The above words that came from Tony Abbott this morning to me translates that while he never had the specific detail of the Ashby matter he likely knew in advance it was happening.
The Prime Minister has called them "weasel words" and I tend to agree.
This issue will build imo just as "Watergate" did. Its allegedly about a potential conspiracy using a conspired court action to secure political gain and perhaps even the bringing down of the government.
Will the media have the knackers to pursue this with the same vigour as they have the AWU issue. The AWU issue was 17 to 20 years ago, and involved actions at the time not related to Parliament. The Ashby case according to the Federal Court is about the here and now and an alleged conspiracy relative directly to our electoral system and the parliament.
I will be interesting to see whether the media will take it on board. They would need to move quickly as once an appeal is lodged by Ashby the discussion may for legal reasons become limited.
"I had no specific knowledge about the detail"
Definitely weasel words and greater explanation needed as to what the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott knew imo.
