(AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
At least Tony Abbott is prepared to admit he screwed up: what he once boasted as a "history making" trade deal with China, and one of his great achievements as prime minister, was a mistake based on "wishful thinking" and a "very benign view" of China.
Similar
mea culpas haven't been forthcoming from the Coalition's stenographers and cheerleaders, alas. Paul Kelly has never admitted he was wrong in lauding the deal as a "moment of transformation" of global significance, pointing the way to a "glorious future" in which an "astute Xi" would "pull Australia far closer into China’s orbit in coming years". Greg Sheridan, who lauded the deal and insisted "there is not the slightest evidence that any Australian tradie would be a loser under this agreement", was a leader of the Coalition/News Corp campaign against Labor for daring to question the deal -- to question any aspect of the agreement with China was xenophobic and protectionist.