March 11, 2015
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Prime Minister Tony Abbott's comments about remote indigenous communities have triggered a firestorm of criticism. But it's not the first time Mr Abbott has landed in hot water. Here are 10 times the PM has come under fire.
Don't forget to cast your vote on his biggest clanger at the bottom of the page.
'Shit happens'
We've all said it. But for Tony Abbott it became a disaster. Five months after an October 2010 trip to visit Australian troops in Afghanistan, the Seven Network broadcast footage of Mr Abbott discussing the death of Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney.
"It's pretty obvious that, well, sometimes shit happens, doesn't it?" Abbott said.
Confronted with the vision by the network's political editor Mark Riley, Abbott argued he had been taken out of context and that he would "never seek to make light of the death of an Australian soldier".
When asked how he had been taken out of context, Abbott went silent. For more than 20 seconds.
"I've given you the response you deserve," he (eventually) finished.
The virginity question
Way back when he was a newly minted opposition leader, Mr Abbott went on a charm offensive which included an interview with The Australian Women's Weekly featuring Mr Abbott's thoughts on life, love and the universe.
The one time trainee priest was asked about sex before marriage: "I would say to my daughters, if they were to ask me this question, I would say.....it is the greatest gift you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it to someone lightly, that is what I would say."
The January 2010 interview also contained the following gem about Mr Abbott's drug taking experiences: "To be sociable I puffed on a marijuana cigarette, but I didn't inhale. I don't even inhale normal cigarettes. I just hate the idea of drawing smoke into my lungs so when it comes to getting stoned in that way I was a complete failure."
Bernie Banton 'not pure of heart'
Bernie Banton was the face of asbestos-disease sufferers who campaigned for victims of James Hardie products until his death in November 2007.
In the middle of the 2007 election campaign, Mr Banton had arranged a meeting in the office of the then health minister Tony Abbott to present a petition. Mr Abbott missed the meeting.
Infuriated, Mr Banton called Mr Abbott a "gutless creep". But Mr Abbott dismissed the petition a "stunt".
"Let's be upfront about this. I know Bernie is very sick, but just because a person is sick doesn't necessarily mean that he is pure of heart in all things," Mr Abbott told the Nine Network. He later apologised.
The carbon tax repeal and women
In an interview with Nine Network's Today show at the end of last year, Mr Abbott prompted a widespread backlash after declaring abolishing the carbon tax was the best thing his government had achieved for women in 2014.
"As many of us know, women are particularly focused on the household budget and the repeal of the carbon tax means a $550 a year benefit for the average family."
It followed his infamous 2010 remarks while opposition leader that an emissions trading scheme would hurt housewives.
"What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing is that if they get it done commercially it's going to go up in price and their own power bills when they switch the iron on are going to go up," Mr Abbott said at the time.
Making Prince Philip a knight
When asked to explain Tony Abbott's baffling decision to offer a knighthood to Prince Philip in the Australia Day honours, a ministerial staffer speculated that the Prime Minister had only intended to get "up the nose" of the left wing media.
But the uproar was very much mainstream.
Conservative columnist Andrew Bolt, one of Abbott's fiercest supporters, called it "pathetically stupid" and potentially fatal.
The friendless captain's call led directly to the "near-death" spill motion against the PM a fortnight later.
Australian settlement before Europeans
Answering a question about foreign investment at an economic conference in Melbourne, Mr Abbott said Australia owed its existence to "a form of foreign investment by the British government in the then unsettled or, um, scarcely settled, Great South Land."
Mr Abbott's chief Indigenous adviser, Warren Mundine, called the comment "silly" and "bizarre", while Labor senator Nova Peris, the first indigenous woman to be elected to federal Parliament, said it was "highly offensive".
"British settlement was not foreign investment. It was occupation," Senator Peris said.'As dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects'
In 2005, then health minister Tony Abbott was forced to apologise after it emerged he had joked at a Liberal Party function about John Brogden just hours after the then NSW Liberal leader attempted suicide.
Asked about a particular health reform proposal, Abbott reportedly said: "If we did that, we would be as dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects."
The comment was made the day after Mr Brogden was found unconscious in his electorate office with self-inflicted wounds. Outraged mental health advocates branded the remarks appalling and insensitive and the opposition called for his resignation.
'Lifestyle choice'
During an interview in Kalgoorlie, Mr Abbott backed the WA government's plan to close 150 regional communities and said taxpayers should not be asked to fund the "lifestyle choice" of Australians living in remote areas.
The comments triggered immediate condemnation from indigenous leaders, including Mr Abbott's adviser, Warren Mundine. Greens senator Rachel Siewert described Mr Abbott's statement as "unbelievably racist" and Labor demanded Mr Abbott apologise, which he refused to do.
The day after the interview, Mr Abbott appeared on Alan Jones' Sydney radio show and said he was just being "realistic" and "stating a general principle".
Candidate's sex appeal
During the 2014 election campaign, Mr Abbott spoke candidly about the new Liberal candidate for the western Sydney electorate of Lindsay, Fiona Scott.
When asked to compare Ms Scott with former MP Jackie Kelly, Mr Abbott replied: "They're young, feisty, I think I can probably say have a bit of sex appeal and they're just very connected with the local area," he said.
The next day he defended the comments and said: "As the kids suggested to me, I had a dad moment. A daggy dad moment."
'Holocaust of job losses'
In question time last month, Mr Abbott accused Labor of causing a "holocaust of job losses". He quickly withdrew the remark and later apologised after it sparked an immediate outcry.
Mr Abbott made the comment after he was pressed in question time about rising unemployment and the government's plans to potentially buy submarines from overseas, sending jobs offshore.
"Under members opposite defence jobs in this country declined by 10 per cent. There was a holocaust of job losses in defence industries under members opposite."
Poll: What do you think was Tony Abbott's worst clanger?
- Please select an answer. Shit happens
- The virginity question
- Bernie Banton not 'pure of heart'
- The carbon tax repeal and women
- Making Prince Philip a knight
- Australian settlement before Europeans
- 'As dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects'
- 'Lifestyle choice'
- Candidate's sex appeal
- 'Holocaust of job losses'
- View results
- Shit happens
14%
- The virginity question
1%
- Bernie Banton not 'pure of heart'
13%
- The carbon tax repeal and women
14%
- Making Prince Philip a knight
21%
- Australian settlement before Europeans
9%
- 'As dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects'
10%
- 'Lifestyle choice'
10%
- Candidate's sex appeal
2%
- 'Holocaust of job losses'
6%
Total votes: 26628.
Poll closed 11 Mar, 2015
Disclaimer:
These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinion only of visitors who have chosen to participate.
Tony Abbott's 10 biggest gaffes, clangers and cringe worthy moments
