Cranking Up the Tony Abbott Fact Checker

Tony Abbott's been making an awful lot of claims lately. Sorry, that should be "a lot of awful claims lately". The press has been jumping on all of them, but is that really fair to Tony? Which ones stand up to scrutiny and which don't? With our new Tony Abbott Fact Checker, we can help separate the, uh, the wheat from the chaff. Separate the wheat from the chaff, Madame Speaker. The wheat from the chaff.

Tony Abbott Claim: Australians are sick of being lectured to by the United Nations.

Verdict: True!

Why? United Nations sanctions are all well and good when they're against bad countries. You know the ones: Iran, North Korea, Latveria. You know, countries that we associate with genocide and slavery. But when those claims are levelled against us, it gets a bit rich. Literally and figuratively. We're one of the good guys, so the occasional human rights transgression really should be given a pass. If that 16-year-old girl who threw herself off a building rather than return to the sexual abuse she allegedly suffered on Nauru was available for comment, I'm sure she'd tell the UN to lay off.

Tony Abbott Claim: The UN hasn't noticed that we've stopped the boats.

Verdict: False!

Why? Good news, Tony! The United Nations has noticed that you've stopped the boats. Bad news: it was a year ago and they said the boat thing was a potential breach of our obligations under international law. But hey, they have noticed, so we're calling that a win.

Tony Abbott Claim: Aboriginals who live in remote communities do so as a lifestyle choice.

Verdict: True!

Why? During the 2013 election campaign, Tony Abbott pledged to spend one week per year as Prime Minister in an Aboriginal community, a pledge he rather quickly broke. This is called "leading by example"—by choosing not to stick to his one-week-per-year promise, he's demonstrated just how easy it is to not be there. And that's only one week per year. Multiply that by 52, and you'll see how much easier it is — 52 times easier — for the residents of these communities to not be there than it was for Abbott.

Tony Abbott Claim: Using superannuation to buy a first home is "perfectly good and reasonable".

Verdict: True!

Why? Joe Hockey says many of those already born will live to be 700 or so. So frankly, superannuation just isn't going to last. But the value of houses and properties goes up. So you won't be able to pay bills, buy food or pay rates, but you'll be asset rich. Except when you can't pay the council rates and your house gets seized. But if you play the ensuing court case right, you can end up in jail for contempt and get free room and board! And frankly, this plan is more reasonable than trusting any financial institution post-GFC.

Tony Abbott Claim: He did no task Human Right Commission President Gillian Triggs to resign.

Verdict: True!

Why? First of all, he didn't ask her. It was Chris Moriatis, but he didn't either. Especially if you consider that "resign" could easily be interpreted as "sign again". Like "Excuse me, Professor Triggs, your signature on this contract is a little faint. Could you resign it?" I'm confident that if you look up every government document that Gillian Triggs signed, it will be in bold, visible pen strokes.

Tony Abbott Claim: "I know you [the press] are always looking to find fault."

Verdict: False!

Why? This claim made during a press conference about the automotive industry sounded quite defensive, and you can't blame him. The press is always jumping on the negative, like reporting on leadership spills and the treatment of children in detention. But the press doesn't want to do this! They also like good news stories. After all "Tony Abbott Still Prime Minister", "Potentially-Drowned Refugee Still Lives In Indonesia" and "United Nations Tacitly Gives Thumbs Up To Our Treatment of English Immigrants" all make for great headlines. Do your job, journos.

Tony Abbott Claim: Medicare co-payment is "dead, buried and cremated".

Verdict: False!

Why? We have one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and it was foolish to try to mess with it given that a lack of heathcare availability can damage an economy far more easily than actually just paying for the healthcare in the first place. The co-payment had a sharp decline in health: what began as a $7 co-payment became a $5 co-payment before becoming a $0 nothing-payment. But our healthcare system is so damn good that the already-dead/buried/cremated plan is starting to show signs of life. Or at least signs of reanimation, which I believe makes it a zombie.

Tony Abbott Claim: "I swear to almighty Allah we will carry out the first operation for the soldiers of the caliphate in Australia."

Verdict: True!

Why? We were as shocked as anyone when Tony Abbott made this claim. He said it right in the middle of Parliament in front of cameras and Labor and everything, and many commentators saw this as a signal that the government was heading in a new direction. But as it turned out, Tony was quoting some alleged would-be terrorists who had just been arrested in a Sydney raid. So wouldn't that then make it false? Not if Tony has used parliamentary privilege to poison the potential jury pool, as NSW Bar Association president Jane Needham SC says, making it very difficult for the men to get a fair trial. So if they can't go to trial because of Abbott's quotes, then he'll have essentially freed them, potentially allowing the alleged caliphate to allegedly go ahead. And so his parliamentary threat becomes potentially real!

Tony Abbott Claim: Australia deserves an "intelligent and sensible national conversation".

Verdict: False!

Why? See above.

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