlo's Corner: Malcolm Turnbull is just Tony Abbott without the onions

Carlo Sands — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +1000

Somewhere wandering aimlessly through the hard streets of Sydney's North Shore, is a dishevelled man in a crumpled suit and a few days’ growth telling concerned passers-by, “I'm not crying, it's just the onion” as he bites into his umpteenth bulb since Monday night, eyes red and flakes of onion skin around his mouth and down his front.

Turnbull v Abbott: Same shit, different shovel

Sue Bull — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +1000

Ok, who didn’t cheer when they heard that Tony Abbott might be dumped as Prime Minister? And then before the reality that nothing had really changed sank in, who didn’t cheer when he actually was dumped? Yes, you spoil sports out there, I know that we have just switched captains on a leaky boat — appropriate metaphor don’t you think — and the boat hasn’t actually changed. But you have to admit that seeing Abbott’s humiliation was enjoyable.

Abbott's Syria war will create more refugees

Tony Iltis — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +1000

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced on September 9 a novel approach to stemming the flow of refugees from Syria: bombing the country. He also announced plans to accept a further 12,000 Syrian refugees on top of his government's miserly quota, but was quick to dispel any hopes that Australia might be abandoning its status as the Western world's leading abuser of refugees. Abbott told ABC Radio National on September 10 that Syrian refugees being held in the Australian-run concentration camps in Nauru and Manus Island would not be released.

Liberal's embezzlement scheme worthy of Panama Papers

Nicholas James — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 10:00:00 +1000

When Tasmanian Liberal director Damien Mantach garnered a spectacular promotion to Victorian deputy president in 2011, he left Tasmania to great fanfare and fond farewells. With champagne toasts still lingering in the air, the party newsletter triumphantly said Mantach left the Tasmanian division “in excellent shape and Damien is to be congratulated for his positive contribution”. A brilliant party machinist, Mantach was now a coveted Victorian Liberal. Finally in the centre of power, he was rubbing shoulders with premiers and befriending the future prime minister Tony Abbott.

Behind the revolving-door of prime ministers

Peter Boyle — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +1000

Few people would have shared tears — unless they happened to be chopping onions at the time — when Tony Abbott was ejected as prime minister in the latest of a string of Lib-Lab leadership spills. Let's be honest. The rolling TV coverage of Malcolm Turnbull's political assassination of Abbott kept the nation entertained for a couple of hours on a Monday night. Who did not enjoy watching the grim faces of those Liberal MPs as they trooped into their party room for the spill, and the even grimmer faces of some as they came back out?

Knights and dames scrapped from Order of Australia

Kathy Fairfax — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 11:00:00 +1100

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has dumped knights and dames from the honours system, saying they are “anachronistic and out of date”. The imperial honours were reintroduced by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2014 to ongoing ridicule and controversy. Turnbull, a well-known republican, said Cabinet agreed the titles are no longer appropriate in a modern Australia and revealed the Queen has approved his request to scrap them. “Knights and dames are titles that are really anachronistic. They're out of date, not appropriate in 2015 in Australia,” he said.

Tony Abbott’s assault on democratic rights

Tony Iltis — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 10:00:00 +1000

It has become a disturbing hallmark of the current government that the degree to which Prime Minister Tony Abbott adopts the style of a Nazi leader addressing the Nuremburg Rally is a reflection of the policies being foreshadowed.

Rojava revolutionaries show how to fight 'Islamic State'

Tony Iltis — Fri, 03 Jul 2015 10:00:00 +1000

The “Islamic State” (IS) terror group attacks in Tunisia, Kuwait and France have grabbed global attention and condemnation. But the group's attack on Kobane in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan) — and the fierce resistance — has been largely ignored.

Photos: Gay man wins reprieve from deportation

Peter Boyle — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 11:00:00 +1100

Campaigners for equal rights had their first win for 2014 as a Pakistani-born gay man, Ali Choudhry, obtained a temporary deportation reprieve just as nation wide protests began on January 7.

Manus Island violence can't be covered up

Jay Fletcher — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 11:00:00 +1100

Two important things were revealed when immigration minister Scott Morrison was finally forced to admit he had been wrong about most of the facts when one man was killed and at least 70 others were injured on Manus Island on February 16.

Carlo's Corner: I'm starting to think Tony Abbott might be a left-wing plant

Carlo Sands — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 11:00:00 +1100

It increasingly seems these days that we don't have a prime minister, we have an instant Internet meme creator. In fact, I am starting think that Tony Abbott is proving so good at generating outrage and bemused laughter in equal measures that he might actually be a left-wing plant.

Carlo’s Corner: Won't someone think of the borders?

Carlo Sands — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 11:00:00 +1100

Well the fun just never stops, does it, when it comes to the Abbott government’s asylum seeker policies, or as they call it, “border protection”. Because when it comes to needing protection, fleeing war, torture and genocide is one thing, but won’t someone think of all the poor, downtrodden borders?

Abbott’s Aboriginal policy: more police and truancy cops

Mel Barnes — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 11:00:00 +1100

At a major speech in parliament on February 12, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government was “serious about Aboriginal policy … no less serious than it is about stopping the boats”. He pledged to close the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous outcomes in health, education and employment.

91������̳ - Tony Abbott