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One of the significant effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York was the politics of the US-led war on terror encompassing secularism and calls for Islamic reformation. The political discourse of war on terror was not limited to the Americas but was witnessed in other Western nations, such as Australia. The discourse of "Islam needs reforming" by the Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, in response to the Lindt Café siege (labelled as "Islamic terrorism") tacitly associates Islam with terrorism and represents Muslims negatively to the wider Australian society. This paper with the research question of "How does 'Islam needs reforming' discourse perpetuate Islamophobia?" carried out critical discourse analysis on the selected speeches of Tony Abbott in response to the Lindt Café siege in 2014 to find out the context and implications of Abbott's discourse in relation to calls for Islamic revolution. The study found that Abbott through the example of al-Sisi's (Egypt's president) calls for Islamic reformation forwarded his stance of the need for change in Islam to counter terrorism. Therefore, the present paper argues that the calls for Islamic reformation in response to terrorism can associate Islam with terrorism, thus, perpetuating Islamophobia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tony Abbott: Again Tim, one of the points I was trying tomake it is that China is different from almost everyother country, even Vietnam, although Vietnam remains acommunist autocracy. Tony Abbott: Not surprisingly, China is very similar tothe old Soviet Union in terms of its geostrategicapproach. Having 8000 or so Australian smallbusinesses in China, doing things in China, is great. [Extracted from the article]

Sydney's December 2014 Lindt Café siege resulted in the death of two hostages and of the perpetrator. In February 2015, Prime Minister Tony Abbott argued Muslim leaders were not doing enough to tackle violent extremism. To examine this point, this paper analyses 13 mosque sermons delivered across 10 mosques (and 1 community hall) in Sydney immediately after the 2014 Lindt Café siege. It shows that what was said in the sermons was consistent with what was said by community leaders publicly-that the incident was condemned, considered to be un-Islamic, the perpetrator was mentally ill, and his victims were innocent. Audiences were told that the consequence of killing innocent people is eternal damnation. Some sermons acknowledged that non-Muslims may be confused and have a negative view of Islam and members of the congregations were asked to reach out to non-Muslims and demonstrate that Islam is a religion of peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the foreign policy discourse that surrounded the Abbott government's 2014 decision to fight the Islamic State (IS). An analysis of parliamentary Hansard reveals that the debate featured three prominent axes: the legacy of the 2003 Iraq War; the strategies and objectives of the 2014 mission; and Australia's domestic terror threat level. Throughout, the Abbott government not only marginalised dissenting views, but also justified its renewed engagement in the Middle East via a highly securitised and elitist foreign policy discourse. This finding has consequences beyond the battle against the IS. It reveals a deep-seated tension between the ideals of democratic pluralism and the reality that securitised and elitist foreign policy discourses protect governments from serious scrutiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A statue named the "Dancing Shiva," thought to be of Indian origin, was purchased from the United States in 2008 by the National Gallery of Australia (NGA). The statue was then found to have been "looted" prior to its purchase. Subsequently, in September of 2014, the prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, handed the statue over to the Indian government. It was one of the most significant scandals in Australian Art administration. It vindicated those critics who believed that there existed a gap between arts administration and collection of cultural materials by Australia's major institutions. The Minister for the Arts, George Brandis, stated that "Australians have been victimized by NGA's incaution." In the case of the Shiva scandal, there appears to have been institutional ignorance and a lack of accountability. This is at odds with the Australian public's expectation that its galleries are supposed to be the authorities and educators on cultural matters. This review will discuss the NGA scandal together with known examples of other cases and put forward solutions to help resolve the problem in arts administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In late 2017, a Tasmanian 'anarchist' wearing a 'Vote Yes' [for same-sex marriage] badge headbutted former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. A few months later, six 'peace pilgrims' were sentenced for trespassing onto the Pine Gap military base as part of a political protest. These two cases raised the important question of what effect (if any) offenders' political motivations should have on their sentences: an issue which has received surprisingly little academic attention in Australia to date. This article examines the general relevance of political motivations to sentencing. It identifies two distinct approaches that have been taken in the Australian case law: a sympathetic approach, in which political motivations are considered to be mitigating; and an unsympathetic approach, in which politically motivated offences are seen to require strongly denunciatory and deterrent sentences. It explores the factors that influence sentencing judges' adoption of a particular approach, and sketches out some key principles that should guide judges when determining whether an offender's political motivations are mitigating, drawing on a combination of political philosophy and Australian