One way or another the Government was determined to get the focus back on health today. Throughout the week Question Time had been a back-and-forth between a Government grilling itself incessantly about health – whether its own health policies or those of Tony Abbott as Health minister – and an Opposition determined to steer discussion onto insulation, boatloads of asylum seekers or school construction projects.
So its first question to the Prime Minister today – on, surprise surprise, health – prompted Kevin Rudd to enquire as to what exactly the Opposition’s position was on the Government’s health reform proposal. Tony Abbott, obligingly, rose and said that if he was given the opportunity, he’d happily discuss it, which is exactly what the Government promptly did, doubtless hoping to catch Abbott on the hop. Despite that, Abbott pulled off a decent off-the-cuff speech, heavy on repetition and attacks on Rudd, although he blundered badly when he bizarrely insisted that a cancer centre at Royal Darwin Hospital named after a famed NT doctor, and a PET scanner at Royal North Shore hospital, should be named after him. Nevertheless, it lifted the Coalition’s backbench spirits and Anthony Albanese’s offer of an extra five minutes to speak looked awkward.
Nevertheless, the Government had got the focus back on health, right where it wanted it, and while Rudd’s response to Abbott was hardly sparkling – if any speech by Rudd ever sparkles in any way – it enabled the Prime Minister to quickly reprise his key themes about Abbott’s time as Health Minister, dwelling heavily on funding.
And that was as good as it got for the Opposition on the last Question Time before a Parliamentary break until the Budget (aside from Barack Obama’s address next Friday). Following the mini health debate, the Opposition inexplicably then asked Rudd about election debates, which allowed Rudd to invoke Abbott’s notorious health debate performance prior to the 2007 election and offer a debate on health next week. And at the end of Question Time, Rudd rose and, noting that the National Press Club was available on Tuesday, offered to debate Abbott then on health. The Opposition Leader had no choice but to feign enthusiasm.
So much for distracting the political agenda away from health.
The debate discussions bookended a vintage performance from Julia Gillard on stimulus package school projects. Gillard has regularly had Opposition questions raising individual cases about alleged cost blowouts, forcing her to ask them to provide details to her office for later action. Today, however, she seemed two steps ahead of the Opposition, quoting principals from the individual schools named and mauling, in turn, Kay Hull, Paul Fletcher (who was ejected from Parliament for reacting to Gillard), Alex Hawke and Christopher Pyne.
Doubtless Gillard’s demolition job on the Opposition will again be highlighted by a media eager to play up the leadership issue but Government MPs will leave Canberra happier than in recent weeks when insulation and poor polls have mired the Government in its worst period in office.
8 Comments
May I suggest an acronym for Tony’s natural constituency. White Angry Men A Bit On The Thick Side … WAMABOTTS
I watched Gillard on the 7.30 report and have to say I was impressed. No waffling or saying the present party mantra ad nauseam but answering the question. Naturally by that I mean answering as she saw the position. What I did find interesting during the interview was that the student thing my local member is banging on about ( Darren Chester ) regarding rural students was introduced by Pyne as a condition for coalition support to get it passed. So the national MP ( Chester ) is upset at labor for having legislation that had an amendment that his coalition partner insisted be included. Not sure if I heard it right but was there a statement saying Rudd would debate Abbott three times as opposed to the single time Howard allowed Rudd to debate ? I guess as an another question does this press club debate count as one of the three.
At the moment, yes it does.
“…grilling itself incessantly about health”…haha, very good.
“Abbott pulled off a decent off-the-cuff speech…”.
Rubbish. I expect the idiots in the Press Gallery to trot out this trite dotpoint conclusion, starting with Fran Kelly and Michelle Grattan’s breathless faux concern this morning about Rudd possibly shooting himself in the foot, but I expect better of you Bernard…the truth is Abbott looked and sounded like a gibbering lunatic, really.
The Government pulled a tactical swifty on the floor of the House (more please), and Abbott was caught in the headlights looking and sounding like the shrieking droob he is.
As he will next week at the Press Club debate. Look at the Liberal Party “machine” (cough splutter) swinging into action already, announcing that they want to negotiate terms and conditions for the “debate”, a la Oxford Union. Get real.
And yes, Gillard is a Goddess.
Anthony Albanese, IMHO, made a bad mistake when he asked that Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott should use ten minutes each to give their message on a debate.
Anthony, there is a wonderful American expression. “Never give a sucker an even break” Which is exactly what you did when you uttered those fateful words.
Strange how Michelle Grattan seems to have become an enemy of Rudd Labor. Wonder what went on there? Her quality and objectivity now ape that of the Murdoch media.
As for the Rudd Abbott debates the Murdoch newspaper headlines are already written (and it won’t matter if Abbott turns up or not, the Murdoch media will record these headlines).
Debate One – Abbott knocks out Rudd
Debate Two – Abbott leaves Rudd all at sea
Debate Three – Clean sweep to Abbott
The Murdoch media here since Abbott has become Opposition leader has descended more and more to the base level of its activities in the USA. It is saturation undermining Rudd, saturation Promotion of Abbott.
And for those who say the ABC is not corrupt and running interference for the Liberal Party….I say BS.
What Australia needs is a Jon Stewart and a Colbert Report as their methods seem to the best way to get people’s attention and thus to get the truth over, to counter act the saturation media campaign for the Liberals here. The Jon Stewart team must be close to being the best tv journalists in the USA.
Media here has become trash. The Australian isn’t worth the paper it is written on and the rest of that stable are worse. ABC TV, Radio and on-line are becoming more blatant fronts for the Liberal Party.
If there were any honesty anywhere in our media it would be telling the story of how Abbott and Howard went about trying to make the health system worse in the hope that the Labor States would cop the blame.
Not unexpectedly, tonight’s Q&A focused a lot on health.
Nicola Roxon is becoming quite a Labor star — she was reasoned, eloquent, across the area and very believable.
Greg Hunt, on the other hand, came across as a bit ‘dotty’ (as my grandmother would say). Admittedly health is not his purview but his responses were scattered and not always clear.
Stewarts’ demolition job on Glen Beck and his magical blackboard last Friday was poetry in motion.
Backberner was probably the best political satirist show we’ve had here. Unsurprisingly, it got canned.