(Sent in in response to Mandy Nolan’s recent musings on the 10 things she hates about Tony Abbott).
1. He has given the Australian people the government most of us deserve.
2. His ‘back to the future’ approach to human rights, immigration and environment have shown us that Australia has learnt nothing from its history.
3. When he became PM he thought it was cool to give his first interview to his mate Alan Jones, and then hold a thank you party for the nation’s shock jocks at Kirribilli House.
4. He showed us how corrupted our demoracy has become and how close to the gutter politicians will crawl to get elected.
5. He showed us Australia has the worst media/press in the world, occupied by pompous egomaniacs convinced of their importance, and more than ready to bring out the worst in us.
6. Tony showed us the media has been spoon-feeding us all for decades, the media moguls pursuing their own interests, keen to whip up hate and fear, feeding our ignorance while making lots of money for themselves.
7. Tony has a good face for present day Australia, a country that from the outside appears to be a soulless, mean-spirited, greedy place, most of its people forever telling themselves and others how great and wonderful they are, while giving the two fingers to the rest of the world and the planet. We are lucky to be Australian, Tony says.
8. Tony has made me realise how mad we all are, and how important it is to protect what’s left of our soul.
9. Tony has encouraged me to build an Abbott-proof fence around my mental environment and rid myself of those who seek to devour my soul, break my heart, destroy the planet etc.
10. My Abbott-proof fence also keeps out the mad dogs of the media pack along with the huge egos of our political commentators.
No more buying newspapers or listening to the news, leaving my head free to enjoy the wonders of life, and listen to the birds sing their song, a much better world, thank you Tony.
Dave Sherlock, Byron Bay
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
