Should Abbott step down?

[Rorschach]

Just another Abbott/Credlin bad political ecision...

Abbott government MPs furious over Prime Minister's decision to make Prince Philip a knight
Date January 26, 2015 - 1:17PM
James Massola and Mark Kenny

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's surprise decision to knight Prince Philip has infuriated his colleagues, with a pair of Queensland MPs breaking ranks to criticise the decision publicly.

Several other MPs are also questioning the wisdom of Mr Abbott's chief of staff, Peta Credlin, in allowing the announcement to go ahead.

North Queensland Liberal National MP Warren Entsch lashed out at the decision, telling Fairfax Media that "for the life of me, I can't understand why" Mr Abbott decided to honour a British royal.

But Mr Entsch, a senior MP who is well respected in the Coalition partyroom, said he was "not pushing for a change in leader, I'm looking for significant change in leadership".

And a second Queensland MP, Ewen Jones, said he "didn't see the point" of the announcement.

In recent weeks, Mr Abbott has faced questions over his leadership and has reached out to the backbench in an attempt to calm nerves and present a more consultative style.

But the knighting of Prince Philip did not go to cabinet and was the result of a "captain's call", with the Prime Minister consulting only the head of the National Australia Day Council, retired ADF chief Angus Houston, and Buckingham Palace.

Air Chief Marshal (retired) Houston was also made a knight on Monday.

Mr Entsch said he had not agreed with the Prime Minister's decision to revive knights and dames in March 2014 and "I suspect that if it had gone to the party room it would have been rejected".

"But it was something the PM decided to do; that's his prerogative," Mr Entsch said. "[Former governor-general] Quentin Bryce and [Governor-General] Peter Cosgrove were very good recipients [and] Angus Houston is great, but for the life of me I can't understand why Prince Philip. I've got a dozen people in my electorate, any one of them would be more worthy."

Mr Entsch has previously criticised Ms Credlin publicly for the operation of the Prime Minister's Office, but declined to repeat those criticism on Monday.

Mr Jones said he had supported the decision to revive knights and dames for governors-general.

"For anyone else, I just don't see the point. On a scale of one to 10, this is about .25 per cent of what we should be speaking about. I wonder how much it matters to Prince Philip. To have Angus Houston in the same breath as Prince Philip is a bit much," he said.

Mr Jones said the government should be focused on debates about the economy, industrial relations and other key issues.

Another Liberal MP, who asked not to be named but identified as a strong supporter of Mr Abbott and a monarchist, said the decision to honour Prince Philip was "embarrassing".

The MP said the decision was the latest in a series of bad decisions and that hostility in Liberal ranks towards Ms Credlin, who keeps a tight grip on government decision making, was rising.

"She has to go, he is too loyal to her. If she goes he will buy himself some time," the MP said.

A second MP, who also identifies as a monarchist, asked why "people were getting gongs for doing their job? Are we kidding?"

The same MP asked said the knighthood for Prince Philip had taken focus from the Australian of the Year for 2015, Rosie Batty.

"Could we talk about the main game, the economy?" the MP said.

Privately, ministers are also complaining about the functioning of Mr Abbott's office, citing delays in paperwork making its way through the office.

Mr Abbott defended his decision on Monday, pointing to Prince Philip's "life of service and duty".

[Black Orchid]

The Prime Minister has dismissed as "electronic graffiti" a medium that his own government and corporate Australia spend millions of dollars a year monitoring and engaging in.

Responding to the negative comments on social media sites about his decision to award the Queen's husband, Prince Philip, an Australian knighthood, Tony Abbott equated tweets and updates to Texta scrawls on a bathroom wall.

"I'll leave social media to its own devices. Social media is kind of like electronic graffiti and I think that in the media, you make a big mistake to pay too much attention to social media," Mr Abbott said on Australia Day. "You wouldn't report what's sprayed up on the walls of buildings."

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He really does have to GO!

[IQS.RLOW]

Abbott has social media pegged exactly as it should be.

It is brown noise infested by leftists with fuck all better to do then bitch like schools children. It is not representative of the voting public.

The minute any public representative starts using twatter of Facebook as a measure of public opinion is when they have truly failed the real public. It's an unemployed leftist echo chamber of fuckwits.

[Rorschach]

Yes BO what Abbott just did is make another stupid Captain's Call...
But underlying it is his personal interests, and we don't elect politicians to pander to their own personal interests.
He keeps shooting himself in the foot and with every shot weakens the chances of his party's re-election.

[IQS.RLOW]

As if anything Abbott does is going to placate the whining leftists. They would sook about any decision he made.

I reckon Phil is a great choice for an un-pc Anglo Saxon bloke who has devoted his life to good causes.

Fuck you whiny little bitches. You say you wouldn't /haven't voted for the Libs anyway, so quit yer bitching sook.

[boxy]

Could have picked an Australian, for a start

[IQS.RLOW]

He did.

If you opened your other eye and didnt have it buried in your own arsehole, you might have seen it.

[mantra]

I agree with Abbott about the social media, but he is stupid to say it out loud. The media moguls won't be too happy - they make a fortune from it. I doubt the 13 million Facebook users are all lefties. He is a PM now and he can't spruik his ideology randomly and hope for the best.

As if anything Abbott does is going to placate the whining leftists. They would sook about any decision he made.

The right are sooking too in case you hadn't noticed.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's surprise decision to knight Prince Philip has infuriated his colleagues, with a pair of Queensland MPs breaking ranks to criticise the decision publicly.

Who was he trying to impress - the Royal family?

[IQS.RLOW]

You are a filthy lefty. I wouldn't expect you to understand.

[mantra]

Right wing or left - both sides would have trouble understanding you. Your hero, through his total arrogance will be accountable to the right if Shorten wins the next election.