Tony Abbott talks with Andrew Bolt
Channel 10 hosted Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott was interviewed yesterday by Andrew Bolt who sought his views on the UN vote…
ANDREW BOLT:
This week – and I think this was very interesting and perhaps even disturbing – Julia Gillard was forced to drop her decision to vote against Palestine getting observer status in the UN, after MPs, including ministers, warned this would upset Muslim voters in key Labor seats in Sydney. Now, is that a legitimate way to decide our foreign affairs policy, on what a small group of Muslims in key seats might think?
Tony Abbott
TONY ABBOTT:
For me, Andrew, the disappointing thing about this was that it seemed to put in jeopardy 60-odd years of settled bipartisan policy of rock solid support for Israel. Now, the Coalition’s position is that we should have voted against that United Nations resolution, we should continue to vote against any additional recognition for Palestine until such time as the Palestinians are prepared to unambiguously recognise Israel’s right to exist behind secure borders, but the politics of this were, Andrew, that the Prime Minister was rolled by her Cabinet and her Caucus. Now it’s absolutely unprecedented for a Prime Minister to be rolled by Cabinet and Caucus on a foreign policy matter and it just shows that this is a chaotic government and the Prime Minister’s authority is gravely weakened and undermined by the events of the week.
ANDREW BOLT:
Yes, but aren’t you worried about the fact that some of those Ministers rolling her had Muslim votes of 20 per cent in their electorates. Is this the way to decide foreign policy?
TONY ABBOTT:
Of course it’s not and again the point I make, Andrew, is that whether you’re Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Atheist, whatever, I think what you’re really interested in is good government that takes the pressure off cost of living, which eliminates unnecessary taxes like the carbon tax and the mining tax. I don’t believe anyone living in Australia is going to want the Australian Government to do anything other than support Australia’s national interests and it’s in Australia’s national interest to give strong support to Israel.
Ben, I take it you attend the numerous Palestinian Lobby demos against Jewish Israelis and against Jewish owned businesses that take place in Sydney and Melbourne so you have seen for your self the make up of the protestors.
Michael, No I dont demonstrate against Jewish owned businesses. The fact that the demographic of the protesters is of ME persuasion does not mean that asylum seekers are being “recruited” by the pal lobby. More on point, the demographic issues referred to by Dolt do not mean that the cabinet abstained on the UN vote as a “sop” to these constituents. The fact that you can’t even entertain the idea that they have taken a principled and independent decision shows how biased you are. I have no doubt that in your universe the whole of the EU abstained or voted yes because its overrun by Muslims and that the US and EU’s condemnation of Israel’s proposed expansion into E1 and withholding of tax revenue was also the product of some grand Muslim conspiracy.
Bolt and Abbot’s inability to argue the merits of the cabinet’s decision without resorting to embarrassingly feeble conspiracy theories about the so called pal lobby shows them both up for the intellectual minnows they are.
As for Michael’s bizarre theory of asylum seekers being recruited by the pal lobby, where do people find the evid for this ? I seem to recall a certain newspaper owner making similar unsubstantiated claims which were roundly condemned by the community…
Honestly folks, at a time when Israel’s standing is at an all time low – see World reaction to infantile decision by Israel to build 3000 settler homes – why do we give oxygen to the views of Abbot, Bolt and Michael ?
More reason than we give it to you Ben.
Considering most of the Illegal asylum seekers are coming from Middle East & Islamic countries , many recruited by the Palestinian lobby and their Socialist storm troopers comrades end up at the Anti- israel rally’s , should we be be surprised that the 500,000 strong and growing Muslim community figures in Labor & Greens foreign policy.
”Would Australians have agreed to take in so many Middle Eastern migrants had we been told beforehand we’d have to change our foreign policy to keep sweet the ill-assimilated?” Andrew Bolt Today
‘’Demographic changes also mean the Muslim vote is of growing importance in electorates in the western suburbs of Sydney.’’ Fairfax AFR
Wednesday 18 November 2012
‘’ NSW Right MPs who were more concerned a no vote at the UN would offend Middle East and Muslim communities in their fragile southwest Sydney seats’ ‘’ SMH
It obvious the Palestinians out Lobbied the Jewish lobby on the UN vote.
Hmmmmmmm