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Abbott admits to ‘ragged week’ following poor polling, election defeat

Source: Xinhua | December 1, 2014, Monday | Online Edition

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said "the buck stops with me" amid another week of heavy criticism and poor polling results for the Coalition.

Speaking at an unusually candid press conference in front of parliament following what he described as a "ragged week" for his government, Abbott said he wanted to address public concerns "head on" and revealed the Coalition would reverse several high profile decisions.

The Australian leader also admitted that he broke pre-election promises regarding cuts to the government-owned broadcasters ABC and SBS.

Abbott, who has fallen to a low of 35 percent in recent Galaxy Polls regarding Australia's preferred Prime Minister, took the brunt of responsibility following a disappointing week for his party.

As well as poor polling, more budget criticism and confusion surrounding Abbott's GP co-payments scheme, the Liberal-National Party also suffered defeat in the Victorian state elections on Saturday.

But, Abbott believes his government has what it takes to turn the tide of criticism.

"I stand by my office," Abbott said on Monday. "It's a very good office. My office is essentially the same office that got us from nowhere to election parity in 2010 and gave us a very strong victory in 2013."

"Let's not forget where we were as a coalition and as a party in 2009."

"Obviously, I take responsibility for everything in the end. I mean, the buck stops here. That's the way it is in our democracy. The buck stops with the party leader."

"I know that appearances do count and I concede that the appearance last week was a bit ragged but, in the end, nothing matters more than performance and this is a government which has had a very solid year of performance under its belt."

"What happened last week was more a matter of atmospherics and I think substance always trumps atmospherics."

Abbott went on to admit that he broke pre-election promises regarding cuts to the funding of ABC and SBS, but said the decision was essential given changing circumstances.

Under pressure to admit that he said there would be "no cuts" to the ABC or SBS prior to the 2013 elections, Abbott revealed he had indeed broken his word.

"Sensible governments are not only entitled, but indeed expected to change when the circumstances change," Abbott said.

"I accept what we are doing with the ABC is at odds with what I said immediately prior to the election, but things have moved on, circumstances are different."

In addition, Abbott says he hopes to combat recent criticism by backing down over controversial university overhauls and Defence Force pay schemes.

Abbott announced partial changes to Australian Defence Force pay, revealing multiple allowances, including paid Christmas leave, would no longer be cut. However, he refused to budge on offering any more than a 1.5 percent pay rise, suggesting it would only put further pressure on a strained federal budget.

"Defence pay and Defence allowances are paid out of the overall Defence budget," he said.

"So the 17 million AU dollars (14.3 million U.S dollars) that it will cost to restore these allowances will come out of the Defence budget  there won't be extra money put in."

The public address came as education minister Christopher Pyne lowered the cost of student loans and announced a five-year freeze on interest for new parents completing their tertiary studies.

More changes to the cost of university degrees have also been put forward by the government, however, the Prime Minister is unsure when that information will be released to the public.

"I don't presume to know what the final outcome will be, but we are determined to deal with this matter one way or another in this final sitting week of the year," he said.

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