Sharri Markson: Tony Abbott waves the PC flag at Liberals over 18C
TONY Abbott will not be silenced on free speech. He has seized the momentum on the controversial issue currently dividing the Coalition, says Sharri Markson.
Opinion
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TONY Abbott will not be silenced on free speech. Instead he has seized the momentum on the controversial issue currently dividing the Coalition.
While Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faces accusations of indecisiveness on changes to Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act after a lacklustre committee report, Abbott is speaking out with a definitive three-point solution.
“Three things need to be done as a minimum,” Abbott says. “Drop ‘insult and offend’. Second, include a reasonable person test. And third, overhaul the Human Rights Commission’s processes to ensure procedural justice.”
Abbott is showing leadership in an area where Turnbull appears to be dithering.
Regardless of public rebukes from old friends such as Mathias Cormann, this definitive approach contrasts with the perception of Turnbull as an indecisive leader, caught in a web of factions and ideology, unable to unite his party.
And while it is uncertain whether a compromise position of removing “insult and offend” and keeping “humiliate” and “intimidate” in Section 18C will appease both sides of the debate, it is a sure bet Turnbull will be infuriated by his predecessor stepping into the spotlight.
Abbott’s comments today, in Sydney’s biggest-selling newspaper, come barely three days after Turnbull’s public slap-down of him for deliberately trying to influence Newspoll by launching his manifesto on the eve of polling.
It shows Turnbull’s partyroom warning this week that “disunity is death” was futile.
Many will accuse Abbott of hypocrisy for developing a plan to deal with 18C only now, when as PM he succumbed to the pressure of opponents and ultimately did not resolve the legislation.
They could, rightly, argue the stoush is a remnant of a mess Abbott didn’t clean up.
He would likely argue that when 18C first blew up three years ago, the problem was confined to an agitated Andrew Bolt.
Since then there’s been the Bill Leak and QUT cases, as well as Pauline Hanson’s campaigning on the issue, and Donald Trump’s successful plain-speaking rejection of political correctness.
The debate over 18C has gained momentum and fired up the Liberal base.
Conservative politicians are receiving emails from their constituents threatening to quit the party if 18C isn’t repealed.
One such email sent to an MP reads: “People are sick of political correctness, the failure to do anything about 18C. What does it take for politicians to take notice of the electorate who voted them in?”
And another party member wrote: “What cowardice from those on the standing committee reviewing 18C. This government is alienating its base. If it doesn’t get sorted, I will leave the party.”
And, most brutally, from another: “When the population is told what they can and cannot do by those living in the Canberra bubble, there will be a backlash.”
Even John Howard has publicly admitted that the Liberal Party is risking losing its core base.
“There is a danger for the Coalition in losing people who are instinctively conservatives to parties like One Nation.
“The Liberal Party must be alive to that. People who vote for One Nation would be, in the main, cultural traditionalists and these people should find their natural home in the Liberal Party or the National Party.
“We’ve got to hold on to those people,” Howard told the formidable Paul Kelly.
But 18C is a delicate topic in marginal seats — not to mention Turnbull’s own electorate of Wentworth — which is one reason the PM is treading carefully.
Another is the deep division in his party over the legislation.
Moderate Liberal MPs see changes to 18C as trivial compared with same-sex marriage.
On values and policy, the Liberal Party in government is a broken family.
Eric Abetz, who is up there on the PM’s top 10 enemies list, came out yesterday disagreeing with the government’s stance on penalty rates.
The day before, Nationals MP George Christensen did the same. Extraordinarily, leadership is being discussed in Canberra.
It seems like a moment ago commentators and political figures were hoping Turnbull could deliver a decade of government stability. That hope seems to be long gone.
There are open discussions about who will replace Turnbull, with no confidence in his long-term future.
But despite reports that Abbott wants to return as PM, that’s not my reading.
What some such as Cormann describe as a destructive attempt to tear down Turnbull, Abbott would view as ensuring the Liberal Party stays true to its conservative values.
Some are urging Peter Dutton to accept a suicide mission and lead the party to defeat in the greater interest of the Liberal cause.
There’s no sign that he is being anything other than loyal.
But Dutton is starting to give the public more insight into his upbringing and personality, weaving personal stories into his policy discussions.
And yesterday on Ray Hadley, when speaking about banning foreign workers from fast food outlets, he said: “My proposal is very simple, that is I want Aussie kids to get a job. That was my experience. I started work in a butcher shop, when I was quite young, after school and Saturday mornings and what not.”
It’s no wonder Turnbull is said to be increasingly concerned about leaks and nervous about who he can trust. Behind the scenes, the word “paranoid” has been used more than once to describe the Prime Minister this week.
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