Abbott says the Menzies Report is a coincidence

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott has denied suggestions that the Menzies Report was released to lesson the severity of Oxfam’s findings on indigenous health.

Oxfam’s Executive Director Andrew Hewett said that findings from the Oxfam report are scandalous.

Australia is ranked at the bottom of wealthy nations for the health outcomes of its indigenous citizens.

The life expectancy of Aborigines is 20 years less than that of other Australians.

In New Zealand, Canada and the US the gap in life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous citizens is about 7 years.

Abbott said that he was encouraged by the Menzies report.

He highlighted findings that Aboriginal women are now living 14 years longer than they were in the 1960s and men are living eight years longer.

“It is not quite the situation of unremitting gloom which we tend to get,” Abbott said.

Indigenous health services are the focus of a national two-day conference beginning today.

Indigenous health Aborigines Oxfam report Menzies Report life expectancy

Did he say the Messiah?

After another strong poll for Labor, Health Minister Tony Abbott has hinted that tax cuts and other big election sweeteners will be on the agenda in this year’s budget.

“The money belongs to the public and they deserve to have it back,” Abbott said, likening his and other political leaders' roles in government to that of stewards.

He shrugged off any suggestion that personal attacks on Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd backfired on the Coalition, saying they were appropriate at the time.

“We’re in a different phase now,” he said.

When asked about his own attack on Rudd, Abbott said that Rudd only had himself to blame.

The childhood story Rudd related to the media was like “a narrative of political redemption,” he said

“It was almost a messiah story.”

The public can read into it what they will, he said.

Labor has slipped 4 points from 61 to 57 per cent on a two-party preferred vote in the latest Newspoll result. The Coalition is up from 39 to 43 per cent.


Newspoll Tony Abbott Kevin Rudd tax cuts

Guantanamo Justice

Guantanamo detainee David Hicks has been sentenced to nine months after pleading guilty to the new Military Commissions Act of providing material support for terrorism.

He is not allowed to speak to the media for one year as a part of the condition of his sentence. Here are what others have had to say:

Prime Minister John Howard: “He’s not a hero in my eyes and he ought not to be a hero in the eyes of any people in the Australian community… He pleaded guilty to knowingly assisting a terrorist organisation - namely al-Qaeda.”

Colonel Morris Davis: (Prosecutor): “We told [Howard and Ruddock] we would provide a fair trial, they took us at our word and I believe this week we accomplished that. So, I appreciate their support.”

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock: “The sentence proves that Hicks received a rigorous defence.”

Terry Hicks: “I believe it's too coincidental that David is kept out of sight until after the election… It’s political and designed to help the government's chances.”

Lex Lasry QC (Defence team): “As far as the Australian Government’s concerned it’s interesting that there’s an election in Australia later this year and Mr Hicks will be in custody until after it and he won’t be able to speak about his circumstances for another year.”

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer: “I have no concerns, I don’t mind whether he’s gagged or not ... I don’t know whether it would matter one way or the other to us so much.”

Treasure Peter Costello: “(It’s) a pretty stiff sentence but I must say for those people who say ‘poor David Hicks’, I say the poor dead and their families who died in the World Trade Centre and in the Bali bombings.”

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd: “We are no defenders of Mr Hicks; we are no defenders of what he has done or what he is alleged to have done. We are a defender of his legal rights and human rights.”

Senator Bob Brown: “This is more about saving Mr Howard’s political hide than about justice for Hicks… It is clearly a political fix arranged between Mr Howard and the Bush administration to shut Hicks up until after the election in November.”

Major Michael Mori (Defence team): “I’m not going to talk about private discussions I’ve had with government officials - US or Australian.”

David Hicks Major Michael Mori Colonel Morris Davis Colonel Ralph Kohlmann Guantanamo Prime Minister John Howard Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd Terry Hicks military commissions australia America George Bush