Despite conspicuous displays of manliness, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is decidedly cautious in his choice of media outlets. And it appears that the strategy of going to the media that will let him off lightly is paying off. So much for manhood Tony.
Ironically, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been the one with hairs on her chest, taking on the shock jocks and appearing before less-than-hospitable co-hosts presumably in the belief that that if she appears she will be able to ram home the message.
Abbott, however, is having more success, while Gillard is floundering.
Take her choice of media appearances. Most recently she went on a panel of business leaders who were all gunning for her government's policies. She fronted Westpac's Gail Kelly, Westfield's Steve Lowy and media mogul Kerry Stokes in a Q&A session. All took umbrage with one policy or other, whether it was the carbon tax or the government's stubborn determination for a surplus.
She was in the thick of it defending her policies, in the face of yet more polls results that showed support was dwindling. Her courage bore all the hallmarks of the hapless Jim Hacker in Yes, Prime Minister.
Is there another option than to weather the storm stoically? If she hadn't appeared then Kelly, Lowy et al would have sledged her policies anyway, so she might as well attempt to have a right of reply, even if it was case of hit and miss.
Gillard has even stared down the talkback hosts. Earlier this year she appeared on Alan Jones's radio program on Sydney's 2GB just after the government had announced that the multi-party climate change committee had agreed to a carbon tax, with an emissions trading scheme to follow.
Outrage about her pre-election commitment not to introduce a carbon tax was at its peak, but nonetheless she went for what she knew would be a tough interview. Jones went into overdrive, firstly berating the Prime Minister for being 10 minutes late. He then launched into an extraordinary attack, saying "people are now saying your name is not Julia but Ju-liar and asking her of she accepted that she "stole the election" with a "false promise", all the while constantly interrupting her.
Abbott, meanwhile, is playing a winning hand by not taking much in the way of risks. He has tended to focus his media appearances on regional radio, and with interviewers who, one could say, are more likely to go easy on him.
Since election day, he has been on John Laws's program six times, Melbourne Talkback Radio eight times and has had seven interviews with Jones with barely a difficult question asked in any.
Contrast this with the number of interviews on ABC's 7.30 (two), Sky News agenda (four), and once on Radio National. There have been a few probing interviews with ABC's AM, but Abbott's answers have stuck to a familiar.
Take Abbott's media blitz after his budget in reply speech to the House of Representatives. One principal criticism levelled at him was that the speech lacked detail or any alternatives for budget spending.
The following day questions on that issue were notably absent in his interview with Alan Jones. On the same day, the ABC's Sabra Lane put that criticism of his budget reply speech to him only to be accused of being in the pocket of government spin merchants:
Lane: "But this was a budget reply. Aren't Australian families entitled to hear your alternatives? Or are you treating them with contempt?"
Abbott: "Oh, look, Sabra, please. Let's not get government spin on the ABC. This is . . ."
Lane: "It's not government spin. It's a budget reply, Tony Abbott."
A similar retort was given when Joe Hockey was grilled by press gallery journalists at his post-budget National Press Club address.
It appears the government's strategy hinges on the hope that at the end of this tunnel, the light of the electorate will once again shine. As Gillard said recently on the carbon tax in an address to an embarrassingly small audience at the Victorian Labor conference: "When the sun rises in the east, cows keep giving milk, chickens still lay eggs, our opponents know their campaign of fear will be exposed as a sham." And the Gillard government, by implication, will appear resplendent for having done something worth all the pain of the moment.
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