Nothing edifying in this bullying blast from the past

DURING the past week, we have seen a return to the past from both major parties.

Julia Gillard and the Labor Party are spinning and strong-arming as Kevin Rudd once did. And the old Tony Abbott has resurfaced, shooting off from the mouth without checking his facts, as well as applying Howard government techniques to intimidate journalists.

The Prime Minister chose to kick the Opposition Leader when he used jet lag as an excuse for not travelling to Afghanistan with her, knowing full well he was about to make the trip himself but couldn't say so for security reasons.

It was cheap politics, unbecoming of a prime minister.

As much as Abbott had a right to be unimpressed with Gillard's barbs, describing her actions as Machiavellian bastardry is the sort of over-the-top rhetoric the old Abbott would use, such as when he swore at Nicola Roxon during the 2007 campaign.

And instead of Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes being free to express opinions different from Labor governments without retribution - such as when he called for a big Australia on the weekend - he was slapped down by a senior government minister, Tony Burke.

Former prime minister Rudd never appreciated dissenting voices either.

When Abbott's press office tried to intimidate the ABC Four Corners team into not using footage of the Opposition Leader during negotiations over who would form government for their story aired last week, it was media bullying more akin to the Howard years.

New paradigm for our national polity? On the evidence, I doubt it.