The departure of ministers Mal Brough and Jamie Briggs offers an opportunity to bring back Tony Abbott to the frontbench, Liberal senator Eric Abetz has said.

On Tuesday Briggs, the federal minister for cities and the built environment, announced he would step down from his position on the frontbench after a female public servant made a complaint about his behaviour on a night out in Hong Kong.

Moments later Brough, who has been under pressure regarding his alleged involvement in the downfall of former speaker Peter Slipper, announced he would step aside from his role as special minister of state “pending the completion of inquiries” by the Australian Federal Police which have been running for some months.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/dec/30/eric-abetz-calls-for-abbott-to-be-returned-to-cabinet-after-ministers-departure

Malcolm’s fabled bad luck continues.

A minister he didn’t want in the first place, Jamie Briggs, was forced to resign after admitting to having groped in "a crowded bar in Hong Kong" an attractive, young female staffer. A second minister, Mal Brough, whom Malcolm had resolutely defended only weeks ago regarding his dubious associations with former Speaker Peter Slipper's sexual harassment accuser James Ashby, has resigned, or "stood aside", also.

This follows days of "only the good news" reports of bushfires and floods and an "exciting time to be Australian" by a blithe and beaming prime minister, and calls for Tony Abbott to return to his ministry, or Barnaby Joyce to replace Mal Brough and then, as deputy prime minister, Warren Truss.

One shouln’t get too over-excited by this. A minister fondling a female staffer is as old, as news, as John Gorton and Ainsley Gotto. A Minister covering this up as old as Ben Chifley and Phyllis Donnelly. A minister loyal to his friend, or staffer, as old as Petrov, or Fergin O’Sullivan. All that is different this time is how quickly it has all occurred.

What can the "virtuous" Turnbull do about it? Can he let Abbott back in the tent? Unlikely. Can he praise Dyson Heydon for his "righteous" exposure of the "union rorter" Shorten? It’s doubtful.

No. He can be loyal, as Abbott was with Credlin and Loughnane. He can stick to the plan altogether and look a fucking fool. Can he demand that Shorten resign his position, as he did, once, of Rudd and Swan over UteGate? Unwise. He may be in big trouble, altogether, now as he was then.

This is a government of criminal tendency and it will soon be known to be like that, and on its way down, with Turnbull, his chute in flames, plunging after it.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/now-the-bad-news-brough-luck-malcolm,8532

 

Please stop saying that Tony Abbott is like Kevin Rudd in regards to their ousting and wish to return (Letters, December 31). Rudd was popular with the voters and was not an embarrassment on the world stage; it came as a shock to the public when he was ousted. 

Abbott, on the other hand, was as unpopular as anyone could be and the public cringed and wondered what next in his frequent cringeworthy "incidents", for want of a better word. There was a collective sigh of relief when he was ousted, although not from the cartoonists. 

Patricia Philippou Waverley

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/time-to-inquire-into-business-corruption-20151231-glx8sc.html#ixzz3vwDQWzJEFollow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

I disagree. As a cartoonist, Gus sighed with relief when Tony got the boot...
There I was, going stale at rehashing the next Abbott fucup from the previous SNAFU... There is so much one can do with a cascade of "suppository of wisdom". Meanwhile, away from Abbott, there is still plenty of political material to make another million toons. Don't panic. I won't.
So here the last incarnation of Tony — as his brains shrunk, his mouth grew larger and larger — is a simple Gus vision, bare of symbolism and of turditional visuals. But this is no guaranty of no-come backs...