PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has reached out to one of his most vocal critics, former Labor minister Graham Richardson, over his battle with cancer.
Mr Abbott was so moved by a confronting 3000-word piece written by his one-time political nemesis in The Australian newspaper that he rang Richardson to invite him over for dinner.
Mr Richardson’s wife Amanda and their seven-year-old son D’Arcy also attended.
Mr Richardson has long been scathing of Mr Abbott and his government, delivering an almost weekly bucketing in his columns and TV appearances.
During the Liberal leadership crisis earlier this year, Mr Richardson declared Mr Abbott “a dead man walking”.
While he would not reveal whether the pair had reached a truce, Mr Richardson said he felt honoured by the invite. Mr Richardson said the pair had eaten together in the past, “but not for 20 years”.
“He was very gracious,” Mr Richardson said. “He called me that morning after he had read the article. I never got invited to Kirribilli by Gillard or Rudd.”
Young D’Arcy offered a lighter moment, handing Mr Abbott a flower picked from the garden.
“Tony said thanks and D’Arcy said it was fine as it was ‘technically’ his flower anyway.”
Mr Richardson, 65, has the bone and joint cancer chondrosarcoma, and despite trying a new drug, is likely to face radical surgery in the near future.
