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The sad passing of E.G.Whitlam is all the more poignant when contrasted with the current standard of prime ministerial behaviour demonstrated by Tony Abbott. The courage of the former grows in contrast to the cowardice of the latter every passing day.
Currently a young woman awaits a possible jail sentence for exposing the shoddy basis of a generous 'scholarship' effectively providing one of Abbott's children with a free education while his government makes going to university more expensive for the rest of us.
Abbott was not at all interested in castigating the infamous whistleblower, Godwin Grech back when he was Opposition Leader, why the new found zeal one wonders?
A courageous leader would send 'boots on the ground' assistance to the West African ebola epidemic declining to concede to the polls that demonstrate the publics lack of understanding of the disease and our capacity to confront it, largely due to tabloid press-induced hysteria.
Abbott reminds me of a tale (uncertain of its provenance) about a French Revolutionary leader who upon seeing a crowd noisily passing his house asked a collegue to 'find out where they are going, so that I may lead them'.
Gough had the courage to show a way forward, Abbott is just taking us backwards.