from politicoz …The Opposition Leader yesterday morning accused the Prime Minister of criminal behaviour, but when asked to substantiate his charge in parliament, he produced no evidence to back it up, and wouldn't repeat the accusation.Instead he described Gillard's past conduct as “unbecoming of a future prime minister”. “This is,” he said, “about character.”Unwittingly, Tony Abbott left himself open to political opponents and media to weigh up his own past conduct, something he may well regret.Readers may recall that Tony Abbott himself set up a slush fund in the 90s, the purpose of which was to bankroll legal action against a political opponent – One Nation – but which was misleadingly described as being non-partisan. He failed to disclose the fund's donors as required by the law (the reprieve coming, eventually, via the Statute of Limitations) and he allegedly misled the Australian Electoral Commission. Prior to that he had privately agreed to bankroll Terry Sharples’ legal action against One Nation – an arrangement that he subsequently lied about on national television. Abbott commented at the time that “misleading the ABC is not quite the same as misleading parliament.”If the ‘character question’ is now the point of the AWU/Gillard affair, Abbott is on thin ice.A question of character? My mouth fell open when I heard Abbott’s final flourish in Thursday’s speech denouncing Gillard as unfit for office. I remembered, suddenly, vividly, Tony Abbott’s very own slush fund. Could he too have forgotten? It’s ancient history now, Abbott’s slush fund - but less ancient than the slush fund now in the news. And there’s many unanswered questions about it, and him.”