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Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has today admitted to possibly having a rubber arm when it comes to treating his nephew and nieces.
“They know I just crumble when they hit me up for some choccies or some toys” said Mr Abbott.
“I know I gotta be firmer, but hey if you can’t treat your own mob then who can ya treat”
Tony Abbott says his reluctance to discipline his younger relatives comes from the fact that he can’t bring himself to punish Indigenous kids anymore than they already are, given the record-breaking incarceration rates.
In 2015-16, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were 25 times more likely to be in detention and 17 times more likely to be under some form of youth justice order than non-Indigenous children, up from 21 times more likely to be in detention and 13 times more likely to be in some kind of care in 2011-12. As of 2018, 100% of all juvenile detention inmates were Indigenous.
The accusations of being Uncle Tony being too soft on the kids comes after the Member for Warringah gave a conditional yes to taking on the job of the Federal Government’s Indigenous envoy.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not ask Mr Abbott to be a minister in his new Government, but instead asked him to take on the role of envoy, citing his close association with Aboriginal Australia after growing up in a six bedroom mansion in Sydney’s Northern Beaches and working for the Liberal Party for nearly three decades.
Earlier last week and before any of the details of the job had become public, Mr Abbott appeared reluctant, saying he needed to know the precise terms of what was being proposed.
However, it appears that Abbott has decided to embrace the new non-cabinet pity role, and says he’s alway been the go-to man for the jarjums, who know he’s a big softie deep down.
