Comments on: Tony Abbott’s powerplay goes by the book http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/07/31/tony-abbotts-powerplay-goes-by-the-book/ now with extra source Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:58:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Stilgherrian http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/07/31/tony-abbotts-powerplay-goes-by-the-book/#comment-32995 Stilgherrian Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:02:06 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/07/31/tony-abbotts-powerplay-goes-by-the-book/#comment-32995 Dr Abjorensen, while I haven't read Tony Abbott's book, and while I agree that Abbott faces the political problems you describe -- and perhaps others -- one sentence stood out: <blockquote>The simple fact is that no Liberal has come to the leadership in the way that Abbott is going.</blockquote> The nature of "doing politics" is changing, perhaps faster than Australian political parties realise, so I'm not sure that the fact that something hasn't worked in the past is <em>necessarily</em> evidence that it can't be done in the future. I'm not saying Abbott <em>is</em><em> heading towards success, though, merely that "we haven't done this before" is, of itself, relevant. Mind you, I daresay </em><em>Battlelines</em> is no <em>Audacity of Hope</em>... Dr Abjorensen, while I haven’t read Tony Abbott’s book, and while I agree that Abbott faces the political problems you describe — and perhaps others — one sentence stood out:

The simple fact is that no Liberal has come to the leadership in the way that Abbott is going.

The nature of “doing politics” is changing, perhaps faster than Australian political parties realise, so I’m not sure that the fact that something hasn’t worked in the past is necessarily evidence that it can’t be done in the future. I’m not saying Abbott is heading towards success, though, merely that “we haven’t done this before” is, of itself, relevant.

Mind you, I daresay Battlelines is no Audacity of Hope…

]]> By: Charles Richardson http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/07/31/tony-abbotts-powerplay-goes-by-the-book/#comment-32906 Charles Richardson Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:38:31 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/07/31/tony-abbotts-powerplay-goes-by-the-book/#comment-32906 Hi Norman - Nice article, but I wonder if you dismiss too quickly the comparison with Malcolm Fraser. Fraser didn't just fall into the leadership, he worked hard to get it, and part of what he did was presenting himself as a serious thinker, a worthy heir to the mantle of a more successful era (that of Menzies in his case, Howard in Abbott's). Granted he didn't write a book, but he talked about ideas a bit and gave the appearance of an intellectual, at least by Liberal Party standards. It worked for him, and if he could live down Vietnam, Abbott might just be able to live down WorkChoices. Hi Norman - Nice article, but I wonder if you dismiss too quickly the comparison with Malcolm Fraser. Fraser didn’t just fall into the leadership, he worked hard to get it, and part of what he did was presenting himself as a serious thinker, a worthy heir to the mantle of a more successful era (that of Menzies in his case, Howard in Abbott’s). Granted he didn’t write a book, but he talked about ideas a bit and gave the appearance of an intellectual, at least by Liberal Party standards. It worked for him, and if he could live down Vietnam, Abbott might just be able to live down WorkChoices.

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