Australia

His attacks in the parliament are about one thing - TAbbott becoming PM. No discussion about the budget, simply never-ending attacks on Craig Thomson. Admittedly, Thomson's explanation to the parliament on the HSU case had a lot of elements of a fairytale, but it's hard to escape the thought that the whole of the HSU at that time were a bunch of scumbags - I wouldn't give credence to Williamson or to Jackson either, not if they swore to something on a stack of bibles. And Thomson's statement has been referred to the Privileges Committee and there it should stay, as per parliamentary procedure, but that's not good enough for Abbott - he's appointed himself a one-man judge, jury and executioner, and he's out for blood. The big worry about Thomson is that he's clearly not dealing well with the pressure; I'm sure the party is giving him all the support they can in the hope they can prevent a meltdown.

But as an image of the man who wants to run the country, Abbott doesn't cut it for anyone with half a brain. There is no policy, there is not even a clearly thought-out credo of what he thinks is wrong with the country, and what he could do to fix it. It's just about bringing down Craig Thomson at any price, and with him the government. it's hard to escape the thought that if he could take a club to the government and mow them down, he would. He's positively neanderthal. He's an ugly man, and it's very hard to believe he has a functioning brain.

One can only hope that the Slipper case could be concluded quickly so the government knows whether they have Slipper's vote or not. I suspect Ashby might not prove to be a credible witness; there's a lot of murky dealings around him. Besides, whatever his faults, Slipper is a good Speaker, and it would be good to have him back in the chair. But a resolution in his favour would take the heat off the government for a moment, although a finding against him could be the death knell.