Alan Jones: Tony Abbott was right to trade up
The great shame of the way Tony Abbott was treated in the run-up to his taking a role as UK trade envoy was not the smears but that we couldn’t make better use of him, writes Alan Jones.
Opinion
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Tony Abbott’s appointment to the unpaid job as a trade envoy for the UK government has been met with derision and dishonesty.
One should not dignify those who have trotted out the well-worn rhetoric. Suffice to say the Left have had a field day — Tony Abbott is a homophobic misogynist, a sexist, a climate change denier and “not the kind of person who should be a trade envoy for the United Kingdom”.
The Left have put the hate vehicle into top gear.
In an ironic and amusing piece of writing, James McPherson belled the cat when he wrote:
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“Wanted: Envoy to advise government on trade and to promote opportunities for the United Kingdom in emerging markets post-Brexit … the successful applicant will have voted ‘yes’ to gay marriage and preferably marched at a recent gay and lesbian mardi gras.
“He or she will be pro-abortion with special consideration given to applicants who have actually had one. Experienced trading in climate doom and gloom is essential. A dislike of blue ties and of Donald Trump is highly desirable.”
Which leads to a barely known member of the Labour Party in Britain, Emily Thornberry, who couldn’t even muster enough votes in her party to nominate for the leadership, seeking to curry support from the dwindling Left by uttering with an ashen face, “On a personal level, I am disgusted that Boris Johnson thinks this offensive, leering, cantankerous, climate-change-denying, Trump-worshipping misogynist, is the right person to represent our country overseas.”
Mr Abbott has certainly earnt the anger of the Left and I am sure it worries him not.
Fancy Boris Johnson thinking an Oxford-educated Rhodes Scholar, who smashed the Labor Party in two elections, winning from them 25 seats and who negotiated three free trade deals with China, Japan and Korea, may be worthy of an unpaid job.
Remember, the people smugglers under Rudd and Gillard. Only Abbott argued that the boats could be turned back.
The vast majority of the commentariat, the ABC, the Fairfax Press, academics, the Labor Party to a man and woman, opposed strong border protection.
The hostility of the Left to Abbott increased.
Hence, the Gillard speech.
Where did this come from?
In order for Julia Gillard to remain prime minister, Labor seduced a Liberal member of the federal parliament, Peter Slipper, to become speaker.
This was at the time when Slipper had made sexual comments to a staffer and had sent the staffer text messages in which he described female genitalia as looking like “a mussel removed from its shell…”.
He went on to elaborate in the message.
Who could argue with Abbott’s observation to the parliament: “This speaker’s actions are this prime minister’s responsibility and this speaker’s standards; perforce, are this prime minister’s standards, unless she has the responsibility and the decency to remove this speaker from this high office.”
Julia Gillard rounded on Tony Abbott, accused him of misogyny, and the speech reverberated around the world.
The misogynist argument is so laughable, it is contemptible
Tony Abbott has a wife and three daughters who can testify, better than any, to his generous treatment of women. And I know of women who have worked for Tony Abbott in the parliament of Australia who would never accuse Tony Abbott of misogyny; but could easily level such a charge at some of Abbott’s male critics.
And as for homophobia, only people close to Tony Abbott know of the support and encouragement he has given to his family and his sister when she announced her love for another woman.
In fact, I don’t think I know a person less judgmental than Tony Abbott.
It is interesting to note that the Gillard speech accusing Abbott of misogyny, occurred on the same day the Labor Party had passed legislation cutting welfare benefits to single parents, almost all of whom were single mothers.
Standing up for women’s rights, indeed, for some of the most vulnerable in Australia, played second fiddle to a dishonest attack on Tony Abbott.
But Abbott continued on, unflinchingly, in public service offered by very few of his critics.
He started the Pollie Pedal, 23 years ago, “to engage more with real people …. to let people see some of their MPs off the beaten track and out of their comfort zones; and to promote cycling as a great way to stay fit and see the country”.
Covering about a thousand kilometres each year, the Abbott initiative has raised more than $7 million for Youth Insearch, the Australian Paralympic team, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Ronald McDonald House, medical research at Westmead Hospital, the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, Carers Australia and the Veterans’ charity, Soldier On.
Only the Left would fail to acknowledge his extraordinary bushfire efforts.
Nor can they handle the fact that Abbott made an outstanding speech as Health Minister in May 2005 to an International Infectious Diseases Conference in Ottawa.
In relation to the declaration of a pandemic, Abbott urged, in 2005: “Every incoming passenger would be required to make a health declaration, thermal scanners would operate at international airports to detect possible flu cases on entry and quarantine isolation areas would be established … Influenza surveillance networks would be activated immediately and detection and treatment information would be sent to every GP…”.
None of that happened.
The former deputy prime minister, John Anderson, at a breakfast for Tony Abbott in 2018, uttered what could never be said about Abbott’s critics.
“You are a man of unique personal modesty and prodigious intelligence, with much to contribute to the national debate … you have been through a challenging time.
“Please ensure, to the greatest degree possible, the Australian people know what I, who have known you for over 40 years, know is true about you: you are on their side even when you don’t always agree.
“That way you can help rebuild trust and, with it, our national ability to speak and listen.”
The critics will continue along their apoplectic way.
Tony Abbott will not be deterred.
He will continue to work for good causes, international trade being one of them, from which we can benefit enormously.
The real tragedy, perceived by most Australians, is the persistence with which Tony Abbott is excluded from a public role in our own country.
We are not so well endowed as to be able to accommodate such waste.