Richardson: Abbott’s regional lifestyle choice
Tony Abbott’s relationship with South Australia has always been somewhat fraught.
Although, to be fair, it started off alright, back in the ‘90s, when his good mate and patron, the late raconteur Christopher Pearson, enabled the freewheeling thoughts of the future PM to be regularly published in his then-august journal The Adelaide Review, whose readers became an occasional sounding board for Abbott’s semi-formed ideological musings.
But it’s his Prime Ministerial rapport with the place that has hit the skids; hardly surprising, really, given almost every second Coalition policy seems skilfully designed to tweak the state’s collective nose.
‘That promise about awarding a $20 billion-plus submarine contract to the locally-based Government-owned shipbuilder? Yeah, nah, we don’t wanna do that anymore.’
‘Oh wait, you guys are kinda fond of cars and jobs here? Well, that’s super, but it’s not our job to fund your lifestyle choices.’
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And then, as a final, colossal insult, waiting until the auto industry has pulled the pin … and then putting the money back.
In terms of business diplomacy, it’s lamentable. As far as policy goes, it’s deplorable. It doesn’t even seem designed to resonate politically. And in any case, most of the money will never be spent, unless it’s spent posthumously on a grand funeral for auto manufacturing.
All it is, finally, is a grudging admission that the Government didn’t have the numbers in the Senate to pass its funding cuts in the first place. For the carmaker that began here in 1856 as a small saddlery, the horse had long since bolted. (Yes, literally too …)
A funny sort of time, then, for a flying whistlestop to the rustbucket state, albeit one of its farther-flung regional hubs.
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And, appropriately, Abbott’s latest visit to SA was of course uniquely timed to coincide with the fallout from a teeth-grindingly coarse gaffe – defending the mooted withdrawal of services to indigenous communities on the grounds that taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund their ‘lifestyle choice’. Though, to be fair, it’s not really a ‘gaffe’ if you mean to say it and repeatedly stand by it.
(I assume he didn’t preface any of his public pronouncements with that bit about acknowledging that we meet on the traditional lands of our first people and respect their spiritual relationship with their country, and all that.)
Apparently, Abbott made quite a big deal about his being in Mount Gambier, pointing out that only he, Howard and Fraser of recent Prime Ministers had done so.
From local reports, he whiled away his 18 hours with plenty of banter about fracking, food labelling and MRI machines, and told ABC his visit to the Blue Lake city was prompted by a standing invitation from Tony Pasin, the Liberal Member for Barker, and “because it was as good a time as any”.
One reason though, might present itself. Pasin’s homepage links to a statement posted on February 6, shortly after a spill motion against the embattled PM became public.
“Member for Barker, Tony Pasin, indicated today that he will be supporting the Prime Minister and will not be voting for the spill motion,” the statement reads.
“As a Prime Minister with a democratic mandate from the electorate we owe it to the voters to respect their decision and get on with the job. I urge my disillusioned colleagues to stop the mid-summer madness, stop talking about themselves and get on with the job of delivering strong and stable government for the people of Australia.”
He didn’t even feel the need to push for any political kudos, in the form of a competitive tender … sorry, evaluation process … for the subs contract.
Tony Abbott might not have so many mates in SA these days, but it seems he still knows who his friends are, and where to find them.
Tom Richardson is a senior journalist at InDaily.
His political column is published on Fridays.
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