Saturday 28 January 2012

Q&A: what Tony Abbott actually said on Australia Day



For the record - because the mainstream media is beginning to subtly alter what was said.

A question & answer taken from a  Doorstop Interview with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in Sydney. Posted on Thursday, 26th January 2012 at his own website http://www.tonyabott.com.au/:

"QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, today is also the 40th anniversary of the Tent Embassy in Canberra. Is the Tent Embassy still relevant or should it move?
TONY ABBOTT:
Look, I can understand why the Tent Embassy was established all those years ago. I think a lot has changed for the better since then. We had the historic apology just a few years ago, one of the genuine achievements of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. We had the proposal which is currently for national consideration to recognise indigenous people in the Constitution. I think the indigenous people of Australia can be very proud of the respect in which they are held by every Australian and yes, I think a lot has changed since then and I think it probably is time to move on from that."

And this is how the The Telegraph originally reported this on the same day:
"FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says it's time to move the Aboriginal tent embassy in Canberra, 40 years after four indigenous activists camped at the site opposite Old Parliament House....
Mr Abbott said he understood why the tent embassy was set up "all those years ago" However, it was time it was disbanded, he said."

2 comments:

Patriciawa said...

There was also the seemingly now forgotten Sky News report early that morning too.

My own take on this is that whatever Abbott actually said the question was a Dorothy Dixer enabling his apparently reasonable response to be reported in the way it initially was, i.e. suggesting he said that the Tent Embassy should move, or be moved. It was a typical Abbott style dog whistle and it elicited exactly the response he hoped for. That is, until Channel 9 filmed the PM's leaderlike and calm control of the crisis,notwithstanding her later unexpected loss of dignity and shoe.

The degree of hysteria in the Coalition's hyperbole about the seriousness of the 'security breach' by Tony Hodges to the point of hinting at an ALP conspiracy to discredit Tony Abbott is a measure of how far their planned big media story Australia Day came undone.

clarencegirl said...

For screen shots of earliest MSM reports go to: http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/2012/01/on-suject-of-verballing-just-how-stupid.html