“Why gag people?” former prime minister Tony Abbott asked The Sydney Morning Herald on Monday after he was initially blocked from appearing before the committee looking into the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Much like his latest successor in the Liberal Party leadership, Peter Dutton, Abbott simply cannot believe that this process — the subject of several detailed reports and blanket media coverage — “is being rushed through with so little scrutiny”.
Indeed, it’s truly staggering to look at all the different places where Abbott is being prevented from applying that scrutiny. Apart from his silencing in the Nine papers, it’s been *weeks* since he’s had the opportunity to be censored in The Australian’s commentary pages, or to be forced to be quiet in Spectator Australia. If that wasn’t enough, the muzzling he suffered at the hands of his 613,000 Twitter followers yesterday was truly abhorrent.
Committee chair Nita Green, when asked about Abbott’s omission, said the committee had prioritised “legal experts and Indigenous representatives from across Australia”.
And yet, in this orgy of stifled debate, the committee was able to find room for Abbott after all, despite his insistence that he was attending “as a private citizen to talk about an incredibly important topic”.
We’re sure it was in his capacity as a private citizen that Abbott was able to leverage his contacts in the national media to force his way, once again, into the public debate of the Voice.
Should we be listening more to Tony Abbott? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
