Health Minister Tony Abbott, Canberra, Oct 30, 2006
in a speech in which he referred to the Prime Minister

Despite the Government joining the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq, discouraging boat people, introducing work for the dole and cracking down on welfare fraud, religious leaders such as Cardinal (George) Pell and Archbishop (Peter) Jensen seem to have a great deal of respect for John Howard. One explanation is that he does not hector people who disagree with him or parade himself as the epitome of moral or political virtue.

To the extent that Howard has attracted a Christian vote, it’s almost certainly his character as much as his politics which has done so: his persistence and consistency, his decency and modesty, his readiness to assert a point of view without pretending that his side has a monopoly on truth. It’s precisely because Howard has never used faith as a sales pitch that people with faith often find him reassuring and trustworthy even if they don’t entirely agree with him.

Click here for a list of John Howard's Cabinet with Catholic/Anglican affiliation

Click here for further views by Tony Abbott on Christianity, Politics, & Kevin Rudd

contrasted now with those six years

Click here for an article by Paul Kelly on Kevin Rudd on Oct 27 2007

Click here for a recent article by Malcolm Turnbull on Kevin Rudd on Mar 7 2009

** End of Extract