Tony Abbott is preparing for a battle, and he needs a General, says Derek Barry. His plans for war are all laid out in Battlelines, and you can see where Malcolm Turnbull fits it.
Battlelines
How the Iron Monk slips the bonds of normal life
Today, as Tony Abbott embarks on a 1000-kilometre, nine-day ride from Melbourne to Sydney, it’s clear that he now views his bike in the same way Easy Rider’s Peter Fonda did his Harley.
Berg: Australian politics is drifting with no ideological anchor
Australia isn’t deeply divided along ideological lines — unlike the US — and our politics is worse off without it. Without a strong party ideology, how can policies be written? asks Chris Berg.
Grattan: Can Abbott tame the WorkChoices beast?
Other disposed Lib leaders wouldn’t touch industrial relations with a ten foot pole, but Tony Abbott says “WorkChoices wasn’t all bad” and is pushing his own, more tightly reigned in version. Will it work for Abbott? asks Michelle Grattan.
George Brandis: A love letter to my boss, Tony Abbott
MP George Brandis does some serious sucking up to his leader Tony Abbott, in a deep piece in The Oz about Abbott the “intellectual warrior”, a pragmatic and straight talking man of the people.
Grattan: Abbott both Howard’s love child and troublesome teen
Lib leader Tony Abbott does love his old leader Howard, but even their shared conservatism mixed with pragmatism has a few differences. As Abbott’s popularity rises, can he balance Howardism with Abbott extremism? asks Michelle Grattan.
Abbott’s Battlelines are drawn through the middle of the Libs
The split in Australian politics isn’t just Right vs. Left, it’s progressives vs. conservatives and the Liberal Party is split right down the middle. Poor Malcolm Turnbull just got sucked into the vortex.
Talking the Town: Talking the town: Tony Abbott and Bob Ellis, in conversation. Yes, really.
It’s not often you go to a book launch where the author never mentions his own book, and spends most of the night talking about someone else’s, which is what happened with Bob Ellis and Tony Abbott last night.
The real Battlelines: putting the small ‘l’ back in Liberals
Liberal Senator George Brandis has let fly at his party, saying that for John Howard, the Libs were more conservative than liberal. Glenn Milne reports on the battle of ideas plaguing the Liberal Party.
Abbott no fan of change, just marriage
Tony Abbott’s conservative manifesto Battlelines fails to address a key issue — that institutions need to change with society. Change isn’t always a bad thing, writes David Hetherington.
Bob Ellis: Tony Abbott and me
Bob Ellis muses on Tony Abbott — the man who might be leader — and his new autobiography, Battlelines. He writes very well, but is ultimately just “one more woolly Howardite denialist.”
Guy Rundle: Tony Abbott’s honeymoon, as told by Tony Abbott
Guy Rundle shares his favourite passages from Tony Abbott’s new autobiography, Battlelines.
Turnbullfest wouldn’t be the same
Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull would run a very different Liberal conference to last week’s Ruddfest. Less boring but more criticism for their humble leader?
Who is Tony Abbott, heir apparent?
Courtesy of mere chance, he’s probably the highest profile replacement if Liberal Leader Malcolm Turnbull goes. Bernard Keane glimpses inside the “slightly scary” mind of Tony Abbott via his new book, Battlelines.
Tony Abbott’s powerplay goes by the book
The big challenge for Tony Abbott is to convince Australians that the Liberals really are interested in ideas, writes Norman Abjorensen.
Can Abbott make a real crack at the Lib leadership?
Is Tony Abbott remaking himself as a feminist intellectual with some real leadership prospects? Quite possibly, writes Miranda Devine.
