Wednesday 11 February 2015

Tony Abbott accuses Labor of causing 'holocaust of jobs'

 Tony Abbott accuses Labor of causing 'holocaust of jobs'


Tony Abbott’s Holocaust gaffe

February 12, 2015 - 2:57PM
To view the entire video, click on: http://media.theage.com.au/news/federal-politics/tony-abbotts-holocaust-gaffe-6252472.html

Article by LATIKA BOURKE



Prime Minister Tony Abbott has accused Labor of causing a "holocaust
of job" losses but has quickly withdrawn the remark after immediate
outcry.


Mr Abbott was being pressed in question time about the
surge in unemployment and the government's plans to potentially buy
submarines from overseas, instead of commission Australian-built vessels
in Adelaide.


The opposition's workplace spokesman Brendan
O'Connor asked Mr Abbott: "South Australia's unemployment rate has now
reached 7.3 per cent.  Prime Minister, when will good government
actually start and the Prime Minister deliver on his promise to build
submarines in South Australia?"


The Prime Minister went on the
offensive, telling Parliament: "Under members opposite defence jobs in
this country declined by ten per cent. There was a holocaust of jobs in
defence industries under members opposite."



Labor frontbencher Tony Burke got to his feet but before he raise a point of order, the Prime Minister withdrew his remark.

"That's
what there was Madame Speaker, jobs, jobs, jobs, sorry I... withdraw
Madame Speaker, there was a decimation of jobs," he said.


The
Executive Council of Australian Jewry's policy platform advocates
against any wider use of the word holocaust saying it "deplores the
inappropriate use of analogies to the Nazi genocide in Australian public
debate".


At the end of question time Mr Abbott rose to his feet to again apologise for his comment.

Mr
Abbott's gaffe caps off another ragged week for the Coalition despite
the Prime Minister's pledge on Monday that "good government" would begin
this week.


Since then, the Coalition has been mired in confusion over how it plans to buy new submarines.

South
Australian Liberal senator Sean Edwards says he was promised by the
Prime Minister that the government would conduct an open tender which
would allow the Adelaide based company ASC to bid for the contract.


But
the Prime Minister says he promised no more than a "competitive
evaluation process" sparking a car crash interview in which Senator
Edwards was left unable to clearly explain the differing accounts. 


Senior
frontbenchers have also been at odds over the status of the GP
co-payment with the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary Alan Tudge
declaring the policy scrapped. The Health Minister is still consulting
on the policy.


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