Tony Abbott: Track record

Greg Combet described Tony Abbott's election to Liberal leader as a "victory for the extremists"

From Canberra Times 2 December 2009
Former Liberal leader John Hewson, who once employed Mr Abbott as a staffer, described yesterday the new Opposition Leader as a ''divisive'' and ''ideological'' figure who would need to adopt a much more inclusive political approach.

Independent Federal MP Robert Oakeshott went much further, savaging Mr Abbott as a ''far right'' politician likely to bring ''race, religion and xenophobia'' back to the centre stage of politics.

''Tony Abbott can lay claim to being one of the makers of One Nation in the 1990s by allowing the far right wing to get organised within his very own electorate office,'' Mr Oakeshott said.

''His natural starting point is of concern for Australian politics where no separation of church and state exists in principle and [his] language is inflammatory by design.''

Feminist and national convener of the Women's Electoral Lobby Eva Cox said yesterday she had ''serious concerns'' about what Mr Abbott's victory would mean for Australian women given his anti-abortion, anti-contraception, anti no-fault- divorce stance.

''He has made it clear in the past his personal views on questions around choice, fertility, and divorce and he has a strong record of using his personal religious beliefs as criteria for making policy and political decisions,'' Ms Cox said. ''While everyone has a right to their own viewpoint, Tony Abbott must remember that the role of government is different to the role of Church and my concern is the Liberal Party will become much more conservative under his control and that means back to the 1950s for Australian women.'

Right to Life Australia president Veronica Andrews said she hoped Mr Abbott would use his position to speak out against abortion and voluntary euthanasia in Parliament. In October 2006, as health minister, he refused to allow the morning-after abortion drug RU486 to be made available in Australia. This led to a conscience vote in Parliament that deprived him of regulatory control of the drug.