constitutional law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2013 election of Australia's conservative Abbott Coalition (Liberal and National parties) government saw the repeal of carbon pricing, (which had previously been implemented by the Labor government in 2012), assume the first order of business. This Focus article reviews expert and political commentary and analysis of the repeal, and provides an overview of the Abbott government's dismantling and attempted dismantling of other climate initiatives. It reviews commentary and critiques of the government's substitute Direct Action ( DA) policy and its capacity to reduce emissions. The views of the international community on the Abbott government's repositioning of Australia's climate policy are considered, as are the prospects of achieving effective emissions reduction policy under Abbott's successor, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The paper notes the role of the Senate in both assisting and frustrating government reforms, as well as aspects of policy continuity that could see a form of carbon pricing revived in future. It explores the correlation between the political ascension of Tony Abbott and his rejection of carbon pricing, whether his substitute DA mechanism will effectively reduce emissions, and the adequacy of Australia's current global climate policy aspirations. WIREs Clim Change 2017, 8:e458. doi: 10.1002/wcc.458 For further resources related to this article, please visit the . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the “war on terror”, Australian leaders announced that an increased threat of terrorist activity existed within Australia in 2014, which was generated by young people travelling to engage in military activity in the Middle East and returning “radicalised”. The prime minister at the time, Tony Abbott, called on Australians to rally together, in the face of such a threat, as “Team Australia”. This article analyses the responses by cartoonists to this call, focusing on the way the notion of Team Australia is portrayed as a challenge to core aspects of Australianness, such as mateship, multiculturalism and the “fair-go”. Frame analysis is used to explore how the cartoons connect with the broader populace and represent, challenge, reconstruct and rely on implicit and explicit understandings of Australianness. The cartoons frame Abbott’s Team Australia as exclusionary, unfair, politically elitist, anti-multicultural and “un-Australian”, even while pursuing a nationalist project. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A literary criticism of the book "Faking it: US Hegemony in a Post-Phallic Era" by Cynthia Weber is presented. Topics discussed include hegemonic masculinity of the U.S. affected by Cuba, masculinity and ineffectiveness of former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and role of gender, sex and sexuality in causing military interventions. Other topics include efforts of the Australian government to fix Syrian refugee crisis and male hysteria.

The Abbott Government announced its White Paper review of the Australian Federation on June 28, 2014. Set against this backdrop, discussions of the future of Australian local government may provoke an assumption that its role will be cruelled. However, reflection suggests that such an assumption is misplaced. In particular, when the complexities of regionalism in Australia are considered, the potential role of local government begs revisiting. We argue that local government ought to adopt a forthright position in the current debate, particularly with respect to financial reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses several political developments in the Commonwealth of Australia between July 2015 and December 2015. According to the article, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was forced to remove politician Bronwyn Bishop from her position as the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives after Bishop failed to explain or apologize for abusing her travel entitlements. Australian Royal Commissioner Dyson Heydon's report on trade union governance and corruption is examined.

The article discusses several issues involving Australian foreign policy as of June 2016, and it mentions how various world leaders such as U.S. President Barack Obama telephoned politician Malcolm Turnbull to congratulate him on his election as the Prime Minister of Australia. Outgoing Prime Minister Tony Abbott's foreign policy style is mentioned, along with political leadership in Australia and Turnbull's five-nation tour which included stops in Indonesia and Germany.

In 2014 the Coalition government announced a 320 million dollar package for drought-hit farmers. In describing this initiative as a 'hand-up' not a 'hand out' Prime Minister Tony Abbott encapsulated more than 150 years of tension over whether government drought response should be unconditional limited relief or conditional longer-term assistance. This paper considers the long history of drought assistance in Australia as seen through government legislation, year books, newspapers and personal papers. It argues that despite changing political and social circumstances, contradictions in the approach to government drought response, as well as in public and personal reactions to those policies, have remained remarkably consistent. We further suggest that lack of consensus over the inherent nature of drought is not sufficient to explain the dilemma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to analyze the metaphoric constructions from the series of destructive gender wars instigated by Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard against the alleged misogynistic and sexist opinions and behaviors of his opponent, Tony Abbott. Topics include the importance of metaphors in politics and media communication, a study focused on gender war metaphors during Gillard's incumbency, and the context of the gender wars in Australia in its political and discursive context.

