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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jun/23/tony-abbott-at-odds-with-turnbull-over-australian-invasion-question
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Tony Abbott at odds with Turnbull over Australian 'invasion' question | Tony Abbott at odds with Turnbull over Australian 'invasion' question |
| (2 months later) | |
| Tony Abbott says he doesn’t agree with Malcolm Turnbull’s claim that the European colonisation of Australia could be described as an invasion. | Tony Abbott says he doesn’t agree with Malcolm Turnbull’s claim that the European colonisation of Australia could be described as an invasion. |
| He says Australia could be described as having been “settled” or, if people thought that was too benign, they could say “occupied” – but not invaded. | He says Australia could be described as having been “settled” or, if people thought that was too benign, they could say “occupied” – but not invaded. |
| But he has distanced himself slightly from Cory Bernardi and Scott Morrison, both of whom complained this week that opponents of marriage equality, such as themselves, have also faced hatred and bigotry, with Morrison equating his own experience to that of LGBTI Australians. | But he has distanced himself slightly from Cory Bernardi and Scott Morrison, both of whom complained this week that opponents of marriage equality, such as themselves, have also faced hatred and bigotry, with Morrison equating his own experience to that of LGBTI Australians. |
| Abbott said only that he had “copped all sorts of criticism” for the positions he’s taken over the years but he’s got a pretty thick skin so he just wears it. | Abbott said only that he had “copped all sorts of criticism” for the positions he’s taken over the years but he’s got a pretty thick skin so he just wears it. |
| Speaking to the conservative TV host Andrew Bolt on Wednesday evening, Abbott said the best thing conservatives could do in the election was to vote for the Turnbull government because it was the best option available. | Speaking to the conservative TV host Andrew Bolt on Wednesday evening, Abbott said the best thing conservatives could do in the election was to vote for the Turnbull government because it was the best option available. |
| He said he could understand why some conservatives were disgruntled about what happened in September when Turnbull toppled him for the prime ministership, but that was in the past now. | He said he could understand why some conservatives were disgruntled about what happened in September when Turnbull toppled him for the prime ministership, but that was in the past now. |
| But he said he didn’t agree with Turnbull’s remark from last week that the colonisation of Australia could fairly be described as an “invasion”. | But he said he didn’t agree with Turnbull’s remark from last week that the colonisation of Australia could fairly be described as an “invasion”. |
| Turnbull said: “Well, I think it can fairly be described as that and I’ve got no doubt obviously our first Aboriginal Australians describe it as an invasion.” | Turnbull said: “Well, I think it can fairly be described as that and I’ve got no doubt obviously our first Aboriginal Australians describe it as an invasion.” |
| Abbott said what happened in 1788 and beyond “involved a very, very big change and it was a change that had pretty big consequences for the Aboriginal inhabitants of Australia”. | Abbott said what happened in 1788 and beyond “involved a very, very big change and it was a change that had pretty big consequences for the Aboriginal inhabitants of Australia”. |
| “But I would certainly describe it as a settlement, maybe even an occupation, but I certainly wouldn’t use the word invasion because I think that connotes the primacy of armed force,” he said. | “But I would certainly describe it as a settlement, maybe even an occupation, but I certainly wouldn’t use the word invasion because I think that connotes the primacy of armed force,” he said. |
| .@TonyAbbottMHR disagrees with @TurnbullMalcolm in labeling British settlement as an 'invasion' #ausvotes https://t.co/rUCKrZTiKr | .@TonyAbbottMHR disagrees with @TurnbullMalcolm in labeling British settlement as an 'invasion' #ausvotes https://t.co/rUCKrZTiKr |
| Bolt asked him why Turnbull had used the word invasion. | Bolt asked him why Turnbull had used the word invasion. |
| Abbott replied: “Well, look, different people use different phrases at different times and I’m not going to get into a big argument with people over this. The terminology that I use is settlement. If people think that’s too benign, fair enough, say that Australia was occupied if you like.” | Abbott replied: “Well, look, different people use different phrases at different times and I’m not going to get into a big argument with people over this. The terminology that I use is settlement. If people think that’s too benign, fair enough, say that Australia was occupied if you like.” |
| He then said there were still “some big things to do” in Australia like acknowledging in the constitution that Indigenous people were the first Australians, saying “I hope that we can successfully do that at some point in the next term of parliament.” | He then said there were still “some big things to do” in Australia like acknowledging in the constitution that Indigenous people were the first Australians, saying “I hope that we can successfully do that at some point in the next term of parliament.” |
| Abbott was criticised in 2014 when he told an audience at the Australia-Melbourne Institute that Australia had been “unsettled” before the British arrived and it owed its existence to Britain’s “form of foreign investment”. | Abbott was criticised in 2014 when he told an audience at the Australia-Melbourne Institute that Australia had been “unsettled” before the British arrived and it owed its existence to Britain’s “form of foreign investment”. |
| “Our country is unimaginable without foreign investment,” he said at the time. | “Our country is unimaginable without foreign investment,” he said at the time. |
| “I guess our country owes its existence to a form of foreign investment by the British government in the then unsettled or, um, scarcely settled, Great South Land.” | “I guess our country owes its existence to a form of foreign investment by the British government in the then unsettled or, um, scarcely settled, Great South Land.” |