The insults sting, but Abetz won’t buckle

I’m not in a popularity contest, says senator

LEADER of the Government in the Senate and Employment Minister Eric Abetz admits he did not get into politics to be popular.

“People will make up their own minds, but the good thing in Tasmania, when I meet people, the overwhelming reaction is, ‘You are so different to the way the media portrays you’,’’ he said.

“Why the media have tried to label me in that way, I don’t know, but I get on with my job.”

Senator Abetz was speaking exclusively to the Mercury before heading to Wrest Point last night to celebrate 21 years in federal Parliament.

More than 500 friends and Liberal Party faithful — including former prime minister John Howard and current PM Tony Abbott — were on hand at a dinner to recognise his achievement.

Reflecting on his 21 years of public service, Senator Abetz spoke of mixed feelings about the way he has been perceived in the media, particularly descriptions of him as a hardline right winger.

He also expressed frustration that his role as Government Leader in the Senate was sometimes overlooked.

“I never got involved in politics to be popular, but something the media has never reported is that the person who [in 2004] gained the most numerical votes and percentage vote in a Senate election in Tasmania since Federation was me,” he said.

“Every now and then that grates a bit.

“If you are in the game to be popular and have nice things said about you, you can become a weather vane or an automaton following the opinion polls.

“I think the Tasmanian population accepts that I don’t seek to be populist but I give an honest assessment of a situation that I think is in the long-term interest — and sometimes that means being unpopular in the short term.”

Senator Abetz, who was born in Germany in 1958 before coming to Tasmania with his parents and five siblings in 1961, dates his political awakening back to his entry to the University of Tasmania when he confronted a “no ticket-no degree” decree.

“University consolidated my beliefs. Why the university administration would act as the shop steward for the student union was just beyond me,’’ he said.

During a campaign for voluntary student unionism he met many future Liberal movers and shakers including Tony Abbott, Peter Costello and Michael Kroger in what he described as the “heady days of the 1970s”.

After filling a casual Senate vacancy in 1994, he credits former prime minister John Howard with giving him his first opportunity as chair on the joint standing committee on native title.

“He gave me that break when we first won, then Special Minister of State, then Fisheries Forestry and Conservation and then Manager of Government Business in the Senate,” he said.

“They were wonderful opportunities he gave me which he could have given to anybody else.”

Senator Abetz, who is on official leave until June 28, is adamant that he will contest the next election, due in 2016.

His satisfaction from politics varies from major policy to the grassroots, such as helping a member of the community get a passport.

“Individual cases where you can help is just as rewarding as sitting around the Cabinet table being involved in the important decisions,” he said.

From a Tasmanian perspective, the best outcomes have been the Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme in 1996 and the recent extension to the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme for exports. “Policies like that do untold good because it creates employment and it dovetails economic and social policy together,” he said.

He was reluctant to talk about disappointments.

“One of these days I might write a book, but not for a while yet, there is still a lot to be done,” he said.

“I will allow other people to comment on what was not so clever of me to have engaged in or to have done.”

The husband of Michelle and father of three children said the 24/7 news cycle was

the major change in politics since he started.

“People expect you to be on call all the time and I think, in the 21 years, it has become more gruelling than when I first started when there was not even a computer on your desk,” he said.

He said negotiating with the current Senate was sometimes challenging.

“Dealing with the Senate is interesting, but they are all genuine individuals who are interested in the wellbeing of their state or the nation,’’ he said.

“I have always found them to be polite and personable.”

He said that 21 years was a milestone.

“It has been an immense privilege to have been endorsed by the Liberal Party and elected by the people of Tasmania for 21 years,” he said.

Mr Abbott told the Mercury yesterday that he was proud to call Senator Abetz a friend.

“Eric is a fine man and a valued colleague,” he said.

“He is a man of principle. He is a man who is deeply devoted to his family, his state and his country. Our country is a better place because of him.

“Eric has always been a fighter for Tasmania.

“He is a passionate and happily biased advocate for your beautiful state — promoting the case for Tasmania wherever he goes.”

Premier Will Hodgman said Senator Abetz had been a strong advocate for Tasmania.

“Eric’s significant contribution to our national government is acknowledged by the fact that both a former, and the current Prime Minister are in Tasmania to mark the occasion.”