{"id":423,"date":"2009-07-28T19:53:25","date_gmt":"2009-07-28T09:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sandralee.com.au\/?p=423"},"modified":"2009-07-31T16:32:33","modified_gmt":"2009-07-31T06:32:33","slug":"is-tony-abbott-the-liberal-partys-intellectual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/2009\/07\/is-tony-abbott-the-liberal-partys-intellectual\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Tony Abbott the Liberal Party’s intellectual?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tony<\/a>

Tony Abbott speaking at the launch of his book, Battlelines in Sydney on July 28 2009, pic by sandra lee<\/p><\/div>\n

Liberal Party “hard man\u201d Tony Abbott<\/span><\/strong> <\/strong>was described as the party’s “intellectual\u201d just hours after it was revealed that\u00a0Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull<\/span><\/strong> <\/span>had sunk further in the latest opinion poll today.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone here has already described him as the Liberal Party\u2019s intellectual,\u201d said Melbourne University Press CEO<\/span><\/strong> <\/span>Louise Adler<\/span><\/strong>, at the launch of Abbott’s book, Battlelines<\/em>. \u201cSome might say that is a contradiction, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is an author without a venal bone in his body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adler, who it should be noted is not known for a conservative bent, said that when she offered Abbott a healthy advance for his book, he halved it. It was an interesting insight into the things that motivate Abbott. Clearly, not money; not for nothing is he known as a conviction politician.<\/p>\n

So it was no surprise that the Australian Liberal Party defender \u00a0and\u00a0Federal Shadow Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs<\/strong><\/span>, launched a strident defence of the embattled Turnbull.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, polls come and go but Malcolm is our leader for keeps. I think Malcolm is doing a good job,\u201d Abbott told reporters. \u201cI think the Kevin Rudd honeymoon is wearing off.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also took a swipe at the Prime Minister\u2019s essay in the weekend papers, calling it \u201cvanity publishing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s book, launched by Sarah Murdoch<\/strong><\/span>, is part personal philosophy and part road map for the way ahead for the stricken Liberal Party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have read <\/em><\/strong>Battlelines<\/strong><\/span> <\/em>and I couldn\u2019t put it down,\u201d the Bonds model and host of Australia\u2019s Next Top Model<\/strong><\/span><\/em> <\/strong><\/span>said. \u201cYou have the strength and character to say what you truly believe in. Tony, your courage and devotion and your commitment to public life is inspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/a>

Sarah Murdoch launched Tony Abbott's book Battlelines after getting to know him when hosting the Today show (Pic courtesy Bonds)<\/p><\/div>\n

Abbott, who was previously known as John Howard’s Praetorian Guard<\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0has known Murdoch since 2007 when he sparred weekly with now Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard<\/strong><\/span> on Channel Nine\u2019s Today<\/strong><\/em><\/span> <\/strong><\/em>show of which Murdoch was briefly co-host. He joked that he might be a potential finalist of one of her next shows, Australia\u2019s Next Top Politician<\/strong><\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Leadership aspirations, Tony?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coalition is not going to win the next election by criticising the Rudd government,\u201d Abbott said. Rather it has to provide good, strong policy alternatives to engage the electorate \u2013 and it has to do it long before the election is called.<\/p>\n

Good point.<\/p>\n

Abbott also said the country needed a \u201cfair go for families because our children are even more important than better roads and water\u201d, a debate about federalism, and support for larger and more cohesive families. While he may be criticised as being deliberately provocative, Abbott said his conservative ideas were in accordance with mainstream Australia, although there are plenty in mainstream Australia who don\u2019t agree with his ideas about taking family law back to the 1970s and making divorce more difficult.<\/p>\n

About 150 people crowded into the Wharf Restaurant <\/span><\/strong>behind the Sydney Theatre Company<\/strong><\/span> for the mid-morning event which featured a Who\u2019s Who of conservative figures and writers in Australia.<\/p>\n

Check out the line up; former attorney general Philip Ruddock, Federal member for Mackellar Bronwyn Bishop<\/span><\/strong> \u2013 who Abbott described as his \u201cpolitical neighbour and friend\u201d, Federal Liberal frontbencher Scott Morrison, monarchist Professor David Flint<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>and Quadrant editor Keith Windschuttle<\/span>. <\/strong>John Howard<\/span><\/strong> was a late apology.<\/p>\n

Media faces included columnists Miranda Devine, Christopher Pearson<\/span><\/strong> (who Abbott called his \u201cintellectual godfather since I have been in Parliament\u201d), Dennis Shanahan<\/strong><\/span>, and Piers Akerman<\/span><\/strong>, and the opinion page editor from <\/strong><\/span>The Australian<\/strong><\/span><\/em>, Rebecca Weisser<\/strong><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/a>

Tony Abbott speaks to reporters at the launch of his book, and defends Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull (pic by sandra lee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Also putting in an appearance were the ABC\u2019s<\/strong> <\/span>Lateline<\/span><\/em><\/strong> hosts Tony Jones<\/span><\/strong> <\/span>and Leigh Sales<\/span><\/strong> (doing her best Anna Wintour impression by wearing sunglasses during the speeches to fend off the sunlight), Today <\/strong><\/em><\/span>co-host\u00a0Karl Stefanovic<\/span><\/strong> <\/span>(who moved seats to sit next to Sales), Jana Wendt<\/span><\/strong> looking every bit as glamorous as ever, Maxine McKew biographer Margot Saville<\/strong><\/span>, Lachlan Murdoch <\/span><\/strong>and, hysterically, Abbott\u2019s celibacy advisor<\/strong><\/span> who he said was one of the people who \u201chelped me through some tough times\u201d when he was studying for the priesthood.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, MUP has also published\u00a0Peter Costello\u2019s memoirs and\u00a0John Winston Howard, The Biography<\/span><\/em><\/strong> <\/span>by Peter van Onselen<\/span><\/em><\/strong> (who was also in attendance) and Wayne Errington<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

My ears pricked up when Adler said the Howard book (he\u2019s currently penning his autobiography) has sold 20,000 copies in hardback, and The Costello Memoirs<\/span><\/em><\/strong> has done a very respectable 40,000 in its first format.<\/p>\n

That comment dispelled two myths \u2013 that Costello\u2019s book has been remaindered (and, arguably, is now officially more popular than the vO&E tome on Howard?) and that books about Liberal Party politicians don\u2019t sell.<\/p>\n

Well, let\u2019s see how Abbott\u2019s Battlelines<\/em><\/strong><\/span> goes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liberal Party “hard man\u201d Tony Abbott was described as the party’s “intellectual\u201d just hours after it was revealed that\u00a0Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull had sunk further in the latest opinion poll today. \u201cSomeone here has already described him as the Liberal Party\u2019s intellectual,\u201d said Melbourne University Press CEO Louise Adler, at the launch of Abbott’s book, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,14,9,4,3,15,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-celebrity","category-media","category-politics","category-pop-culture","category-sex","category-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":435,"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandralee.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}