Well much fun was to be had watching Kerry O'Brien put the precise questions to Abbott that the media had until now failed to ask:
KERRY O’BRIEN: Mr Abbott, you are using terminology like there's evidence evidence that carbon dioxide might be a problem. When you put that alongside what you told that audience in regional Victoria in October last year, "The climate change argument is absolute crap, however the politics are tough for us because 80 per cent of people believe climate change is a real and present danger". In other words, the only conclusion you draw from that is that you are saying, "We have to have a climate change policy because the people believe it's a danger, but I believe it's crap".Now Abbott will help distance himself from the obvious charge that he is a climate change fake by meeting with Monckton? Ha.
TONY ABBOTT: Well no, and as I said before, there was a little bit of rhetorical hyperbole in there which does not represent my considered position, I am not as evangelical about this as Prime Minister Rudd is. I am not theological about this the way Prime Minister Rudd is, but I do think it's important. And that is why I'm prepared to invest $10 billion over the coming decade to bring about things which will be good regardless, good for the environment, regardless of your views on the role of carbon dioxide in climate.
KERRY O’BRIEN: So when you say a bit of rhetorical hyperbole in that conversation with that audience you say you adjust the message to whatever audience you are playing to, if that's the case, how do we know you haven't adjusted your message for this audience?
TONY ABBOTT: Casually all of us are loose with our language, that was an occasion when I said what I shouldn't have said. It didn't represent my correct position.
KERRY O’BRIEN: There's nothing loose about the meaning of a term, nothing loose about the meaning of a term that says "absolute crap".
2 comments:
Even though I'm not impressed by Tony Abbott I though that the interview was terrible, mainly due to Kerry O'Brien's questions, practically all of which implied Abbott was a lying. I thought he sounded like he was channeling an hysterical left wing blogger rather than behaving like a professional journalist.
Yes, in contrast, O'Brien is still treating Rudd with kid gloves. But as the target was Abbott, who I have not forgiven for his opportunistic and flakey approach to CO2 emissions, I was happy to see a rude grilling of this Liberal.
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