Tony Abbott is right - he WAS wrong!

Tony Abbott, the nastiest of the Howard Government Ministers (there are some contenders for that title, but let's not quibble) is right. He was wrong to attack Julia Gillard for lacking life experience.

• "FIREBRAND Health Minister Tony Abbott has accused fierce Labor rival Julia Gillard of lacking "life experience" to be Australia's deputy prime minister. "Voters expect a bit more humanity, a broader range of interests and experience than that of a political apparatchik," Mr Abbott told The Daily Telegraph yesterday. "It would be a lot easier for her to realise her ambition if there was evidence of a broader lifetime experience."

Tony Abbott is hardly the person to boast about the breadth of his "life experience" - unless he regards making a series of mistakes as qualifications for public office.

Making mistakes can be valuable, Tony. But you are meant to learn from them. In your case, you keep making them. What the point, or value, of that? How does that advantage the Australian people, who you are meant to be serving?

And what part of your background is not that of a "political apparatchik"? That's all you are, Tony, and all you will ever be.

As reported on the Channel Nine website, at the time of the debate about the Abortion Pill RU 486:"Mr Abbott, a staunch Catholic, rejected claims that his opposition to the drug was dictated by his religious beliefs. "One of the things which has very much disappointed me about this debate is the suggestion that there is a problem with ministerial decision making here, because as a Catholic I can't be trusted to make an objective decision," Mr Abbott said.

As a person raised as a Catholic, Tony, I can say the problem is not your Catholic background - it is your stupidity, and your religious bigotry, and your narrow "life view". Those are your attributes which get you into trouble. You are a disgrace to your "religious" background.

As the Telegraph website reports today:

• "Mr Abbott insists he was not personally attacking Ms Gillard, who he debates on morning TV every Friday. The thing about (Ms) Gillard is that she is very bright, just uber-professional and a formidable debater," Mr Abbott said. "(But) it would be a lot easier for her to realise her ambition if there was evidence of a broader lifetime experience. It's very hard to be a leader in a democratic society if your life has been consumed by the job." Last night, Mr Abbott sought to retract his remarks.

• "I should not have said anything that could be construed by anyone as a personal attack on Gillard," he said.

I ask if that constitutes a "withdrawal" by Tony Abbott? Here is Nicholson's view of Tony Abbott on "the withdrawal method".