Re your lead post which included; "It seems to me that the PM has few choices. ..."
More importantly; the longer he allows the mess he has greatly exacerbated to continue unresolved the more it festers and the fewer are the options available.
These points are from Barrie Cassidy's latest comment on the matter:
"... Abbott is right to argue that Australia should not apologise for "reasonable intelligence gathering". But tapping the phones of the Indonesian President and his wife goes beyond reasonable. ..."
"... Abbott's fundamental failing so far has been his refusal to pick up the phone and talk the issue through with the President. That's what friends do when problems arise; they talk about it.
And he has compounded the issue by taking too long to respond to the President's demands for a letter of explanation. ..."
"... Indonesia is an ally, a friend, a neighbour, and an important one, as Abbott concedes. He needs to say something to the domestic audience to put some of these idiots back in their boxes before they do any more damage. ..."
"... But all that aside, so far, Abbott’s best is not good enough.
If the leader of the world's superpower can swallow his pride and apologise to Germany's Angela Merkel, then why can't the leader of a middle ranking power apologise to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or at least behave a little more conciliatory? ..."
To which I'd add; especially since Abbott himself insulted SBY at APEC, told the World that Japan is Australia's best friend, praised Sri Lanka's Govt while giving them naval patrol boats, slashed Australia's overseas aid budget, made a humiliating public apology to Malaysia and made huge DEMANDS of Indonesia both prior to the election and afterward.
