June 1, 2006
It's not a case of bad Parliamentary language and boorish schoolboy behaviour during Guestion Time, as Leunig reckons:

Leunig
David Hawker, the Speaker in the Federal Parliament, is well known for his double standards, biased rulings and favouritism towards the Howard Government. The ALP has protested long and hard about this to no avail.
Here is a classic example of the double standards. Labor's Julia Gillard is suspended for using exactly the same words as Tony Abbott, who was not suspended.
The veneer of neutrality has been exposed, and the Speaker stand exposed as being more concerned to protect the Howard Government than to uphold the authority and traditions of Parliament.
|
Another disgrace has been the media's headlines which implicate Gillard as a naughty girl, without painting the true picture of a point being well made.
Abbott's slur is buried in the article/pieces such that you don't get the real picture unless you read/watch the whole thing. Which is not how a great majority of people treat their news.