During the two years of his prime ministership, Tony Abbot's immigration rhetoric had a constant refrain of 'stop the boats'. From his public utterances it is not clear that Mr Abbott has any firm and unchanging views on economic immigration provided that the immigrants arrive by plane. For his two-year incumbency, this paper reviews the areas of immigration numbers; 457 and other temporary visas; refugees and asylum seekers; and trends in the views of the Australian public on immigration. It also examines some of the claimed economic impacts of immigration and the role of free trade agreements in deregulating in-flows as well as the immigration reports of the Productivity Commission. Finally, it scrutinises Abbott's changing views on multiculturalism contrasting them with those of his successor Malcolm Turnbull. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tony Abbott was not the first leader to undermine Australian democracy. A process of erosion has been going on for some time, sharply accelerated by the conspiracy surrounding the government's dismissal in 1975, and propelled by John Howard's protracted contempt for the people, especially over the war in Iraq and in his determination to silence dissent, humiliating critics with ad hominem abuse. Abbott acknowledged Howard as a significant mentor, and strove to outdo his exemplar in arousing fear in the community, treating the population as gullible and manipulable, such as with the condescending rhetoric over the 2014 budget, reducing policy to three-word slogans and stifling public discussion. His asylum-seeker aggression, shrouded in official secrecy, flouted international law and showed contempt for the Australian people. If democracy means anything, at its centre is respect for the people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elite neoliberal policy consensus requires traditional parties of the left and right to progressively sever their connection with their traditional party bases. The task fell first on parties of the left, but now it falls too on parties of the right. Tony Abbott's Liberal National Party government provides a case study in how this challenge impacts on parties of the right, and how this impact is likely to play out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protecting Australia from an 'invasion' of irregular maritime migrants was one of the key policy objectives of Tony Abbott's government from September 2013 to September 2015. Restricted to this specific period, this article compares Australia's approaches to irregular maritime migration with the actions taken by the European Union (EU). By mirroring the journey of maritime migrants, the comparative analysis is structured around the 'departure' place, the 'transit' at sea, and the 'arrival'. Under Abbott, Australia cut humanitarian aid to source and transit countries, intensified military deterrence against maritime migrants and sustained punitive offshore detention camps. Despite problematic factors for the EU such as the proximity of conflict zones, the sheer numbers of refugees, and the vexed issue of burden-sharing between member-states, it advocated a humanitarian approach to the migration crisis. By providing a stark contrast between Australian and EU approaches to a humanitarian crisis, this article contends that the Abbott Government took exceptionally cruel measures to curtail the flow of people travelling to Australia by boat to seek refuge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tony Abbott's Coalition government gained notoriety for taking a wrecking ball to Australia's policies on climate change. In a world first, Australia dismantled a fledgling carbon pricing scheme and downgraded an effective renewable energy target. The Department of Climate Change and the Climate Commission were axed while key agencies researching climate science such as CSIRO had funds and staffing decimated. Environmental non-government organisations came under siege in terms of reputation, legal rights and funding status. The renewable energy industry was further undermined as federal funding bodies were threatened with extinction. Conversely, the fossil fuel industry was rewarded with removal of the carbon price and resource super profit tax as well as continuation of generous subsidies. Another mega coal mine was approved. These policies ran counter to the clarion call for action on climate change by national and international experts in science, economics and security. They forecast Australia would pay a heavy price even with two degrees of warming; a level the world is set to surpass with minimalist emission reduction targets akin to those of the Abbott Government. The Coalition's conduct in this domain was motivated by climate scepticism, cynical wedge politics, a traditional 'quarry' view of prosperity, and narrow conceptions of national interest privileging a powerful section of corporate Australia, namely the fossil fuel industry. Despite a promising change in tone, climate policy settings barely changed after Malcolm Turnbull took power in 2015. Australia trails the pack of comparable countries in climate action and pledges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the Abbott Government's defence policies to determine whether Prime Minister Abbott was on a path to maintain the defence of the realm on the basis of a suitably diligent approach to strategy and capability development, and a suitably cautious approach to the use of military force. It finds little to admire. The Abbott Government failed to heed the published counsel of former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser that there were important issues to be addressed in relation to the ANZUS Alliance and in particular the Joint Facilities at Pine Gap, and imposed upon the Department of Defence yet another review and reform program. As an exemplar of capability development the paper examines the approach to the replacement of the Collins Class submarines and highlights several deficiencies. It also finds that the Abbott Government had an incautious approach to the use of military force but acknowledges that Mr Abbott was dissuaded from pursuing wild ideas like the unilateral insertion of Special Forces into Iraq or the insertion of a battalion into the Russian-backed rebel controlled area of Ukraine to recover the bodies of MH17 by force. On the basis of this review it identifies issues that require the attention of the Government that finds itself in place after 2 July 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tony Abbott's time as the Prime Minister of Australia was as controversial as it was short, with contrasting characterisations of his approach to fiscal policy abounding - a necessary program of cuts in response to the 'budget emergency'; a pseudo-Keynesian stimulatory second budget; claims that Abbott was a 'neoliberal'; and the overarching public response which argued that his policies were simply 'unfair'. Each of these characterisations is inaccurate or incomplete in some measure. Whilst there is little doubt that the 'budget emergency' was largely