The Minister for Health, Tony Abbott, has delivered a speech to Young Liberals defending the Howard government on moral grounds.
Abbott claimed: “There is a moral case to be made for the policies of the Howard Government such as Work for the Dole, the war in Iraq, the mandatory detention of illegal boat people along with much else which is supposed to indicate its heartlessness. But it’s a much harder and more complex argument than that which holds that the proper role of government is to play the Good Samaritan on an epic scale.” [Read more…]
The Governor-General, Peter Hollingworth, leaves today for a three-day official visit to New Zealand, leaving behind him an ongoing controversy over his handling of child sex abuse allegations in the Brisbane Anglican church diocese. There are now widespread calls for Hollingworth’s resignation. It is difficult to see how he can survive much longer, but John Howard faces an exquisite dilemma in that he probably does not want to be the first prime minister to dismiss a governor-general.