Abbott - If you are Greek, Cambodian, you aren't Aussies

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2006-02-28 01:26am

An anti abortionist Christian who is also a bigot. What a shock

Abbott withdraws ALP race comment
Tuesday Feb 28 16:43 AEDT

Health Minister Tony Abbott has been forced to withdraw comments after asking whether there were any Australians left in the Australian Labor Party.

Opposition MPs booed and jeered in Question Time after Mr Abbott referred to Cambodian, Vietnamese, Spanish and Greek Labor party members - then asked where the Australians were.

A day after defending multiculturalism in a newspaper column, Mr Abbott questioned the ethnic branch-stacking in the Victorian Labor party, where several sitting members in safe seats are facing preselection challenges.

Opposition Pacific Islands spokesman Bob Sercombe on Tuesday pulled out of the preselection race for his seat of Maribyrnong, conceding he could not win.

Six other MPs also face challenges, including former leader Simon Crean who is under pressure from union boss Martin Pakula in the Melbourne seat of Hotham.

"Mr Pakula may be very appealing to Cambodian speaking people who are just two per cent of the electorate of Hotham but they're 30 per cent of the Labor preselectors of Hotham," Mr Abbott told parliament.

"I'm reading in The Australian last Friday, he's (Mr Crean) still got the Greek branches but he's lost the Spanish branches and he's lost the Vietnamese branches as well as the Cambodian branches.

"And I couldn't help but think - are there any Australians left in the so-called Australian Labor Party today?"

Opposition frontbencher Anthony Albanese, whose inner-Sydney electorate of Grayndler has a large non-English speaking population, immediately objected.

"My point of order, Mr Speaker, is for the minister to withdraw that extraordinarily outrageous slur on every Australian who doesn't have an Anglo-Celtic name in this country," Mr Albanese said.

"We've heard the dog whistle from this mob one after the other, but this minister as usual has gone too far and I ask him to withdraw it."

Speaker David Hawker said he did not find the comment offensive.

"Well Mr Speaker, I did and 46 per cent of my electorate will find that offensive as well," Mr Albanese said.

Mr Abbott withdrew the comment but accused Labor of pigeonholing people by their race.

"I'm happy to withdraw anything that's given him offence but I say this - I think the Australian people are entitled to reject the way the Australian Labor Party constantly puts people into ethnic - you know - that's what they're trying to do to people," Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott's comments come after Prime Minister John Howard described the Muslim burqa as confronting and Treasurer Peter Costello said radical Muslims should move to another country if they wanted to live under sharia law.

©AAP 2006

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2006-02-28 01:32am

If I had my way, that cow-rapist fucktard wouldn't have been allowed the luxury of 'withdrawing' that statement or any other for that matter. He said it, he should be HELD TO IT. The damage is done, no matter what utterances he may spew to try to pass it off as somehow not his responsibility.

Metatwaddle · Post by **Metatwaddle** » 2006-02-28 01:55am

Xenophobes can all go die now, kthx.

Seriously, America has its flaws, but I'm pretty damn sure that sort of thing just wouldn't be said here. Not today, anyway. If you're an American, you're a fucking American.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-02-28 02:49am

What a fucking tosser. As a Greek-Australian, he can kiss my hairy Greek-Australian arse.

Saurencaerthai · Post by **Saurencaerthai** » 2006-02-28 02:50am

But of course! After all, only a true Aussie is the descendant of a prisoner shipped out of England!

GuppyShark · Post by **GuppyShark** » 2006-02-28 02:57am

I think the only reason they keep Abbott around is so that they can claim to have Abbott & Costello in the party.

pellaeons_scion · Post by **pellaeons_scion** » 2006-02-28 02:57am

So Abbott says something retarded yet again? Color me shocked. Isn't it just lovely to know that those in power are open-minded, intelligent people?

Being forced to withdraw his comments....wow, what a punishment. I really think there needs to be something form of censure for politicians who act like that.

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2006-02-28 05:31am

Saurencaerthai wrote:But of course! After all, only a true Aussie is the descendant of a prisoner shipped out of England!

So no proper Aussies in SA then?

ROAR!!!!! says GOJIRA!!!!!

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2006-02-28 06:13am

Tony Abbott truly is an abortion of a politician.

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2006-02-28 06:17am

Ford Prefect wrote:Tony Abbott truly is an abortion of a politician.

More reason why abortion should be allowed. So Abbott could be aborted.

pellaeons_scion · Post by **pellaeons_scion** » 2006-02-28 09:06am

More reason why abortion should be allowed. So Abbott could be aborted

And thus making Australia one retarded bigot less....thats a thought that will keep me warm tonight

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2006-02-28 09:29am

Saurencaerthai wrote:But of course! After all, only a true Aussie is the descendant of a prisoner shipped out of England!

And don't get me started on those Aboriginals...bloody posers <_<
They only were there first so they could make REAL Australians look bad!

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2006-02-28 02:11pm

Wogs came in planes, Skips came in chains.*

Truth hurts doesn't it Abott?

*Reserved for racists fucks only.

Metatwaddle · Post by **Metatwaddle** » 2006-02-28 05:58pm

Crown, what are Wogs and Skips?

Post by **Gandalf** » 2006-02-28 06:20pm

Discombobulated wrote:Crown, what are Wogs and Skips?

"Wogs" tend to be people from around the European side of the Mediterranean. Greece, Macedon, Italy, places like that.

"Skip" tends to refer to white Australians. It's actually short for "Skippy", a reference to an old Australian TV show about a kangaroo and kids who hung about with him.