Tony Abbott:
If the Territory Government had not sat on the report and proposed to do two-fifths of nothing much in response, the need for federal action would not have been self-evident.
Even so, it's quite wrong to accuse the Government of ignoring Aboriginal problems...
There have been too many false dawns. Well-meaning officials have let people down too often. Aboriginal policy is the graveyard of good intentions. Making the new policy work will require an enormous level of personal commitment from people in authority.
Close second, the Murdoch Media's
Paul "Good News From Iraq" Kelly:
Progress on the ground over the next few months will shape the critical September report Petraeus and US ambassador Ryan Crocker make to the US Government. Downer will advise Howard there is little prospect of Bush changing his Iraq policy before the Australian election. Petraeus said recently his September report was “not a deadline for a change in policy”.
Labor seems to think this report will sound the death knell for Bush’s policy. But Labor may be quite wrong. Indeed, it may have misread Petraeus and, more seriously, have misread the situation in Iraq.