imagined, it was used to justify wide-ranging cuts to welfare provision. The logic of these cuts was contradicted, however, through profligate expenditures in other areas, such as corporate welfare, regressive tax breaks, and increases to defence spending. The paradoxical logic of cutting with one hand and spending with the other can only be understood through the lens of 'neoliberalism' - that is, if 'neoliberalism' is understood as a state-led project defined by a certain distributional outcome, rather than the 'free market' caricature used by many scholars and critics. This materially grounded analysis also provides a framework for us to consider the question, 'will Turnbull represent a break from hegemonic neoliberalism?' The answer, it would seem, is surely 'no'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a rare moment when free speech becomes a potent political issue within the Australian polity. But the Andrew Bolt affair, the Abbott government's subsequent move to repeal §18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), and its ultimate abandonment of this reform, is one of those moments. This article seeks to place these political events in a broader political and philosophical context, investigating how the conflicts and tensions to which these events gave rise can be understood in terms of competing perspectives within a wider liberal tradition, producing rival imperatives centred on free speech and equal respect. The differing priorities which these competing liberal perspectives placed on free speech and equal respect give rise to two very different conceptions of toleration, and its application within liberal democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2014, Australia's new Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzō Abe, elevated the status of bilateral ties to a ‘special strategic relationship'. Both sides also agreed on intensifying their defence technology cooperation, including in the submarine space. As well, Prime Minister Abbott called Australia a ‘strong ally’ of Japan. Yet, the prospect of a further strengthening of Australia–Japan defence relations has led to criticism by Australian strategic commentators. In particular, critics argue that closer strategic relations with Japan could damage Australia's ties with a rising China. In a worst-case scenario, Australia might even become ‘entrapped’ in a Sino-Japanese conflict. However, this argues that a closer defence relationship is in Australia's strategic interests in the face of China's increasing challenge to the rules-based order in the region. China's uncompromising position in the South China Sea and its more assertive behaviour have led to a greater congruence of threat and risk assessment between Australia and Japan. Indeed, Australia and Japan are increasingly facing a security dilemma vis-à-vis China, albeit to varying degrees. Therefore, for Australia, promoting Japan's ‘security normalisation’ contributes to regional stability. As well, the article points out that closer strategic ties with Japan do not automatically come at the expense of Sino-Australia relations. China's leverage to ‘punish’ Australia for unwanted strategic behaviour is limited, and concerns about ‘entrapment’ in a Sino-Japanese war are exaggerated. However, the more China exerts coercive diplomacy, the closer Australia–Japan defence relations are likely to become. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On taking office in late 2013, the incoming Abbott government proclaimed the advent of a new aid paradigm. This article asks whether or not this is the case. It does so by situating the new coalition policy in the context of more than two decades of development thinking. Focusing on the way Australian aid policy reflects trends in both global development and geopolitical discourses, the article parses out continuity and change. It finds that Australia's new aid paradigm is in fact largely the old aid paradigm reincarnate, with aid policy continuing to follow the well-established parameters outlined over decades of global thinking and practice that emphasise the significance of private-sector-led economic growth. However, while the overarching paradigm remains relatively intact, incremental change is also apparent, including alterations to the geographic focus, level and administration of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Islamic State is a cult; it cannot be fought as a mere terrorist organisation or a proto-state with territorial ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The notion that the Howard Government (1996-2007) used silencing dissent within Australian civil society as a key tool of political control is not new and has been explored elsewhere. This paper argues that while the Howard Government demonstrated a weakening support for civil society organisations and attempted to delegitimise the role of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in the public sphere, the Abbott Government displayed some significant differences. Their approach moved beyond this to undermine key elements of Australian democracy. The government attempted to shrink, delegitimise and criminalise the advocacy and democratic purposes of NGOs and civil society. Crucial access to the judicial system for NGOs was limited by defunding of organisations that supported civil society to access legal mechanisms. In this way, the independence of the public service and of universities was challenged and compromised. These actions suggest a waning commitment to a public battle of ideas and a rethinking of the relationship between government, citizens and civil society. In this case, it represents a significant attempt to re-mark Australian democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2016 Defence White Paper was started with the best of intentions, but released well past its expected date and with a new Prime Minister and Defence Minister at the helm. This article reviews the thirty month development of the 2016 Defence White Paper and the politics around its development and release. It argues that while the change of ministers and prime ministers clearly had an impact on the process and final text, it is just as important to recognise the changes which occurred during the Abbott Government as the changes between Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on politicians' use of social media tends to concentrate on election campaigns rather than on their everyday use. In examining the construction of 'Facebook Tony Abbott' (an Australian conservative federal politician and ex-Prime Minister), this paper examines how his image uploads, with five main themes: military, heterosexual family, statesmanship, athleticism and activeness, assembled a broader political persona. These images serve to promote such mythic campaign image categories as the Ideal Leader and Popular Candidate, revealing the page's permanent political campaign focus. Thus any insight the page could provide into the everyday political life of Tony Abbott was severely limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]