"It's the system, not Bronwyn" - Abbott on Choppergate

.@TonyAbbottMHR says the problem is not any particular individual, the problem is the entitlement system #auspol pic.twitter.com/9PzCVttWRm

— Damian Porombka (@DamianPorombka) August 2, 2015

The wash up from Choppergate is only just beginning. There will be analysis aplenty of all the happenings, but what sticks out in my mind is Abbott's press conference late yesterday. In it he still couldn't bring himself to say that Bronwyn was the problem and had spent years systematically rorting the entitlement system. He reckoned, and it beggars belief, that the problem was the system itself.

I assume that means he's wanting us all to believe that Bronwyn was just a hapless victim of the system, accidentally ordering choppers, private jets, and limousines all over the place. Yes, it appears Abbott honestly wants us to believe this complete pile of shit. 

Notably, Bronwyn was another of Abbott's captains calls, and another one to fall apart at the seams. 

Having recognised this, and presumably advised Bishop on the course she would reluctantly take, Abbott could not bring himself to criticise her conduct on Sunday, which made for an awkward and unconvincing appearance before the cameras. 

As the Prime Minister explained it, the disconnect was not between Bishop's penchant for chartering choppers or hiring limousines to attend freebies and how the public expects its politicians to behave. 

No, as he described it, the disconnect was between the rules governing the entitlements of MPs and community expectations. Clearly his judgment on this matter is clouded by his loyalty to a friend. 

Just like Bishop's explanation for chartering a chopper from Melbourne to Geelong, at a cost to taxpayers of $5000 to attend a party fundraiser, Abbott's reasoning would not pass the pub test. 

Of course, rules are important, and another review of those governing entitlements is justified. 

But the key issue here was the presiding officer of the House of Representatives acting in a way utterly at odds with the government's mantra that "the age of entitlement is over, and the age of personal responsibility has begun". Read more