High hopes for a low-key Abbott

TONY Abbott held his second Cabinet meeting Thursday, but you can be excused if you didn't notice.

Unlike the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor governments which the Coalition succeeded, there was not a subsequent overblown media conference at which the new Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues could posture and make dramatic promises - which, in Labor's case, would never be fulfilled. Instead, just one Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, held an informative press conference on the appointment of the new chairman and interim CEO of the NBN, Dr Ziggy Zitkowski. Opposition leadership contender Anthony Albanese immediately attacked the Coalition's decision to restructure the board of the NBN and its appointment of Dr Zwitkowski. He said the decision to overhaul the board was made in haste and could jeopardise the project and that Dr Zwitkowski lacked the experience to run a major construction activity such as the NBN. His remarks were instantly contradicted by the outgoing chief executive Mike Quigley who assured his former staff that Dr Zwitkowski's appointment was a major move for the company. Quigley also conceded that under the Coalition's fibre-to-the-node plan, the rollout of the NBN would permit the network to be built more cheaply and more rapidly than under the plan which Labor had embraced. Albanese had again demonstrated his patent ineptitude. Despite the doomsayers who worried that the Abbott government's methodical approach to governing was of concern to business and the highest levels of the public service, the data would indicate that the change of government and its methodical approach to governing is already being welcomed in a concrete fashion. The latest seasonally adjusted Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index indicates expansion in September for the first time since June 2011. That good news followed the success of Abbott's first overseas mission during which he disproved those from the Labor Party and the media who had repeatedly claimed that he would be a diplomatic disaster. Instead, he was able to establish firm foundations for a joint approach to people smuggling with the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after discussions which were described as "constructive" and "very frank". Yudhoyono was more forthcoming, saying both Australia and Indonesia had become victims of people smuggling and the solution lies in cooperation. It was the strongest, most telling commitment the Indonesian leadership had given Australia since the Howard government left office after establishing a strong bond of trust following the Bali bombings. Even the most committed Labor supporters working in the Fairfax press had to backtrack on their predictions of diplomatic failure and begrudgingly admit that Abbott's visit had been an outstanding success. On the other side of politics, Labor was reminding the nation why barely a third of Australians considered the party vote-worthy at the September election. A solid core of ardent Gillard supporters gathered to hear her in conversation with committed feminist author Anne Summers. Whilst the devotees ululated in adoration for their heroine, Gillard tried to reinforce the perception that she had been a victim of misogynistic attacks from the Coalition and vicious undermining from those opposed to her from her own side of politics. Her actual dismal record as Prime Minister was not raised. The only matter of fleeting interest to emerge was Gillard's admission that she was not so much opposed to homosexual marriage as the institution of marriage itself. As a view from a has-been politician, this is not that important except for the fact that the homosexual marriage is one of the few points of difference between Labor leader candidate Albanese and his opponent Bill Shorten. In the race to embrace the inconsequential extreme Left, Shorten has suggested Labor "should consider quotas for sections of our community that are under-represented in our parliaments, including indigenous Australians and the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) community". It would be a real reform if the Labor Party started considering quotas for talented and experienced candidates instead of pandering to minorities in its desire to institutionalise mediocrity as the new high-water mark for its aspiring MPs. The move further serves to highlight just how out of touch Labor is with most Australians who do not give a fig about an individual's sense of gender but are justifiably concerned about their MPs ability to deliver effective efficient government. Barely a month since the election and the Abbott government is establishing its style. Not the flash-and-trash that marked Labor but a solid, unostentatious down-to-earth professional approach that bodes well for the nation's future.