it isn't funny but sometimes we just have to laugh....
An Abbott abroad III: What the watching world wrote
Tragically for Australia, the conduct of the blundering new government and its boorish leader is being observed by other nations — and reported.
THE ABBOTT EMBARRASSMENT
Two themes dominate recent overseas media reports on the Abbott Government. Dismay at the ineptitude of international diplomacy. And bewilderment at an austerity budget imposed on the best-performed economy in the world.
Reflecting on Abbott’s recent visit to Canada Christopher Hume at the Toronto Star skewered both Canada’s and Australia’s leaders in a piece on Monday headed ‘Stephen Harper and Tony Abbott deserve each other’:
'What a pair they made, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Canada’s own Stephen Harper — Gollum and Mr Potato Head — publicly thanking each other for their honesty in Ottawa last week. Unlike most world leaders — if that’s the right term — these two want to be frank; they will do nothing to stop global warming, they proudly declared, if it might hurt the economy.'
Hume’s analysis elaborated on 'their obvious shortcomings' and noted that Abbott
'... outside Australia will always be the man who was sliced and diced into little pieces in the famous ‘misogyny speech’ by his predecessor Julia Gillard delivered in 2012. After being reamed out so definitively, it’s a wonder he can still show his face in public.'
But after Canada, Abbott did, indeed, show his face in the United States.
What he was told in private by various high-ranking officials remains confidential.
However, influential congressman Henry Waxman blasted Abbott publicly, telling him that repealing the carbon pricing scheme was a "mistake":
'Australia will go from being one of the great leaders in the world in tackling this problem, to one of the great laggers ...'
Two national leaders aghast at Abbott’s and Harper’s obstruction of efforts to contain climate-related catastrophe are the presidents of Kiribati and the Marshall Islands.
An article in Terra Argentina reported the alarm of the Pacific islands’ leaders:
'For his part, the President of the Marshall Islands, Christopher Loeak, said: ‘I'm very concerned that the prime minister [Abbott] is setting the wrong tone in what needs to be a very determined effort to tackle climate change’.'
In a major departure from protocol, The China Daily openly criticised Abbott’s tardiness in finalising the free trade agreement.
It noted Abbott’s
'... economically historic tour around the Asian neighborhood, deftly securing trade pacts with South Korea and Japan.'
Then continued:
'Yet a free trade agreement with China, representing an opportunity several orders of magnitude greater than both deals combined, remains – after nine fruitless years – unfulfilled.'
http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/an-abbott-abroad-iii-what-the-watching...
