Business Suffering From Abbott Leadership Rumours
2 March 2015 at 9:37 am
Speculation about whether or not Prime Minister Tony Abbott would face a leadership coup is damaging Australia’s economy and having a negative effect on business confidence, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has claimed.
Shorten said that rumours over the future of the Liberal Party leadership was an unwelcome distraction for the Government.
“The Liberal Government are not focused on looking after Australians, they’re just worrying about themselves and who gets to do the job of Prime Minister,” Shorten said.
“Australians just want the Liberal Government in Canberra to get on with looking after Australians, not just worrying about their own jobs.”
Despite being a central part in the ousting of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, Shorten said the Liberal Party’s instability made it one of the worst Government’s in Australia’s history.
“We see business confidence in the high street of Australia, be it in large cities or small country towns, is not doing well at all,” he said.
“There is a real sense of disappointment I think, not only in business but indeed the whole community that this Liberal Government has unravelled so quickly. It is possibly the worst Government in Australian history.
“It's barely been 18 months since they got elected and now they are arguing over who should be in charge, the Australian people are really feeling betrayed and let down.”
Tony Abbott survived a leadership spill brought on by two of his backbenchers last month but he could not avoid being damaged by the incident, especially when 39 of his own party members voted in favor of a leadership vote.
The rumour mill was again in action over the weekend with Abbott forced to ensure the public that his job was safe.
Abbott agreed with Bill Shorten that the public was not happy with the speculation.
"We went through this a few weeks ago, the matter was settled and we're now getting on with government, that's what we were all elected to do," Abbott said over the weekend.
"Frankly I think the people of Australia are getting sick of the insider obsessions of people in Canberra."
