Bill

“On a flight back from Afghanistan, where he’d been visiting Australian soldiers, Abbott said something indiscreet to Channel Seven correspondent Mark Riley – and Credlin kicked him in the shin. Another time she placed her hand in front of his mouth, mid-sentence, to stop him giving away something to a reporter.”
― Aaron Patrick, Credlin & Co.: How the Abbott Government Destroyed Itself

“Ruddock was the only person in the party held accountable for the failures that had almost removed Abbott and Credlin after less than eighteen months in office. According to Queensland MP Andrew Laming, ‘It was like the farmer shooting the sheep dog because he left the gate open and the sheep ran out.”
― Aaron Patrick, Credlin & Co.: How the Abbott Government Destroyed Itself

“In 2015 one of the most powerful jobs in the bureaucracy, that of cabinet secretary, went to a public relations executive, Matthew Stafford, who thus had access to cabinet meetings.”
― Aaron Patrick, Credlin & Co.: How the Abbott Government Destroyed Itself

“One of the Coalition policies most resented by Nationals backbenchers proposed that companies would be paid to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions. With a budget of $2.55 billion over four years, the ‘Direct Action’ scheme was widely seen as a second-rate compromise that allowed the government to assert that it was fighting global warming while it abolished Labor’s emissions trading scheme. ‘That’s not going to change the temperature of the globe but it’s a lot of money at the moment,’ one Nationals MP said.”
― Aaron Patrick, Credlin & Co.: How the Abbott Government Destroyed Itself