My abuser claimed in a letter to me as an adult that she’s only ever ‘smacked me when I was bad’... hmm, is this all she remembers from the few times she was sober during a childhood in which she was always sozzled? Obviously our memories differ… I remember having my head hit into the wall until I blacked out, being strapped until I couldn’t breathe, being slapped across the face with a washcloth shoved in my mouth until I vomited out of my nose must have all been off the radar…

So when we say it is legal to give a gentle smack, who is going to police the scale of these ‘gentle smacks’… ah, bone breaking is out? or can someone just say ‘shucks, don’t know my own strength your honour’ – groan…

So Tony Abbott feels smacking kids is acceptable and defensible. After all he was smacked as a kid… well Tony, go get therapy man, don’t take your baggage out on the Australian population…

And as for your phobia of gays, given your sister is gay what was your problem with this Tony? Did you think she should have been straight… and… ummm… why? What are the childhood roots of this committed homophobia of yours?

Sure, you do a great Wag The Dog that its all about your values as a Christian, and that’s mightily convenient and point scoring of you Tony. However is it also anything to do with you having sexually assaulted a fellow Uni student in front of 200 people before you were PM?

The presumption this is ‘normal’, would pass as a ‘joke’ really intrigues me, Tony… to do that one has to have learned somewhere this is ok, that its off the radar. Was this very publicly executed sexual assault an extension of your antics as a kid? Did you do this this growing up so as an adult thought it was passable as ‘a joke’ in front of a room full of people? Does this reflect on your idea of ‘healthy sexuality’? Does it shape your views of why everyone should be ‘straight’? Do you think the fellow student who charged you with sexual assault over this was perhaps ‘some kind of lesbian’ to find it so offensive, demeaning, unwanted?

FROM THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD in 2004:

“An investigation by The Sun-Herald into Mr Abbott’s controversial student days reveals that he spawned many more enemies than friends during those heady days.
“He was a very offensive, a particularly obnoxious sort of guy,” said Barbie Schaffer, a Sydney teacher who was at Sydney University with Mr Abbott.
“He was very aggressive, particularly towards women and homosexuals”.In the ensuing two years, he was repeatedly accused in the university paper of being a right-wing thug and bully who used sexist and racist tactics to intimidate his opponents.
Lawyer David Patch, who is a Labor candidate in the federal seat of Wentworth, recalls an AUS conference in the mid-1970s, which had initiated a special “women’s room” for females to discuss political issues.
“Tony used to stand outside the women’s room with his right-wing mates and loudly tell sexist and homophobic jokes,” he said.
Barbara Ramjan, now a social worker, who defeated Mr Abbott for the SRC presidency that year, remembers the night of September 7, 1977 when officer elections were held.
Two letters she wrote then to Honi Soit, a student newspaper, outlined her version of the evening. One letter described how throughout the evening Mr Abbott and his mates, including a dentistry student, harassed and insulted the women standing for election.
Outside the meeting, one woman “was confronted by J [the dentistry student], who decided to ‘have a bit of fun’ and exposed his genitalia to her as well as urinating against a tree,” Ms Ramjan wrote.
“He dropped his pants [perhaps for Abbott’s entertainment, he seemed highly amused] and bowed in Abbott’s direction, flashing his bum towards the woman,” the letter said.”

Please can we have a PM who is not playing out his baggage with the Australian population and then playing Wag The Dog to cover his tracks.

Donna Williams, BA Hons, Dip Ed.
Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.
Autism consultant and public speaker.
http://www.donnawilliams.net

I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of this country throughout Australia, and their connection to land and community.