Until Anne Summers weighed in, we had no idea how versatile Tony Abbott’s ego was

Headline on Anne Summers’s column in The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday:

Tony Abbott’s ego as big as Phar Lap’s heart.

Upsize it! Summers adjusting the dimensions a bit:

Tony Abbott’s ego is the size of Uluru.

At last, Summers hits her stride:

His ego is like kryptonite.

Feeling experimental now, Summers tries a straighter assessment:

Abbott’s ego means he seems utterly undeterred by hostility.

Are there any limits to this ego’s capabilities? Summers seems to think not:

If Abbott’s ego is preventing him from facing the facts of his political extinction it’s time for an intervention. Tony, your ego is, literally, costing us too much.

And at last, Summers addresses the ego-owner directly:

… funnily enough, if you put your ego where it belongs, beside those other Aussie icons in a museum, chances are people might eventually start to see you as the loveable larrikin you think you are.

Surely what the nation’s missing now is a bit of leadership tension. On Nine’s Today show yesterday:

Karl Stefanovic: You criticised Bill Shorten very publicly this week. Can I ask you this question this morning? When are you going to man up and take his job?

Anthony Albanese: I didn’t in fact criticise Bill Shorten. One of the things I said is that Bill Shorten is absolutely committed to reconciliation.

Christopher Pyne: He did attack him.

More than one way to skin the leadership cat, of course:

Stefanovic: Who would you build statues for?

Albanese: Christopher has suggested Pemulwuy. There’s also Bennelong. There are a range of Aboriginal historical figures as well as current leaders. I think over a period of time they need that recognition.

Stefanovic: I think it’s a good idea.

Albanese: We need to understand that Australia’s history is the longest continuous civilisation on earth and be proud of it.

Stefanovic: See, there you go again, being a great opposition leader.

Pyne: He’s much better than Bill.

Stefanovic: He’s much better than Bill, isn’t he, Chris? Do you agree?

Pyne: He’s much better than Bill. Bill wants plaques, new plaques. Anthony’s saying no new plaques. ...

Stefanovic: Just do it! Just do it.

Pyne: He did it on Wednesday, now he’s doing it on the Today show.

Stefanovic: Exactly, Christopher.

Albanese: I’m very happy with the job that I have. Very happy with the job that I’ve got.

Pyne admitting he’d be open to an improvement:

I want to get paid as much as Chris Uhlmann’s gonna get paid.

First world problems? The Guardian Australia yesterday:

The curse of Macbeth: why I keep going back to see a play that I don’t like — Macbeth is Australia’s most performed Shakespearean play — so pity theatre critics like Jane Howard who don’t enjoy it.

Still, not as harsh as anything Shakespeare wrote. From Act V, scene V of Macbeth:

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

The Brisbane Times taking an optimistic view yesterday:

Won the lottery? It pays to know your rights.

The New York Post giving the Northern Territory News a run for its money on Thursday:

Burmese python terrifies beachgoers in Miami.