Time for Abbott to stand up to Gillard's politically correct harassment

Since it came to power in 2007 Labor has relentlessly tried to ostracize anyone who dares to question its policies by branding them as un-Australian and disinterested in nation building.

This form of politically correct harassment started with Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, who took the high moral economic ground to condemn those who criticised the wisdom of his multi-billion spending programs which were supposed to quarantine Australian from the impact of the global financial crisis.

The fact that billions were wasted through Government financial mismanagement was brushed aside in the greater interests of putting Australia centre stage in global competitiveness and productivity.

Rudd's successor, Julia Gillard (who, don't forget, was an integral part of Labor's gang of four along with Treasurer, Wayne Swan and Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner, which signed off on these ill-conceived and in some cases hair-brained schemes) is following undaunted in her predecessor's footsteps.

This is after she told the Australian people following Rudd's political assassination that things would be different : that the electorate could expect a new order from a new Julia.

The only thing that has changed since Gillard called for trust from the nation in the run up to last year's election is that she is now sharing power with the Greens and a couple of independents in a hung parliament.

The politically correct policy spin remains the same.

Her decision to announce a carbon tax is a case in point. Anyone who opposes this decision, which reverses a promise during the election campaign not to go down this path, is a nation destroyer with no concern about the impact of climate change on the future of the country or its population.

The fact that there is an appalling lack of detail behind this decision which has enormous economic ramifications for the whole country at every level is by the by.

What it does show is the sort of policy making we can expect from behind the closed doors of the inter-party committee ( effectively the defacto Cabinet) which Gillard agreed to establish to keep the Greens and Labor leaning independents on side.

If the pricing carbon decision is any guide the committee's formula is to agree on a policy and fill in the details later.

This, of course, has been the strategy behind Labor's biggest infrastructure policy, the $43 billion National Broadband Network, since it was dreamed up by Rudd and Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, in 2009.

This big is beautiful project, which aims to make Australia a showcase for technological advancement by rolling high speed fibre optic cable into homes and business across the country, is so full of holes that its chances of flying are minimal to say the least.

But to raise doubts about the financial viability of this scheme, which is designed to replace one privately owned telco ( Telstra) with a government owned one ( NBN Co) is tantamount to heresy and displays abysmal lack of technological knowhow.

Conroy has dismissed out of hand a report by the highly regarded Economist Economic Intelligence Unit which found that the Government was spending more than any other country to connect households to the fibre cable and which questioned the Government's slant to public investment over private investment in the scheme.

He publicly rubished the report as right wing ideological dogma. Apparently the Government's policy that the NBN should be publicly funded for the foreseeable future cannot be branded socialist ideological dogma.

These are the sort of issues which present Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, with the opportunity to demonstrate that he has what it takes to form a credible alternative Government on a platform which will put Australia on a sound footing to face the challenges of the future.

Labor's strategy is clearly designed to wedge Abbott. To put him on the defensive forcing him to try to justify why he is not supporting policies which are clearly in the national interest.

There is an opportunity here for Abbott to do some political wedging of his own. He must not be intimidated by suggestions that, in Government, he would destroy Australia's information superhighway on the contrary to make it more attainable for those who want access to it.

On the issue of the environment he should deliver a strong and convincing energy policy and in doing so get off the fence on the need for nuclear power as a clean resource to meet the generating needs of a rapidly growing Australia.

If Abbott can maintain discipline within his own ranks this strategy will put the policy ball squarely into the Government's court where there are clear divisions on the role that nuclear power should play in the energy debate.