Deposed prime minister Tony Abbott poses for selfies with delighted crowds in Mosman
THEY’RE not exactly mean streets, but Mosman gave Tony Abbott a hero’s welcome when he arrived to campaign for votes.
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THERE was no selfie request he could refuse as former prime minister Tony Abbott was mobbed by adoring fans while campaigning in Mosman on Wednesday.
It was a world away from the windswept dock at Manly Wharf where Mr Abbott cut a forlorn figure handing out flyers.
A YouTube video which went viral even showed Mr Abbott copping abuse on the hustings at the wharf.
But the Member for Warringah told the Mosman Daily on the third day of the Federal Election campaign that he did not allow such encounters to affect him.
“You’ve just got to shrug it off and let it be like water off a duck’s back,” he said.
“This is my ninth election campaign as the local member and there have always been some people, who for whatever reason, are not fans. But that’s life.”
Mr Abbott found himself in more welcome territory as he greeted people at the Mosman ferry wharf and walked down Military Rd, selfie by selfie, to the cafe of Liberal Party member Joseph Arena.
Arena’s Deli Cafe e Cucina had tables set up out the front, anchored by two signs with Mr Abbott’s photo on them.
Mr Abbott told the Mosman Daily that he had expected the warm reception.
“It’s good to have this chance to reconnect with the people of this beautiful part of Sydney,” he said.
“But I’m regularly here just in the course of my normal life.
“If people are down at Balmoral on a Sunday they will often see me going for a run or something.”
The end of the Abbott era
Mr Abbott rejected criticism that he had ignored the electorate after Malcolm Turnbull deposed him as prime minister.
“I mean, obviously I had a brief sabbatical after September last year,” he said.
“But I’ve been very, very conscious at all times that I could not have been a minister in the government, I could not have been a party leader and a prime minister without being a member for Warringah first.
“So I’ve been very grateful and privileged by the people of Warringah, including the people of Mosman, I’m very much in their debt, I’m aware of that.”
Mr Abbott said Mr Turnbull “absolutely” had his 100 per cent support.
“Australia needs the best possible government and the best possible government right now is the Turnbull Government,” he said.
He said the election “could be quite close” and Labor and Bill Shorten should never be underestimated, but he did not expect the government to lose.
When asked about his plans if he found himself in opposition, Mr Abbott said his time as leader had passed.
“The point I made is that, the Abbott era has been and gone and I don’t expect my colleagues to revisit it,” he said.
Election issues
Mr Abbott stayed on message when asked about what the key election issues were.
“Look, the main issue, everywhere is who can keep the economy strong and our country safe,” he said.
“I very much believe the Coalition government under the Turnbull Government, can do that best.
“So I am campaigning as strongly as I can, not just to be re-elected as the local member, but to re-elect, to elect the Turnbull Government.”
Mr Abbott also acknowledged there were local issues for Mosman including the preservation of the environment, how to improve transport and how to deal with development.
He said he “would very much” like a tunnel to bypass the Spit Bridge traffic and emphasised it was a realistic goal.
“It’s now on the State Government’s planning list; once NorthConnex, WestConnex get done, it’s in the next phase of major transport upgrades as far as the State Government is concerned,” Mr Abbott said.
“I think Premier Mike Baird and I will have more to say about this in the next little while.”
Council amalgamations
Mr Abbott also supported Mr Baird on council amalgamations.
“I trust Mike Baird to get the process right and I am confident that in the end he will come up with a good option and I’m also confident that he’ll come up with an option that preserves the uniqueness of Mosman,” he said.
“In the end it’s a matter for Mosman.”
Mr Abbott acknowledged the merger issue was relevant to the Federal Election.
“I think it’s part of the general political background, obviously, a lot of people are quite concerned about it,” he said.
“And the important thing is to try and ensure that we end up with changes which improve the efficiency and the accountability of councils ... while at the same time respecting people’s local attachments.
“And in places like Manly and in Mosman, there are very strong pride of place, strong local attachments and I think they have to be respected.”
Superannuation changes in the Federal Budget
Mr Abbott gave diplomatic responses when asked about the controversial proposed changes to superannuation in the Federal Budget which will hit lifelong savers hard.
“There is a degree of anxiety about that particular Budget announcement but people are just as anxious about Labor’s policy as they are about the Coalition’s policy,” he said.
“There is no easy way to get the deficit down.
“There is no painless way to cut government spending and what the government is trying to do here, is to restore superannuation to its proper purpose.
“The proper purpose of superannuation is not to be a wealth creation vehicle, it’s to be a vehicle for giving people a reasonable retirement income.
“So I think the government is absolutely on the right track and as I said, I think it’s a gutsy call by the government.
“I expect that what we’ll see is, in the end, people accepting that when you’ve got a very serious Budget deficit to be brought under control you do have to make some tough decisions.”
Mr Abbott denied that the superannuation changes could be defined as retrospective.
“There’s no doubt that people made decisions in the past based on expectations of what would happen in the future,” he said.
“And by changing what is possible in the future, they in a sense reach back into the past.
“That said, decisions that people have made in terms of how much money they will put into superannuation are not going to be unmade by this.
“So while I can understand people being anxious about it, strictly speaking, this is not retrospective legislation.”
Mr Abbott admitted he had previously called for superannuation to be left alone.
“Well look, sometimes one good objective has got to trump another good objective,” he said.
“And yes, I’ve certainly said many times in the past that superannuation was people’s money, not the government’s money and it shouldn’t be a piggy bank that government raids at will when it’s in trouble and I absolutely believe that.
“On the other hand, I also believe absolutely that the government has got to get the deficit under control and sometimes one good cause trumps another good cause.”
City smoke haze from controlled burns
The Rural Fire Service volunteer also responded to complaints about the smoke haze from controlled burns which blanketed Sydney at the weekend.
“It’s better to suffer a small inconvenience now than a major catastrophe in some years’ time,” Mr Abbott said.
“If you want to have a safe life in bushfire prone suburbs and towns you’ve got to have a hazard reduction program.”
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