Yambaman gets caught out by a hoax

 

An email has been doing the rounds since at least March 2012.

 

Sometimes it is titled A Short Tony Abbott Resume, other times it's headed Who is Tony Abbott? and sometimes it has no title or tag at all.
 

Often it is attributed to author unknown and sometimes to a former Labor Leader of the Opposition Mark Latham.

 

It turns up in online forums, blog posts and even in one comment under a North Coast Voices post.

 

By unthinkingly putting the email on one particular forum alh helped him/herself along the way to a six day suspension.

This is what the real Mark Latham wrote about Abbott in the Financial Review on 11 October, 25 October and 20 December 2012:

* The pampered childhood, in which no boundaries were placed on young Tony’s adventurism. His time at Sydney University hectoring lesbians and vandalising public property in the name of conservatism. His struggles as a trainee priest in conforming to the vows of celibacy and the culture of St Patrick’s seminary. Then his turbulent period in the early 1990s, ostensibly working for the Liberal leader, John Hewson, but acting as an agent for John Howard....Under his leadership, we are witnessing the moral decline of Australian conservatism.

* My theory on Abbott is that he is a habitual exaggerator, an attention seeker who will say or do anything to inflate the perceived sins of his opponents.

* Tony Abbott is a flawed character, a habitual exaggerator, deeply unpopular with the Australian people. There is no surging public sentiment to make him prime minister.

 

However, Yambaman obviously didn't check the email, was caught by the hoax and eagerly posted it at Topstocks:

 

3 Grade(s)Awarded yambaman One for the Abott haters 2013-01-10 08:35:38 Forum: Politics Post #875242 Read: 594 times IP Address 124.171.xxx.160

By Mark LATHAM, Former Leader of ALP. Just for IgnorAnt and MH. Overheard last week: "It's such a shame there isn't someone other than Tony Abbott as alternative Prime Minister. We think the Gillard government is bad for the country, but it would be better if we had another Opposition leader to vote for." It caused me to ask why that view might exist given Abbott's background, and I wondered if it might be that people do not know his history. So, I have put together some information which might help get a better understanding of the man. Abbott graduated from the University of Sydney with degrees in Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Economics (BEc). Then he became a Rhodes Scholar at Queens College Oxford UK in Politics and Philosophy. He also won a boxing blue at Oxford. He married Margaret in 1987 and has three daughters. He is a member of the congregation of the Catholic Church. He was involved in student politics, but beyond that, biographer Michael Duffy, wrote that during his student days he "........saved a child who was swept out to sea. Another time, he helped save children from a burning house next to a pub where he was drinking. On each occasion he disappeared before he could be properly thanked". He is a member of Manly's Queenscliffe SLSC, and a member of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, both of which he joined before it was politically expedient to do so. He spent several weeks teaching in remote Aboriginal settlements in Cape York in an effort 'to familiarise himself with indigenous issues'. If you are wondering where some of the negativity attributed to Tony Abbott comes from, go on to the Net and have a look at the comments which followed, 2 years ago, when he was asked by the Women's Weekly "What advice would you give your three daughters on sex before marriage?" He told the magazine: "I would say to my daughters, if they were to ask me this question .... it is the greatest gift you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it up to someone lightly." Yet, if you were to read many of the comments on the Internet and the print media at the time, you could be forgiven for thinking he was attempting to impose his will on all females in Australia, had ranted against women, had argued for Muslim like chastity, and so on..... See for yourself - Google it! Gillard's response was to accuse Abbott of "lecturing women"??? I have also included a video of Abbott where he commented on, in what seems to me to be quite a balanced fashion, "climate change" yet the title of the video suggests he has been extreme in "denying climate change and advocating carbon tax". See what you think. http://youtu.be/oPpQisoZqx4 Then have a look at the longer interview from which this original excerpt was taken http://youtu.be/ZoCKhNr8Atk. Abbott has had a history of being told by 'ABC types' that he lacks compassion, does not understand homosexuality or homosexuals, avoids situations where he might need to face up to gay relationships, and so on. Again, because he was not prepared to reveal personal issues of others (ethics, principles?), he did not speak about his own sister's lesbian relationship and the part he played in supporting her. It would have been an easy defence for him, but in line with his principles and values, he chose not to use it. Granted, he is not a super smooth, off the cuff speaker, and does not fit the orator mould. But when he is compared to the glib tongues and untrustworthiness of Gillard, Rudd, Swan, etc., it is not difficult to determine which attributes are more important for the leadership of Australia. After Abbott completed his studies, he became a journalist for The Bulletin and also the Australian. For a time he was plant manager for Pioneer Concrete, then became press secretary for the then Opposition Leader, Dr John Hewson. He was elected to Parliament in 1994 at a bi-election. He has held various Ministerial posts and his actions in those roles are a matter of public record . His work ethic is unquestioned. He was dismayed at the policies of former leader Malcolm Turnbull relating to ETS, and following widespread disaffection with Turnbull's stance among Liberal Party members, threw his hat into the ring, as did Joe Hockey, for leadership of the Liberal Party. Abbott was successful. At the time, the polls were running strongly against the Liberal Party (in the 40% approval range), while Kevin Rudd enjoyed figures around 60%. Within a short space of time, with Abbott as leader, those figures changed to such a degree that Rudd was replaced in the now infamous "faceless men" coup which installed Gillard. Since that time, Abbott has maintained constant focus on the ever widening circle of disasters associated with the Gillard government to the stage where support for that government now hovers around the 30% mark. Abbott, strikes me as a person of integrity, he has values in which I too believe, and ethics based on his Christian beliefs. I would much rather place my trust in someone who, in his actions, has shown he is what he says, rather than someone who will say anything to gain a prospective advantage for themselves. ------------------------------------------------ Now what do you have to say to that IgnorAnt and MH, and please don't dismiss Latham as a loonie.