11 AM | 16 May

#Abbott Schmabbott: Playing Politics with #Sick #Children [#geekgirl]

Abbott-Schmabbott

It’s not often I take to my high horse and let loose with political-based criticism here on Geekgirl [at least not directly]. I’ll make an exception for the case outlined below, as it illustrates the exact duplicitous nature of the Liberal Party  – one part of Australia’s aggressively-regressive Federal Opposition Coalition Party – which is headed up by the hypocritical master of back-peddling and slimy media manipulator, Tony Abbott.

As ABC News Australia reports:

“The Federal Opposition has agreed to grant a Labor MP leave to return to Sydney to look after her sick child, after initially turning down the request.

Michelle Rowland says she asked the Opposition for a pair on Tuesday and was knocked back yesterday with no reason given.

“Quite frankly I think we’ve become a bit mean,” she said.

“When people are ill or they have legitimate reasons for why they need to take leave I would have hoped that a bit of common sense would have prevailed.

“I’m a regular contributor to Parliament. I’m not a slacker. I simply wanted to leave at the suspension.”

This morning Coalition frontbencher Christopher Pyne said the request for a pair simply said Ms Rowland has a sick family member.

But the ABC has a copy of a letter which shows the Coalition whip knew she had a sick child.

Mr Pyne insists the Opposition did not have enough information.”

What makes me gag about this particular incident is the u-turn by the Opposition [Liberal Party] only *after* the media had taken the story and run with it [nothing new about this in terms of the general political sphere, but it does highlight the see-through flimsiness  of such a backflip]. If the story had languished behind the Federal Budget media frenzy that the Liberal Party has been frantically churning instead of anything akin to an actual workable policy agenda, then it’s possible no further action would have been taken and Ms Rowland would have been forced to sit through Abbott’s election-year-faux-sweetner-laden Budget Reply Speech, rather than looking after her unwell daughter.

As the Daily Telegraph further reports:

[Ms Rowland says] “The only item of business I would have missed on Thursday night was Tony Abbott’s Budget reply speech.

“It’s disappointing that the so-called party of family values wouldn’t grant this very reasonable request for a mother to be with her baby.”

The Daily Telegraph has obtained the letter Mr Entsch sent to the government chief whip Chris Hayes, giving no reason for not granting the pair.

Last night the Opposition was accused of lying about one of its own MPs. Alex Somlyay – reportedly absent from Parliament due to an illness – was seen in the parliamentary corridors before a vote.”

[The above-mentioned letter – click the link to see what the Daily Telegraph says is an image of the original – clearly states that the Opposition was aware that the “pair”, or leave of absence, was requested to look after her sick child despite Christopher Pine, the Liberal Party’s “chief strategist”, stating otherwise.]

Tony Abbott and Christopher “Spineless” Pine: you may think you have the Australian Public fooled, but beware: come the 2013 Federal Election in September, working mothers will *actually* be able to vote against you and your sham rhetoric.

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