Abbott not listening to the Labor deserters

"Abbott does have a streak of bogan in his essence." Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

While dining out this week I was regaled by a friend who dismissed Tony Abbott as a ''bogan''.

I knew what he meant, and didn't even argue, because the quality he was referring to is Abbott's strength and Labor's nightmare.

Even though Abbott was a Rhodes Scholar; has three degrees in economics, law and philosophy; was educated at four elite institutions, St Aloysius, Riverview, Sydney University and Oxford University; is highly articulate; has written three books and raised three daughters who are all pursuing tertiary studies, Abbott does have a streak of bogan in his essence.

This essence has put fear and loathing into Labor because it connects to an electorate where a large majority have neither the time nor inclination to follow politics closely, and whose overriding concern is their own household's wellbeing.

Abbott understands that politics is a simple art beneath the mountain of detail, and he has mastered the art of the simple, pungent message, an art never as simple as it appears.

So when an inner-city Green voter like my friend scorns Abbott as a bogan, he is not merely indulging in cheap snobbery but referring to the cut-through quality that makes Abbott appear an island of humanity in a sea of spin.

At Sydney University he played rugby, in the front row of the scrum, not a place for the faint-hearted. At Oxford, he boxed. In Sydney, he lives a muscular life - surf lifesaver, volunteer bush fire brigade member, and up at dawn every morning for a long cycle. He's physical, not ethereal. He has a big mortgage, a swaggering gait and a history of making gaffes but these qualities have underlined his authenticity to an electorate with a bias towards authenticity.

It is why this accidental leader, who won the Liberal leadership on December 1, 2009, by a single vote in a contest not even he expected to win, has been able to transform federal politics, galvanise a demoralised party and would become prime minister with a thumping majority if an election were held soon.

But I think Abbott, for the first time, has not listened to that essence which connects him with blue-collar voters willing to desert Labor. His decision to join the Greens in opposing, and thus sinking, legislation that will toughen up the Migration Act to allow for offshore processing of asylum seekers is, I think, the first serious misstep of his leadership.

His decision may prove successfully pragmatic but as a matter of principle it has an aura of cant and hypocrisy. The great majority of the people who would vote for an Abbott-led Coalition want strong border protection. It is a core issue. It is a matter of principle. This large constituency loathes the human rights industry and immigration industry thriving off the chaos of current policies. This constituency wants punitive policies in place to end people smuggling. It hates the idea that people can self-select to come to Australia. Above all, this large constituency loathes the idea that thousands of people are gaining permanent residency in Australia after destroying their identity papers.

Abbott's move this week is the move of a gambler with a gambler's nerves. He gambled when he ran for the Liberal leadership, and won against the odds. He gambled when he bet the house on an election over a carbon tax, and won the campaign. That he did not become prime minister was thanks to the two politicians with the lowest Labor-Greens vote in the entire country, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, who turned local anti-Labor landslides into a mandate for a Labor government.

Yesterday, the government introduced amendments to the Migration Act to enable asylum seekers to be processed in countries that are not signatories to the United Nations convention on refugees, such as Malaysia. The Coalition's opposition to these amendments has produced indignation in the government that is palpable and genuine.

When the Prime Minister stood at the dispatch box during question time on Tuesday to respond to Abbott's goading about her refusal to reopen an immigration centre on Nauru, she thundered: ''The national interest requires us to work together to amend the legislation . . . There is only one reason that the Leader of the Opposition did not agree . . . he is terrified that the Malaysia arrangement will work. What he wants to see for this country is more boats because he believes that will serve his political interest.''

Cynical words, harsh words, but I think most people will see them as true words.

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