TONY ABBOTT RECKONS HE CAN HAVE ANOTHER CRACK, ACCORDING TO FORMER MINISTER
By James Branson
…Also, who doesn’t want a reason to recall the above picture. So much joy.
In an article published by Fairfax titled “Why Tony Abbott Should Go”, former Liberal Minister Amanda Vanstone has written that the former PM harbours aspirations to return to the top job.
Abbott recently announced his intention to stay in politics.
“Unless I have been lied to,” writes Vanstone, who served as minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs under John Howard, “Abbott has told a number of people that he is young enough to have another crack at the leadership.”
In a move seemed calculated to support Malcolm Turnbull’s agenda, Vanstone compares her own firing at the hands of John Howard to the kerfuffle that recently ousted ministers are causing:
Political teams are like rose bushes – you have to keep pruning or there are no new blooms. When John Howard gave me the flick in 2007 he offered to say that I had decided I would move on. I declined the offer; the truth is what it is. My press release thanked him and the Liberal Party for the opportunities I had enjoyed and others had missed out on. My spot was filled by Malcolm Turnbull. Pruning delivers results. Bronwyn Bishop, Philip Ruddock and a few others should stop being so selfish, start showing a bit of gratitude for all they have enjoyed, and allow some new blooms to burst forth.
Upon losing his Prime Ministership, Tony Abbott made a solemn promise not to “white-ant” Malcolm Turnbull’s agenda – but recent statements by both the former PM and his supporters point to a small but significant group who’d love nothing more than to see their conservative champion back in the lodge.
Vanstone thinks any attempt to do so will end badly:
“Sadly, I predict tears – and not of the before bedtime variety. Those are just the tears of overtired children and soon pass. I think Abbott’s decision, if he proceeds with it, will bring him a more lasting, irrevocable grief.”
Via smh.com.au