What will the Abbott Opposition look like?

Hat tip to http://twitter.com/G_Parker (deputy online editor at The West Australian) "By 1 vote in the party room Tony Abbott has defeated Malcolm Turnbull to lead the Liberal Party. So what can we expect from his time as opposition leader?" asks Andrew Carr, a PhD student in Canberra on his blog Chasing the Norm. He concludes: It will be easy to over-estimate the radicalness of Abbott as leader, but he will end up earning brownie points from the public for being more moderate than they were lead to believe. I doubt he can win, but he will be a tough leader to beat. Despite his years in the ministry, I have a feeling Australia doesn’t really know Abbott, or will at least give him a honest second look. So expect some volatility and change compared to this weeks polls. (When done here, you should follow that link to check Possum’s excellent breakdown of the post-split polls) Abbott is a very committed, hard working and decent bloke. He spends a lot of his time helping charity/volunteer groups, he keeps himself fit and healthy, and he is passionate about public life and improving the country. Rudd in comparison could come off badly as a nerdy spin machine. That shouldn’t happen given the governments domination, but if Abbott can survive to face a second election he will be a real threat. I’m certainly look forward to this election. For all my political disagreements with Abbott, I rather like the guy. He’ll infuriate, he’ll make the Liberal Party a much more conservative beast, but he will be offering a clear and strongly believed alternative. I certainly think Abbott is one of the most capable, honest and straight politicians in Australia today, irrespective of whether or not you agree with him of a particular issue. And he's been punished by parts of the media for that honesty and lack of spin. Quite frankly, that guy from the Asbestos Diseases Society was performing a stunt for political purposes. As was his right to do and good luck to him. Abbott's sin was to treat him like a normal, ordinary person and not as some pathetic victim. Already you can see parts of the media openly declaring war on him, for instance the Fairfax Media. Do we have the political maturity to handle a politician that says plainly what he is thinking, in contradistinction to the endless and verbose spin doctoring of Kevin Rudd? And I'm not saying people should agree with Abbott, but can we get away from this childish habit of creating a cliched cartoon-cutout version of what somebody says and instead thoughtfully consider it? Just a suggestion.

Posted via email from Garth's posterous