Ali's Choice
Jimmy Flynn (14)
I don't think he will. Despite the fact that his party still enjoys a 56% – 44% lead in the 2PP in the latest Newspoll, I think Abbott’s reign as Opposition leader won’t continue until the next Federal election. And if it does, then the ALP will be rejoicing.
He's been an effective Opposition Leader for a couple of years, but he's done his dash. The public, and importantly the media, now see him for what he is, an overtly negative naysayer, completely bereft of positive ideas or policies.
The public had grown weary of his negative opportunism. And the passing of the Carbon Tax, and then the MRRT through the House of Reps late in the year, further consolidated his decline. It's much easier to oppose measures such as these before they come into effect, much harder once they are law and people realise that the sky hasn't fallen in and towns like Whyalla haven't been wiped off the map as Tony said would happen.
Coupled with these legislative wins for the ALP, there is a growing perception that the Coalition under Abbott lacks financial and economic credibility. The media has begun to focus on the Coalition’s $70 billion costings black hole. This scrutiny was only heightened last week when the accountancy firm entrusted to check the Coalition’s costings in the lead up to the 2010 election was fined by Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) for breaching professional standards. The Coalition played this down, but the perceptions count a lot in politics and the perception is that the Coalition lacks economic credibility.
And then of course the Peter Slipper debacle was extremely damaging for Abbott's leadership. Not only was the perception that he had lost control over the LNP in QLD, but his shrill crusade for an early election seems to have been utterly futile. And Gillard is left looking more Prime Ministerial and less susceptible to the whims of the Independents.
Despite his party’s continued strong standing I think Tony Abbott is actually hindering the Coalition politically. This is reflected in his consistently poor personal approval across all the major polls. And I don’t think it will take long until his partyroom recognises this and seeks change.
He's been an effective Opposition Leader for a couple of years, but he's done his dash. The public, and importantly the media, now see him for what he is, an overtly negative naysayer, completely bereft of positive ideas or policies.
The public had grown weary of his negative opportunism. And the passing of the Carbon Tax, and then the MRRT through the House of Reps late in the year, further consolidated his decline. It's much easier to oppose measures such as these before they come into effect, much harder once they are law and people realise that the sky hasn't fallen in and towns like Whyalla haven't been wiped off the map as Tony said would happen.
Coupled with these legislative wins for the ALP, there is a growing perception that the Coalition under Abbott lacks financial and economic credibility. The media has begun to focus on the Coalition’s $70 billion costings black hole. This scrutiny was only heightened last week when the accountancy firm entrusted to check the Coalition’s costings in the lead up to the 2010 election was fined by Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) for breaching professional standards. The Coalition played this down, but the perceptions count a lot in politics and the perception is that the Coalition lacks economic credibility.
And then of course the Peter Slipper debacle was extremely damaging for Abbott's leadership. Not only was the perception that he had lost control over the LNP in QLD, but his shrill crusade for an early election seems to have been utterly futile. And Gillard is left looking more Prime Ministerial and less susceptible to the whims of the Independents.
Despite his party’s continued strong standing I think Tony Abbott is actually hindering the Coalition politically. This is reflected in his consistently poor personal approval across all the major polls. And I don’t think it will take long until his partyroom recognises this and seeks change.