Abbott slams 'trivial' smoking ban

It’s funny how things look different from the Opposition benches as we see from Tony Abbott (known in Oz as the Mad Monk).

Tony has form when it comes to making rules and regulations for the rest of us to follow and also seems proud not to represent his constituents. When it comes to moral issues young Tony takes his lead from Cardinal Pell rather than the Voters and even went so far as to lie about meetings with the Cardinal before the Latham Election. This came crashing down spectacularly when he was quizzed forensically by Tony Jones on the LateLine program.

In the last Coalition Government Abbott served as the Health Minister and he was incensed when John Howard allowed a conscience vote over the abortion drug ru486. He even went so far as to complain publically over losing the call and managed to upset enough folk in his own party that the use of the drug was passed.

Apparently the view is different now. Rules should just be guidelines. Tony is unhappy about smoking bans in cars carrying children and has decided this rates as Nanny State legislation. This in itself is the last hiding place of the scoundrel. Effectively it means the person using this defence agrees with the science of the matter but doesn’t want folk to be told what to do.

I’m interested in where Tony draws the line. Are Red lights optional? If no traffic is coming should you cop a fine if you drive through? If you do is that a Nanny State?  What guidelines does he use to evaluate the law? Obviously the science of how much worse smoke is inside the confines of a car don’t rank as serious enough.

Tony does have a problem or two to overcome so I can see where the motivation is coming from. The Liberal vote has collapsed and he needs to try and create support from wherever he can find it. Of course the suggestion by Turnbull that smokers make a handy target for revenue raising hasn’t helped but perhaps the disaffected smokers didn’t notice. Good luck with that one.

He also has a further problem with his abrasive style. Although he has long felt he can make it to the top job his fellow parliamentarians would walk over broken glass to stop him taking it. He is more likely to listen to the Cardinal than his party and they know it. The ru486 episode gave them a good insight into his motivation.

It’s a tough call for the Libs. They can’t get any traction in the polls and instead of looking forward they are looking back. A person like Tony Abbott who has been of great assistance in getting Kevin 07 into power is hardly likely to mend his ways and try a new style. It’s in his nature to be rude and combative and he seems to think that style will come back into vogue.

Like the Republicans in the US they believe the old style of politics will return if only they play hard enough. The trouble is there appears to be a more thoughtful voter out there who simply wants to see things get done and they can see results with the incumbent.