Gogo1; if Tony Abbott was head-butted as he has reportedly alleged and not just suffering the sort of drunken stupor he now admits to that caused him to miss divisions in Parliament, a reality check about what happened to Arthur Calwell is a reminder of just how different Abbott has reacted relative to Calwell:
"... Tomorrow is the anniversary of an unfortunate event in Australian political history: 48 years ago, Australia witnessed its only attempted assassination of a political leader.
On the night of June 21, 1966, Labor leader Arthur Calwell had just addressed a rowdy meeting at Mosman Town Hall, Sydney, talking about conscription and Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. ..."
"... Although he had only narrowly escaped death, Calwell immediately said he forgave his assailant and replied to a letter of apology from Kocan with a letter offorgiveness. Calwell also pledged his support to help get Kocan’s sentence reduced. ..."
"... In 2010, Kocan was awarded the Australia Council’s Writer’s Emeritus Award for a distinguished writing career...."
