Tony Abbott was echoing the pub conversations of everyday Australians when he said all cultures were not equal, the radio announcer and staunch Abbott supporter Alan Jones has argued.
The former prime minister continued his media blitz on Friday, speaking to Jones on Macquarie Radio.
He claimed credit for the passage of legislation that would strip dual nationals of their Australian citizenship if convicted of terrorism offences, or go abroad to fight for terrorist organisations.
“This is a strong statement by the Australian community that if you are a terrorist, if you want to kill your fellow Australians for no other reason than that they don’t share your particular religious views, well, you’re not one of us,” Abbott said. “You’re beyond the pale.”
Abbott has been criticised by members of the Islamic community, and rebuked by the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, for his increasingly divisive language on the role of Islam in terrorism.
In an interview with Sky News on Tuesday, Abbott said “all cultures are not equal” and that western cultures needed to assert their dominance over cultures that believe they can “kill in the name of God”.
Jones backed the comments.
“He said, and I said at the time, in language that would be endorsed by nearly everyone in every pub, cultures are not equal,” he said.
“These comments, we’re told, are ill-informed. Well who is generating fear and hatred? There is plenty of it [that] is being generated at Tony Abbott.”
But a prominent Lebanese Australian, Jamal Rifi, who is often cited by members of the Coalition as a moderate leader in the Muslim community, was scathing.
“It is not a fit thing for a prime minister or an ex-prime minister to say, to be honest, and probably that mentality is why we are in such difficult situation right now,” he told ABC TV on Friday. “Because Tony Abbott as prime minister, he put all the emphasis on punitive actions but he did not put or invest anything about preventative actions.”
That changed after Turnbull became leader of the Liberal party in September.
“To be frank, what happened during the leadership of Tony Abbott – we did have a lot of meetings, we were talking [but] they were not hearing, they were not listening, they were not acting,” Rifi said. “I think since Tony Abbott is no longer the prime minister and we have Malcolm Turnbull, we definitely feel it has changed.”
Jones praised Abbott’s contribution to the conversation on terrorism and deradicalisation, saying it was “world class”.
“He’s one of the few people who’s not on a holiday from reality,” he said. “Yes, we get on with life. Malcolm Turnbull is the prime minister and we want him to be the best there can be. But we sure as hell don’t want Tony Abbott to shut up.”
Abbott, who vowed not to undermine Turnbull’s government after losing the leadership, has been in the headlines all week. The language he has used during media interviews is a marked departure from Turnbull’s, who stressed the need for mutual respect with the Muslim community in the terrorism debate.
Abbott reiterated his desire to stay on the backbench until the next federal election, saying that holding public office is a “noble calling”.
“There’d be nothing wrong, I think, with continuing to do that in the parliament,” he said. “Now, whether that’s the ultimate decision, time will tell. But I am determined to serve the people of Warringah and Australia for the rest of this parliament.”
Abbott told Jones he had been heartened by the “absolute avalanche of letters and emails” he had received since losing the leadership to Turnbull in September.
