Tony Abbott‘s hellish week is going from worse to full-blown chaotic, as a US think tank has boldly opened a report by genuinely asking, “Is Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott the most incompetent leader of any industrialized democracy?”, per SMH.
It’s hardly a flattering question, nor does it set itself up to be answered in the negative: the Council of Foreign Relations have published a report titled “Tony Abbott Has To Go” on their website, musing on the pros and cons of our Prime Minister. Spoiler: there are little to no ‘pros’ to be seen. Go figure.
The report, penned by Joshua Kurlantzick before Monday’s spill lays out a series of smackdowns:
“Abbott’s policies have been all over the map, and the lack of coherence has often made the prime minister seem ill-informed and incapable of understanding complex policy issues. In press conferences, Abbott has offered mixed public messages about some of the health care reforms that were at the center of his agenda, and sometimes has seemed unsure himself of what health legislation has actually been passed on his watch. He also has seemed unsure of what he promised in the past regarding Australia’s major public broadcaster – he promised not to touch it – before he went ahead and made cuts to it. He also looked completely baffled on climate change issues at the G20 summit in Australia last year.”
Boom! Roasted.
The report is an extra blight on Tony Abbott’s already extremely tarnished public, and hell, internal party image: Abbott has received his lowest Newspoll approval rating this week, and almost 40% of the Liberal Party room voted “yes” to a leadership spill motion.
The report ends on this dramatic note: “a country that for decades has punched above its weight on nearly every international issue surely can do much better for a prime minister than Tony Abbott.” It’s an unstable and trying time for Australian politics: only time will tell how Tony Abbott will steady the tremors of a party in a state of discontent.
Via SMH.
Lead image by Mark Metcalfe via Getty.
