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.