What a difference a month makes.
Tony Abbott, 13 October:
“Look, I’m going to shirt-front Mr Putin — you bet I am. I’m going to be saying to Mr Putin — Australians were murdered and they were murdered by Russian-backed rebels using Russian supplied equipment. We are very unhappy about this. We accept that you didn’t want this to happen, but we now demand that you fully cooperate with the criminal investigation, and if the criminal investigation identifies suspects that you have some influence over, they’ve got to be produced and justice has got to be done.”
Tony Abbott, yesterday:
“The first point to make is that there is a big agenda here and conversations with the Russian President on a very important subject are only part, and by no means the biggest part, of the agenda that Australia is following here in Beijing and subsequently in Brisbane. But as is well-known, 38 Australians were murdered when flight MH17 was brought down. It wasn’t a tragedy; it was an atrocity, it was a crime and Russia has said that it will do everything to bring the perpetrators to justice. Good on Russia for saying that and I will just be looking for an assurance from the President that what they said then, they meant, and what they said then is still what they say now.”
From shirt-fronting to “good on Russia” in just four weeks. You weren’t saying one thing for crass domestic political considerations and then quite another when faced with the realities of international relations were you, Prime Minister?
22 thoughts on “Crikey says: is Putin now on Team Australia?”
Norman Hanscombe
November 12, 2014 at 9:14 amA reasonably well-educated high school student (admittedly an increasingly less common thing these days) could do a far better job of analysing what Abbott said and why he said what he did, than either Crikey or most posters.
Vale higher level education.
The Pav
November 12, 2014 at 3:05 pmDear David Hand and Norman Hanscombe
So I guess you guys are happy with our PM threatening to shirtfront a foreign head of state. ( never mind that that state is much larger and possess nuclear weapons).
Simple question . Pleas answer Yes or No
Next question are you then happy that the said PM then chickens out? Again Yes or No
Remember Bishop has avhieved a base competency as Foreign Minister with her ability to have impact mainly due to Australia’s position on the security council achieved by the Gillard Govt. An achievement derided mocked and jeered at by both Bishop and Abbott.
The G20 in Brisbane. Again an ALp achievement angain mocked etc by Bishop & Abbott.
Bishop only appears good becuase Abbott, Pyne Hockey etc are so excerable
BTW I don’t really expect either of you to answer the questions with a simple Yes or No. I will expect the usual justications, obfuscations and simple distractions and straw man arguments