You are the weakest link…goodbye

Every news channel is flooded with the story that backbenchers are deserting Tony Abbott and that a leadership spill or action is expected within days. The ugly ugly world of politics is again rearing its head in our country 17 months after he gained power by winning a majority in the House of Representatives but having to cope with a senate where it is in the minority following a tumultuous period under the Labor party.

Our whole country is naval gazing on politics and popularity and no one is focussing on leadership and change that will support our country’s growth.  After the previous political term where politics were clearly more important than progress, surely we should have learned.

But no, we are judging the current Prime Minister as harshly as we have judged his predecessors in other parties, with his popularity rating according to galaxy sitting at just 27%, an unrecoverable level according to most popular media.

So we thought it timely to look at what the public is making this decision based on… and debate whether these points are as important as everyone is making out? Important enough to OUST a Prime Minister mid-term?

I personally think our country is making a terrible spectacle of itself through it’s inability to see past the cosmetic items of politics down to the real issues – perhaps this is the real issue.

Let’s have a healthy debate, politics aside about whether this reality TV process of Government, Labor or Liberal that throws out Prime Ministers based on popularity is really how we want our country run. Can we really keep saying, every 18 months “You are the weakest link…goodbye?”

So, looking at it objectively, there are a few big reasons most people quote for disliking Tony Abbott:

• His decision to award a knighthood to Prince Phillip on Australia Day, clearly well-intentioned in his mind, but odd in most other peoples’.
• His foot in mouth disease. He has a surprising ability to accidentally say the wrong thing at the wrong time leaving us wonder to the quality of script writers and expert advisers around him. But let’s face it – that just makes him human. We all put our feet in our mouths at times.
• His budgie smugglers. We have to love a man who can proudly strut down Bondi Beach in his undies, don’t we? Some don’t it appears.
• His wink. That terrible wink that makes him both human and mildly creepy at the same time.
• His public speaking skills. The umms and arrrs that smatter his speeches are not the best for building public confidence… but are they all that bad?
• His first fleet comments that showed a clearly white Australia view in a multicultural era.
• Then let’s get to the big one… Whether you support the LNP or not, you might have found yourself disappointed at the flip flopping of policy this year as the minority government has fought to walk the line between policy that reduces our budget and policy that will get through parliament.
  1. The Medicare $7 co-payment which was on then off then on then off then backdoored.
  2. The Government announcing and then ditching the university overhaul.
  3. The Government promising not to cut the ABC then doing so.
  4. And this week, his announcement to scrap the paid parental platform that the LNP ran for election on.

Policy errors of judgement are no doubt a big challenge for the last two Governments in Australia, but there is no doubting that they are always a problem, especially in a minority governing environment. If you look at the long list of mistakes, misstatements and missteps that Obama is quoted for you’d be loathe to compare them with this feeble list of seemingly cosmetic failings for which we are judging our Prime Minister, no matter which political party you support – because frankly it happened to Labor before it started in the Liberals.

So which of these are really influencing your dislike to Tony Abbott?  And is it honestly enough to OUST him or are we being unfair as a country? Share your thoughts today!