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"ALANNAH MacTiernan&rsquo;s criticism in the June 28 edition front-page article of Tony Abbott were born of arrogance, in that Ms MacTiernan having appointed herself judge and jury on the persona, politics and policies of Tony Abbott, went on to gloat, &ldquo;We here in Perth, made a big contribution to the campaign that really made Tony Abbott unacceptable&rdquo;. She went on to say, &ldquo;Abbott was taking us economically and socially into a very dark place&rdquo;. Mr Abbott, no matter what his shortcomings were, or are, perceived or otherwise, never gave succour to the people smugglers, as Rudd, Gillard and many in the ALP and Greens did, which resulted in men, women and children dying because of putting their trust in unseaworthy people smuggler vessels. As for an economic and social place that was very dark, Ms MacTiernan might care to recall when Paul Keating subjected the people of Australia, including many who the ALP purports to represent, to the &ldquo;recession that we had to have&rdquo;, which wreaked untold hardship and misery on the many who were forced to bear the brunt of it. What about the innocent, unsuspecting victims of the Rudd poorly thought out and planned Pink Batts Program? Too many workers sacrificed their lives. And where was the much-vaunted ALP/union concern for safety in the workplace, much less reimbursing all those who incurred expense in implementing that madcap scheme? Would Ms MacTiernan care to acknowledge that the reason for the draconian nature of the first Abbott and Hockey budget was an attempt to rein in the profligacy of the Rudd, Gillard, Rudd Labor governments? Or does Ms MacTiernan prefer the pretence that because she entered the Federal Parliament after the Rudd, Gillard, Rudd governments they were past tense to her and therefore she was unencumbered by their actions? Another injustice, which was a missed opportunity for Ms MacTiernan, was the disgrace of not challenging why veterans and ex-Service members are denied access to their pensions, which they paid in to, until they are 65 and the failure of successive Federal governments to properly index them. She has and will continue to have, immediate access to whatever she is owed from both State and Federal government coffers, while too many veterans and ex-Service members, especially the younger ones, have to fight for anything. Their older comrades are forced to watch what they thought were &ldquo;entitlements&rdquo; being eroded while having to wait until they are 65, so as to access their &ldquo;pensions&rdquo;, which infers government largesse, whereas they contributed to it. Am I in a &ldquo;dark place&rdquo; by being angry, disillusioned and bitter? You betcha. Will I have the luxury of luxuriating in a bar while waxing lyrical about the perceived failings of others, accepting injustice within WA and Australia overall? Well unfortunately not, as Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefit Scheme and means-tested Department of Veterans&rsquo; Affairs payments do not allow for such luxuries. J.R. BABBAGE, Nollamara."
<https://www.perthnow.com.au/community-news/eastern-reporter/alannah-mactiernans-commentary-arrogant-c-777394>