Tony Abbott-Thank you for the privilege of being Prime Minister. My love for this country is as strong as ever
The first Question Time of the brand new government starts, with Malcolm Turnbull confirming he’s, truly, the new PM. Bill Shorten, opposition leader is up next, praising Abbott: “He had this frustrating ability… to do something sudden generous and private.”
The last man to serve a full term as prime minister in Australia, former PM John Howard, is talking. He pays tribute to Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott for ceasing the influex of refugee boats, something he thought would not be possible to do.
He goes to congratulate Turnbull, saying he’s “we owe him a great debt”.
“He had this frustrating ability… to do something unexpected generous and personal.”
“He has the capacity to explain economic concepts very clearly and very lucidly and that, as he indicated yesterday, will be a significant part of the skill set that he brings to his new responsibilities. I’ve little doubt he will, Tony Abbott did and as I did, comprehend that the Liberal party is a broad church. It is a centre right party, it brings together two streams of the Australian polity, it’s the custodian of liberal values that are small.
“Inevitably with the pain of disappointment and loss that undoubtedly my friend Tony Abbott feels at this particular time, I say to him as a friend and as a former Liberal Party leader, that he has an enormous amount to be proud of and there is much in his record, both as opposition leader and prime minister, of which the Liberal party should be profoundly grateful and indebted.”
He goes on to congratulate Turnbull, saying he is “a person of great intelligence”.
“He has the capacity to explain economic concepts very clearly and very lucidly and that, as he indicated yesterday, will be an important part of the skill set that he brings to his new responsibilities. I have little doubt that he will, as I did and Tony Abbott did, understand that the Liberal party is a broad church. It’s a centre right party, it brings together two streams of the Australian polity, it is the custodian of small liberal values. It does best when it keeps a balance of those two.”
This may stick for Abbott.
