DIGNIFIED, resolute, blameless in every regard, beset by traitors, cursed by John Howard’s toxic legacy yet implacable in her commitment to truth and principle, our Prime Minister sails serenely through the pages of this weekend’s Fairfax press:
Julia Gillard has been accused of betrayal for her inability to deliver to Andrew Wilkie the promised mandatory precommitment technology on all poker machines, yet her actions are the direct result of her having been betrayed by a man who once was one of her closest advisers.
– Anne Summers, “Dice Loaded In Clubs Battle”
The [footage] also captured a Prime Minister keeping her cool in the middle of sharply deteriorating circumstances, working her way through the options, mapping the entrances and exits; no hysterics, taking the inventory. (We all here? Good. Let's do this vaguely unpalatable thing then.)
– Kathryn Murphy “A Peek At The Best And Worst Of Gillard”
If the demo showed a darker side of politics, that Gillard looked out for Abbott was a reminder of the shared values of our democracy. As they got to The Lodge, Abbott observed Parliament would be pretty tame by comparison to what they had just been through. ''All credit to the Prime Minister and her security team for getting us out….
– Michelle Grattan, “Shared Values Shine Through The Dark Side Of Politics”
Howard's greatest successes was to sell his brand of nationalism to the young, but it was not the act of a statesman since it left us with a national day that annually calls up our deepest and most abiding division. It was inevitable that sooner or later, whether by accident or design, an event like that which occurred in Canberra on Thursday was going to happen. A situation now exists which extremists on both sides can work to their advantage.
– Martin Flanagan, “Why We Need To Find A New Date For Australia Day”
Let us not pretend for a second that the Craig Thomson affair would be as compelling to Tony Abbott and the media if it did not involve allegations about prostitution.
– Kate Gleason “Has Politics Finally Moved Beyond The Personal”
–Misha Schubert and Amanda Dunn, “No One Is Angrier Than Me”
When an image of Julia Gillard’s fearful face, wedged beside her bodyguard, flashed around the globe, indigenous issues were at the centre of Australian politics again. Almost always, indigenous politics must touch the Canberra powerful somehow to get a hold
– Debra Jopson, “The Spear Of Confrontation Pays Nation Another Visit”.
Gillard conducted herself with calmness, courage, humour and decency, as witnessed by her concern for the safety of her chief political foe. It was an unscripted - and unwarranted - opportunity for Gillard to show her mettle and she came through with flying colours.
– Sun-Herald editorial, “Shielding Gillard As Battlelines Are Drawn”
Gillard will use an address on Wednesday as the real start to her 2012 political calendar, telling the country Labor will deliver low interest rates, low inflation and low unemployment. According to a report in The Sun-Herald today, voters will be treated to a more dignified Prime Minister, a big-picture visionary who will leave the trench warfare to her lieutenants.
– Sun-Herald editorial, “Shielding Gillard As Battlelines Are Drawn”
The negative sentiments against Gillard seem more visceral and personal than with Bligh. And, unlike Bligh, Gillard has had to battle a good deal of hostility virtually from the start of her leadership.
– Michelle Grattan (again) “Sisters In Strife Would Do Best To Keep Their Distance”
Just when you think he can get no lower, down he goes again. Tony Abbott's boast that he would turn back the refugee boats is rank populism, a despicable play for the talkback rednecks.
– Butch Carlton “Speedo Politics Scuttles Any Solution”
Enough cheerleading? Keep a firm grip on breakfast because here comes the pièce de résistance. No need to read any further than the headline atop Sun-Herald analyst Stephanie Peatling’s apologia:
How I’ll Slay Abbott.*
(*Originally posted as "Beat Abbott" due to Bunyip slackness, the coffee not being ready, the Rufous Bird wanting to know why the stove is greasy and why there is no Windex. And also because Young Master Bunyip ran out of fags and took the last nicotine lozenge because he was too slack to go to the shops. Now corrected, and many thanks to commeneter AR for noticing the mistake.)
(*Originally posted as "Beat Abbott" due to Bunyip slackness, the coffee not being ready, the Rufous Bird wanting to know why the stove is greasy and why there is no Windex. And also because Young Master Bunyip ran out of fags and took the last nicotine lozenge because he was too slack to go to the shops. Now corrected, and many thanks to commeneter AR for noticing the mistake.)
