The change in the Liberal Party leadership, the return of "conservative" Liberal leadership as embodied in the person of Tony Abbott and the Senate vote at noon today against the ETS legislation is perhaps the most dramatic change in the Australian political scene since the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975. Henry wishes Tony Abbott well. He holds strong ethical values and he is unusually outspoken and intelligent. Also, despite acknowledged past errors, Tony Abbott is a hardened and experienced politician.
This surprise ascent may well mean the death of the EST and sets the stage for an ETS election that Rudd's Labor may not survive. Our attention rightly now turns to the Copenhagen conference. Tony Abbott has said that he accepts man has contributed to global warming, but he is uncertain by how much.
This is a sensible position -- see, for example, Garth Paltridge's fine book -- but the climate science is not going to get more definite by the time the Abbott opposition has to make its next decision on the ETS or other climate change action.
The ETS is very complicated and, because of the number of exemptions and offsets, unlikely to make any quick and strong effect on greenhouse gas emissions. What is certain, of course, is it will add greatly to the complexity of the tax and welfare system, and the overall burden of government.
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott (born 4 November 1957) is an Australian politician, the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Parliament and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party, having succeeded Malcolm Turnbull on 1 December 2009.
Abbott has been the Member for Warringah in the House of Representatives since 1994. He was the Minister for Health and Ageing in the Howard government from 2003 to 2007 and Leader of the House of Representatives in the Federal Parliament. Following the defeat of the Howard Government, he was Shadow Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in the Australian federal opposition from 2007 until he resigned from the front bench in protest against Liberal Party policy on 26 November 2009.He then defeated Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull in a leadership challenge, following a successful party leadership spill motion on 1 December 2009.
Abbott was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Warringah at a by-election in March 1994 following the resignation of Michael MacKellar. He served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (1996-98), Minister for Employment Services (1998-2001), Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Small Business (2001), Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations (2001-03) and Minister for Health and Ageing from 2003 to November 2007. From late 2001 to November 2007 he was also Manager of Government Business in the House.He acquired a reputation in these roles as a robust parliamentary debater and political tactician.
As Minister for Health and Ageing, Abbott introduced the Medicare Safety Net to cap the annual out-of-pocket costs of Medicare cardholders to a maximum amount. In 2007, he attracted criticism over long delays in funding for cancer diagnostic equipment (PET scanners).
Abbott is widely known as an outspoken socially conservative Catholic. Abbott sees reducing the number of abortions performed each year as a national priority. In March 2004 he asked "Why isn't the fact that 100,000 women choose to end their pregnancies regarded as a national tragedy approaching the scale, say, of Aboriginal life expectancy being 20 years less than that of the general community?" Abbott promised to launch an investigation into a product called Pink or Blue, which is made by UK-based DNA Worldwide, a division of US-based Consumer Genetics. This test is one of several pre-natal blood tests designed to detect the sex of a fetus as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Ethicists have raised concerns that knowing the sex of a foetus so early into pregnancy would facilitate Sex-selective abortion and infanticide.
A conscience vote took place in February 2006, approving a measure that deprived the Health Minister of regulatory control of the abortion drug RU486. Abbott and previous Health Ministers had decided not to allow it to be made available. Abbott responded to the vote by calling for funding of alternative counselling to pregnant women through church-affiliated groups. During this time he criticised the acceptance of abortion, saying "... we have a bizarre double standard, a bizarre double standard in this country where someone who kills a pregnant woman's baby is guilty of murder but a woman who aborts an unborn baby is simply exercising choice."
Abbott opposed allowing the introduction of Embryonic stem cell research or therapeutic cloning in another conscience vote, preferring continued use of Adult stem cells for research into cures for debilitating diseases. He argued that: "there are very important ethical questions here and even the very best end does not justify every possible means." He has proposed a return to at-fault divorce, similar to the Matrimonial Causes Act, which would require spouses to prove offences like adultery, habitual drunkenness or cruelty before a divorce is granted.
Abbott is a supporter of the constitutional monarchy in Australia. He has previously accused some sections of the Australia public of "suffering self-imposed historical and cultural amnesia" in relation to Australia's British heritage and acting like "teenagers blowing raspberries at their parents".
After the Coalition lost government in 2007 and he lost his health portfolio, in Opposition Abbott was re-elected to the seat of Warringah with a 1.79% swing toward the Labor Party.Following Peter Costello's rejection of the leadership of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, Abbott nominated for the position of party leader, along with Malcolm Turnbull and Brendan Nelson. After canvassing the support of his colleagues, Abbott decided to withdraw his nomination. He seemingly did not have the numbers, noting that he was "obviously very closely identified with the outgoing prime minister." He also said he would not rule out contesting the leadership at some time in the future.
In December 2007, Abbott was assigned the Shadow Portfolio of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.In November 2009, Abbott resigned from shadow ministerial responsibilities due to the Liberal Party's position on the government's Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), leading to the resignation of other shadow ministers.On 1 December 2009, he succeeded Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Opposition, defeating Turnbull and Joe Hockey in a party room ballot, with Julie Bishop remaining as deputy leader.
Controversies
* In May 2006, Abbott, as Leader of the House, called the Opposition MP, Kelvin Thompson, a "snivelling grub" in the Parliament for speaking about Nationals MP John Anderson's shares in the disgraced Australian Wheat Board. Abbott then said "If I've offended grubs, I withdraw unconditionally." The comments were not widely reported until a week later when (Labor's) Manager of Opposition Business Julia Gillard (then Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) used exactly the same phrase about Abbott, refused to withdraw it, and was ejected from Parliament for 24 hours. Abbott later told the Parliament "It would have been better if I had not moved the motion in the terms that I originally did."
* In July 2007, Abbott gained attention after swearing once on a national TV interview and repeating the phrase when asked about the incident by journalists the next day. After renewed controversy over John Howard's alleged broken promise to hand over the Liberal leadership position to Peter Costello, Abbott said to an interviewer: "Not to put too fine a point on it, shit happens, Tony". When asked if he regretted it he cackled and repeated "shit happens", receiving some laughs from the journalists.
* In the 2007 federal election campaign, Abbott was again drawn into controversy over comments he made about asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton. Banton, who was suffering from terminal mesothelioma, attempted to deliver a petition to Abbott's electorate office in Manly. As Abbott was not there, he was accused of being "gutless". Abbott said the event was a stunt and said: "I know Bernie is very sick, but just because a person is sick doesn't mean that he is necessarily pure of heart in all things." Abbott later apologised for the comments.
* The next day, 30 October 2007, Abbott arrived more than 30 minutes late for a nationally televised debate with his Labor counterpart in the health portfolio (Nicola Roxon) after being held up by masses of journalists in relation to the incident the day before. Roxon answered questions and joked with the media about "debating herself" while waiting. After the debate, Abbott was heard saying to Roxon that her suggestion that he could have made the debate on time was "bullshit".Abbott was a recipient of The Chaser Decides' 'Mal Award' for this and later bungles in the campaign.
* On 11 September 2009 Abbott was accused of "hurling foul-mouthed abuse" at the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, after he said she had been sporting a "shit-eating grin" during question time.
