IT SEEMS everybody’s trying to knock out Tony Abbott these days. Whether being headbutted in Hobart by some thug, or flayed alive (yet again) by some lefty journalist, it seems every day is Open Season on Abbott Day. Yet Abbott soldiers on. The lip may be swollen, the ego may be bruised, but the battler in Abbott refuses to be knocked down.
It’s hard to know who fears Abbott the most. Is it the bunch of miserable “bed-wetters”, those Liberal MPs who were so keen to tear Abbott down and replace him with Malcolm Turnbull on the laughable promise of a massive improvement in the opinion polls? Or is it the hardheads of the Labor Party, who know through bitter experience that if Abbott were let loose on them their ghastly fantasy of a Bill Shorten prime ministership would be cactus? Clearly, somebody out there is terrified of Abbott.
The luvvies in the Liberal party (yes, sadly there are plenty of them) would have you believe that Abbott is a human wrecking ball hellbent on laying waste to the Turnbull Government. Yet if this analysis was correct, which it isn’t, by their own logic these individuals must recognise that the smartest tactic would be to redirect this potent weapon of mass destruction where it is most needed – at obliterating Labor. Put Abbott in charge of energy policy, or give him his old job back.
Labor has been riding high in the polls for more than a year now, to the extent that Turnbull is rapidly approaching the loud ping of “30 Newspolls in a row” which he himself set as the moment his time is up. Clearly, it would be beyond hypocritical for Turnbull to attempt to remain leader past that point. “Post-30”, a Turnbull government would have zero credibility, and the landslide that would sweep Labor into power at the next election would wipe out a generation of talented Liberals and Nationals. Worse, the policies that a large-majority Shorten government would foist upon us would hurtle our country towards being an economic socialist basket case riddled with the madness of identity politics, political correctness on steroids and sinister class and race divisions.
But Tony Abbott is not the thing or person that is damaging the Liberal Party and the prime ministership of Malcolm Turnbull. It is the Government’s own stubborn refusal to change direction on climate change policies. Rather than being destructive, all Abbott has done is offer policy suggestions for how the Libs can beat Labor.
The Hazelwood coal-fired power station is a classic example. When this critical part of Victoria’s power generation was being shut down, Abbott urged Turnbull to intervene to keep it open. But Turnbull sided with the energy vandals. Now, six months later, Turnbull is belatedly saying about NSW’s Liddell station exactly what Abbott said about Hazelwood.
My guess is that what Abbott has been saying for months about freezing subsidies to renewables and scrapping or lowering our targets will be ideas that Turnbull is forced to adopt.
This is because of the so-called “culture wars”. One critical battle of the culture wars is very real and is being fought in every ordinary household and business premises across the nation – every time an electricity bill lands in a letterbox. You either believe Australia can solve climate change (which is impossible) or you believe Australians should have cheap, reliable energy. That’s it. Pick a side. If you want to pretend you are tackling climate change, vote Labor. If you want cheaper energy bills vote… oh, hang on! Turns out Turnbull’s and the bed-wetters’ obsession with climate change is almost as bad as Labor’s. Oops.
Soon it will dawn on Turnbull he must scrap his commitment to green ideology and fight for blue-collar jobs, families and values if he is to save himself.
Only by making a dramatic gesture can Turnbull prove to the public that he intends to fight Labor on climate change, rather than copy them. Ironically, the most effective way Turnbull could knock Abbott out of the ring is by stealing all his ideas. Rowan Dean co-hosts Outsiders, 10am and 6pm Sunday, on Sky News
