FED: What Tony Abbot said after being elected Liberal leader

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-2009
FED: What Tony Abbot said after being elected Liberal leader

What new federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said on:



BECOMING LEADER

"I do feel humbled and daunted by what lies ahead but I also feel proud and exhilarated
at the prospect of leading this party to the next election."



"It's the last thing I would have expected a week ago. My intention was to change the
position on these bills, no more than that. Unfortunately, it became clear, eventually,
that in order to change the position on these bills we had to have a leadership change."



"I accept that I, at times, have stuffed up. I also believe that when you become leader
you make a new start."



"I probably should, I suppose, apologise now for all my errors of the past, and make
a clean breast of them, if you like, and ask the public to judge me from this point."





OPPOSITION

"The job of the opposition is to be an alternative not an echo; to provide a choice not a copy."



"The prime job of opposition is to hold the government to account ... if we are absolutely
confident that what the government is doing is in beyond reasonable doubt in the national
interest then sure let's go along with it. But if you've got the doubts we have over this,
then we're obliged to oppose it."





LEADERSHIP

"There are some wounds that need to be healed. I have said to my colleagues that I
will do my best to be a consultative and collegial leader."



"Political parties don't work when people just announce what they're doing and expect
everyone else to follow. I will not be that kind of leader."





TURNBULL/HOCKEY

"I really meant it when I said in recent days that my admiration for Malcolm has grown.

He has shone in adversity."



"When (Mr Turnbull) elected to join the parliamentary Liberal Party he did us great
credit and great honour and I want him to have a long and successful future in public
life."



"Joe has had a pretty tough few days. I want to pay tribute to Joe who I think has
really tried hard to play healer."





CLIMATE CHANGE

"This emissions trading scheme legislation, which is really an energy taxation scheme,
does deserve the most rigorous scrutiny by this parliament ... It would be grossly irresponsible
of us to just wave this through the parliament."



"We do want to reduce our emissions and those targets stand. We will have a strong
and effective climate change policy, it just won't be this ETS."





ECONOMY

"The Australian people need to understand that each and every interest rate rise over
the next 12 months is due to the irresponsible spending spree of the Rudd government."



"In the end, the fundamental job of government is to run a good economy."





WORKCHOICES

"The phrase WorkChoices is dead. No one will ever mention it again. But we do need
to have a free and flexible economy."



"The government went a little bit too far with some sections of this legislation, we
accepted that even in government."



"Let's not forget what Kevin Rudd has done is not just roll back WorkChoices, Kevin
Rudd has rolled back the industrial reforms of the Keating government."





GOVERNMENT

"A waste of money that has been worse than (former Labor prime minister Gough) Whitlam." he said.



"I have even been accused from time to time of flirting with the deputy prime minister
- that must cease now, of course."



ELECTION

"As leader, I am not frightened of an election, I am not frightened of an election
on this issue, I really am not frightened of an election on this issue."



"I cannot promise victory, it will obviously be very tough, but I can promise a contest.

It will be a good contest, it will be a clean contest. I know my colleagues are gearing
up for the fight of their lives."





FRONTBENCH

"We will have some disagreements in this party, that's not a bad thing ... but the
frontbench will represent all shades of opinion inside the Liberal Party."



"I do regard the selection of a new frontbench as an opportunity to indicate this party
is a broad church, it always will be a broad church."





COALITION

"I have always been a very strong supporter of the coalition. I've always thought that
a Liberal is a city-National, and National is a country-Liberal."



"The conservative side of politics will not flourish if we do not have a strong and
effective coalition."

AAP jlw/maur/cdh

KEYWORD: LIBERALS ABBOTT QUOTES

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