Abbott just doesn't get too many things..............
The Australian
20 Feb
Removing Ruddock just shows PM doesn’t get it
BRETHREN, the text for today’s sermon is “There are none as blind as those who will not see.”
You will not be too surprised to learn that the application of this phrase will focus on Tony Abbott since that fateful Monday last week when 40 per cent of his caucus voted for a leadership spill motion. If the Prime Minister was stunned by the result, as so many of his partyroom have eagerly reported, he has once again demonstrated his complete inability to get it.
For a party with a long tradition of sticking with elected prime ministers, that vote should have been the wake-up call of a lifetime for an embattled leader fast running out of friends. Whether his loss of sensory perception is in his eyes or his ears doesn’t really matter. Either way it will prove fatal.
The removal of Philip Ruddock as chief whip normally would be considered small beans amid the enormous job of running a nation. It took on a grander hue because of its timing and for what it represented. When you have upheaval in your midst, the last gesture expected from the boss is to lob a hand grenade into the mix.
I have no idea whether Ruddock was doing a good job but I do know he is liked and respected by the troops — the very troops who had just voted en masse for a spill motion. To show those disgruntled backbenchers the proverbial middle finger was as arrogant as it was stupid. What is more, this one prime ministerial decision signalled to every MP or senator with a gripe, grouch or grievance that nothing had changed. As far as the PM was concerned, the vote meant nothing. It was business as usual.
From what I can gather, the decision was taken the way most of the PM’s decisions are taken. No consultation sought and the one-man-(with a little help from one woman)-band style of government reaffirmed. Make no mistake — there is fury rather than anger about this from the disaffected and we have proof that there are plenty in this category.
No matter what words he uses, the PM’s actions speak louder. He cannot, indeed will not, be consultative and cuddly. It’s not him, it’s not in his nature.
....On Monday night Turnbull did precisely what a challenger should do. He did a terrific job of undermining the man whose job he covets with all his heart and soul. By referring to Ruddock’s sacking as a “captain’s call” he hit the rawest nerve of all of them. It reminded us all of the Prince Philip debacle without mentioning it directly. By referring to the “sad day for the Liberal Party” he turned the knife ever so slowly for the rebellious.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/removing-ruddock-just-shows-pm-doesnt-get-it/stor...
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