Former Australian PM Admits He Was Passed Out Drunk During Crucial Financial Crisis Vote

After years of lies and deflections, Australia’s former prime minister Tony Abbott has admitted on a local television program that he missed a crucial 2009 vote on a $42 billion stimulus package intended to shore up the country’s banking system during the financial crisis because he was passed out drunk.

Abbott, then a member of the Liberal party’s front bench, said he fell asleep on the couch in his office after consuming “quite a few bottles of wine” with two of his peers in the MP’s dining room “and could not be roused.” The next thing he knew, it was morning, and he had missed the vote, according to the Herald Sun.

The admission comes years after a public row erupted between Abbott and former Labor Treasurer Wayne Swan when, back in 2013, Swan accused Abbott of missing the crucial vote because he drank too much. At the time, Abbott demanded that Swan stop “telling lies” about him, and members of Abbott’s party asked that Swan withdraw his comments from the parliamentary record.

The disclosure, which was seemingly made on a whim, took Abbott’s friends and opponents by surprise. Abbott served as prime minister for two years between 2013 to 2015 before losing a party leadership vote to his former communications minister and current Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Abbott made his big reveal during an interview with Annabel Crabb, the eponymous host of popular Australian politics program “The House With Annabel Crabb.” The interview will be included in an episode set to air on September 5, according to the Herald Sun.

“There was one famous occasion when Peter Costello, Kevin Andrews and I hung out rather a long time here,” he told Crabb.

“The night that the then-Rudd government was trying to bring in measures to deal with the GFC.

“I think quite a few bottles of wine were consumed by the three of us,” Abbott said with a laugh.

“Peter was close to leaving at that stage, and I think all of us were in a mellow and reflective mood, so the reflections went on for longer, and later, than they should have.

“The impact was rather greater than it should have been.

“I think I famously slept through several divisions.”

Crabb pressed Abbott to confirm that the rumors about his drinking were, in fact, true.

“Crabb prompted the former PM to go on, saying, “the story was that you repaired … to the couch in your room and could not be roused”.

Mr Abbott confirmed this is what happened.

“It was a late night sitting, against all OH&S rules as you can imagine,” he said.

“I lay down, and the next thing I knew it was morning.”

Swan jumped on the opportunity to take a few jabs at his longtime political rival. Both Swan and Abbott continue to serve in Australia’s House of Representatives.

“When the jobs of Australians were on the line, Tony Abbott didn’t care,” he said.

“His recklessness knows no bounds.”

While the revelation is amusing, it likely won’t impact Abbott’s chances of retaining his seat. Abbott’s district, Warringah, which is located along the northern edge of Sydney, has long been dominated by Liberal Party politicians.

"I Have This Russian Guy" Turnbull Mocks Trump In Leaked Audio

It might not be as bad as the time Kevin Rudd leaked George W Bush’s “what’s the G20?” remark, sparking a temporary chill in US-Aussie relations, but it’s still pretty embarrassing. In an audio recording leaked to an Australian TV station, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull can be heard mocking President Donald Trump’s speaking style, and joking about his connections with Russians.

The remarks were part of the prime minister’s routine at the Midwinter Ball in Canberra, loosely described as Australia’s version of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The event, which was attended by more than 100 people, was supposed to be “off the record,” so the president felt comfortable cracking a few jokes that he believed would never find their way to the president’s ear.

Relations between the two longtime allies who, as WSJ notes, have fought side by side in every armed conflict since World War II, have gotten off to a rocky start since Trump moved into the White House. A February phone call between the two leaders ended after just 25 minutes when Trump abruptly hung up on Turnbull, before saying he’d spoken with four other world leaders that day and that this was “the worst call by far.”

Vision has surfaced of Malcolm Turnbull mocking U.S. President Donald Trump. @LaurieOakes broke the story on https://t.co/HTuswl1ECx. #9News pic.twitter.com/qWoy91LpKB

— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) June 15, 2017

Turnbull started with jokes about his first meeting with Trump, which took place aboard the mothballed aircraft carrier Intrepid in Manhattan last month.

“It was beautiful. It was the most beautiful putting-me-at-ease ever,” Turnbull joked.

Turnbull then moved on to joking about the President’s obsession with the polls. Those remarks come at a particularly embarrassing time for the Trump administration given that, according to a Gallup poll released earlier this week, 60% of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing.

“The Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls. We are winning so much. We are winning like we’ve never won before. “

“Not the fake polls. Not the fake polls. They’re the ones we’re not winning. We’re winning in the real polls. You know, the online polls. They are so easy to win. I know that did you know that. I kind of now that. They are so easy to win. I have this Russian guy, believe me, it’s true, it’s true.”

Turnbull refused to apologize for the remarks and even denied that he made jokes at Trump’s expense, arguing that his routine “was good natured and the brunt of my jokes was myself.”

He added that he was “disappointed” the audio had leaked, calling it a breach of protocol, before characterizing his jabs as “light hearted” and “affectionate,” according to Bloomberg.

“It’s a breach of protocol, it’s a breach of faith and all those things, but it’s lighthearted, affectionate, good-natured. The butt of my jokes was myself. It’s fun, you’ve got to have a laugh. We’ve got to lighten up,” he said.

Some of the early hostility between the two leaders appeared to ease after last month’s meeting, when Trump told reporters that the two countries were “old friends and really natural partners.” Trump had earlier tweeted his dissatisfaction with an agreement the Obama administration had made to resettle more than 1,000 Iranian and Afghan refugees.

The U.S. Embassy in Canberra said in a statement that it accepted Mr. Turnbull hadn’t intended to offend Mr. Trump. “We understand that last night’s event is equivalent to our own White House Correspondents’ Dinner. We take this with the good humor that was intended,” the statement said. Now, we wait to see if Trump takes to twitter to craft a “good natured” response of his own.