Yesterday Craig Thomson, currently sitting in Parliament as an Independent, voted with the Opposition against the Government. So determined are the Opposition not to be seen accepting his ‘tainted’ vote that three Opposition members attempted to run out of the room. Warren Entsch ran to a closed door, Tony Abbott tried to get out of a different door and was called back by the Speaker, only Christopher “Gazelle” Pyne made it out. For those of you away from social media yesterday, this has been all over Twitter like a rash. Yep this is the potential leader of this country.
My favs from Twitter
PopThirdWorld @popthirdworld
Abbott fleeing from Craig Thomson in Parliament is disgraceful. Whether or not Thomson has girl germs is for the courts to decide. #auspol
mendy menendez @allyouzombies
i just keep watching that and trying to pinpoint the moment a 55y/o man decides bolting for the door is the best political option.
Clementine Ford @clementine_ford
LOL at Tony Abbott running from the chamber like a schoolboy caught weeing in the teacher’s drawer.
Animated Gif (possibly)
This is our future? C’mon, Australia, you are supposed to be the citizenry I am NOT ashamed to be part of.
Annnd…shared on FB. Thanks for the laugh! I hate that things have deteriorated to this point, but that gif is golden!
Well, the Libs have been acting like kids ever since the 2010 election – sulking, throwing tantrums, holding their breath until they turn blue (oh, hang on, they haven’t tried that one yet – give them another couple of weeks). I’m not surprised they’re now playing chasey in the House. I admire Mr Thomson’s sense of humour – if he hadn’t decided to vote with the opposition, we’d never have been able to witness Tony Abbott’s latest effort at proving his athletic supremacy.
Even my class of 12yo students laughed at this behaviour.
Has anybody cut together a vid of all the really odd, embarrassing things Abbott has done in front of a camera? I’m thinking of his getting all trembly to the channel 7 reporter, and things like that (other favourites, anyone?). It could be some sort of hostage to hold over the voting public: “If you vote to let this man become Prime Minister, we will publish this video around the world and everyone will know that this is the leader we, the Australian people chose. On purpose.”
Fantastic blog post from Tim Dunlop on the media and Abbott. http://tjd.posterous.com/tony-abbotts-free-pass
What about Abbott’s outrage at the satirical posters in Tanya Pilbersek’s office that sound near-factual to some of us? Juxtapose them with actual Abbott statements.
I just don’t get the ‘tainted vote’ idea. Surely, the most politic response to this is to go: ‘well, we believe in our policies and while we don’t condone X’s behaviour, we appreciate that s/he recognises the best interest of the country’ (tweaking as appropriate when the vote is ‘against’). Because it seems to me that to do otherwise, you are basically suggesting that you don’t vote for or against different policies because they are good/bad, but because you are playing politics, and even if it’s true that’s fairly sickening.
The whole ‘tainted vote’ trope undermines the concept of representative democracy, IMO. Unless and until the due process of law determines that Thomson can no longer sit in the House, then he is representing his electorate and they deserve to have their votes (through him) count. Same goes for the voters in the electorates of the Gazelle and his slower colleagues – by deliberately avoiding the vote they are denying their electorates their representation.
Tim Dunlop has a pointed post about the double standards of media coverage regarding Abbott’s stunts.