Culture

Leigh Sales Reduced Tony Abbott To A Blinking Mess Of Nonsense On Last Night’s ‘7.30’

"You said at your press conference a few hours ago that 'good government starts today'. If that's so, what on earth have you been delivering since you were elected?"

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

Yesterday’s spill may not have brought the definitive answer many wanted, but Tony Abbott still has to wake up today in the knowledge that 40% of his co-workers — more than half of his own backbench — want him gone. It’s going to be a pretty shitty day.

Making things worse is the hangover he has to carry around, following a brutal battering by Leigh Sales on 7.30 last night.

Sales began the 13-minute feast upon his withered bones by straight-up asking Abbott if he was a ghost: “Prime Minister, are you a dead man walking?”

It didn’t get much better from there.

“Prime Minister, you’ve been a student of politics all your life. Political history would suggest you cannot recover from such a significant vote of no confidence from your own side.”

“Your disapproval rating in the news poll that was out today was 68% — clearly the public is not buying what you’re saying.”

There was panic in his eyes.

help1

The onslaught continued.

“If you do your best, and you’re unable to turn things around in a reasonable time frame, will you give your colleagues a promise tonight that you will step aside to give them a fighting chance with somebody else as leaders?”

“You said at your press conference a few hours ago that ‘good government starts today’. If that’s so, what on earth have you been delivering since you were elected?”

“Why have you given Australia a Government with the training wheels on?”

“We’ve had the Tony Abbott in Opposition: the guy who promised no more chaos; the adults back in charge; no excuses; no broken promises. Then there’s the Tony Abbott that we’ve had so far in Government, with the surprise policies, and the broken promises, and the Captain’s Picks. Now you’re offering us a third Tony Abbott, one who’s doing to change. Who are you?”

“It is interesting that you’re not able to answer the question to me. Who are you? What do you stand for? Which Tony Abbott are you?”

To which Abbott responded with the verbal equivalent of this:

Watch it here.