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“Sh*t happens”: Seven News in face-off with Tony Abbott

Did Seven's Mark Riley make fair use of footage with a Tony Abbott quote or did he just land one of politics' weirdest moments?

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Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was left silent during an interview with Seven News reporter Mark Riley. in which he was questioned about his response to a discussion surrounding the death of Australian soldier Lance Corporal MacKinney in Afghanistan.

US Colonel Jim Creighton briefed Abbott during his August tour of Afghanistan, noting concerns about the level of support and firepower that was available on the day of MacKinney’s death. Abbott said ”It’s pretty obvious that, well, sometimes shit happens, doesn’t it?”

When Riley questioned Abbott as to his response, he was accused of using the footage out of context and turning it into a ‘media circus.’

But after asking Abbott to clarify the context, the Opposition Leader stood silent.

Finally he said, ”I’ve given you the response you deserve.”

Abbott has since contacted the widow of the late McKinley, and apologised if she was upset by comments.

Seven News claims Abbott’s department had attempted to keep the Afghanistan footage from scrutiny but obtained it under Freedom of Information.

But there will now be division over whether Riley’s use of the quote was fair or whether he just snared one of politics weirdest moments this year.

Amended.

85 Responses

  2. Am I an Abbot fan….no….but I’m less a fan of sleazy sensationalist gutter reporting.. Mark Riley, your tactlass, vile exploitation of this sound byte is deplorable, shame on you and Channel 7. This ‘depth’ of journalism is precisely why we don’t watch 7 ‘News’…. just plain inflammatory garbage.

  3. It was bound to happen – it’s not the first time Abbott made that expression. But his complete brain fart is one of the most bizarrely hilarious moments captured on tv. Seriously he needs to fire his PR/senior press secretary as they’re not doing their job.

  4. Very disappointing journalism, would the widow have felt better from this beat up? Or was it an opportunity that Mark Riley could not resist? I have lost a great deal of respect for Channel 7 and Mark Riley.

  6. tony abbots team must have known this was coming, if they were working for months trying to block the release of the footage. they must’ve realised the the only way to lessen the fall out from what abbot said, is to deflect the story back on the reporter, and it worked! nobody can deny that the comment was extreamly inappropriate, especially coming from a guy who was within a whisker of becoming our PM

  7. 7 News & their reporters are so incompetant. The remarks said by Tony Abbott are normal for a situation like that. The Soldiers there weren’t offended so I don’t think anyone else should be and I’m sure the soldier’s wife didn’t care

  8. i don’t think the soldiers name was even mentioned between abbott and the commander. it’s just 7 trying their usual grubby tactics. grubby journalism comes first before the real story with them. i don’t like tony either

  10. The very media who does this kind of thing week in, week out, is now turning on Riley viscously because he’s done it to someone they politically agree with. Talk back radio and the emails on the Today show and sunrise are hardly a gauge of independent swing voters reaction. What I am worried most about is the increasing presence of conservative talking points on the Today show. It is obvious that there being a climate change denying host and reporters who idolise Andre Bolt is shaping the show. Perhaps that is why they can’t actually bump off Sunrise. A show that, although shallow at times, you could hardly call conservative or wildly left wing.

    If they think it will get any better with Ben Fordham, a man who has no opinions but what his audience wants to hear, than they are kidding themselves.

  11. In my opinion Seven and Riley were right to question Abbotts remark. He puts himself out there in the media spotlight, so he should be prepared to face the music when he’s caught out speaking s*&@. I thought Abbott was about to have a fit or something, certainly not worthy of being a Prime Minister let alone leader of the Opposition. How embarassing it would be to have him representing Australia on the world stage, silly old fool !

  12. This was bad news tv for sure pity mark Riley didn’t think of the family of this brave digger when he pulled they into a sh$t storm while they are still grieving. As for Tony abbott he lack of coolness under pressure should be questioned not exactly a trait a wannabe PM should have

  13. Tony Abbott was ambushed by mark reiley, absoloutely disgusting behaviour by a news person, in future, won’t bother watching any reports by this journo.
    TA has my 100% support.

  15. Steveany: Trust me, I have next to no interest in having to blog about politicians, but there are occasions when such TV moments can’t be ignored. This was one, and I reckon the landscape reflects that today.

  16. @dave: I think Tony Abbott was contacting the widow to talk about his beat up. We dont know whether he had already contacted her earlier. I would assume he had. I think he stood there silent because he didnt want to give them more footage to take out of context, and was trembling because he was desperate to unclench his fists and not give Riley a poke in the eye.
    This is another particularly sleazy effort by news media, trying to make the news rather than reporting it. If this was such an important story why did it take 3 months to edit and put to air?

    @John Jackson I think he stood there silent because inside, he was fuming with rage. And i dont blame him. Whatever else you might think about Tony Abbott (and i’m most certainly not a fan) you can’t call his patriotism into doubt or his commitment to the troops in harm’s way. Mark Riley is a nasty piece of work.

  19. That was so strange with Tony Abbot just standing there not saying anything but slightly bobbing his head. It was as if he doesn’t know what to say if he hasn’t properly rehearsed beforehand with some sort of advisor.

  20. Interesting Abbott made the comments when visiting troops last year, but i gather that he only contacted the widow since the hubris over this incident, not before.
    His literal trembling in front of Riley said a whole lot more, than if he had used his usual pollie speak to worm out of a scenario. Riley must love a dangerous mission! On the plus side, Abbott’s praising of the PM in parl was surprising. Another strategic ploy? Hard not to be cynical with that lot.

  21. Think you mean “the widow of the late MacKinney” – couple of things… I think Riley was out of line the way he beat up the story… I mean what was his angle – to make Abbott look bad – or report something that was in the public’s interest? It was clear from the full vision Abbott’s remarks were indeed taken out of context – it wasn’t a response to the news of a death but more of the situation in the country itself. Of course we all know in this business it’s the 2 second grab that counts. If Riley was sitting on this for 3 months and the story was of such interest to the public, there’s no reason he could’ve done the store without the Defence Force footage. On Abbott’s part he could’ve handled the interview much better – I think he was stunned to be honest, he looked distraught and puzzled as to why this was even a story.

  23. As much as I dislike Abbott, there was nothing wrong with his comment. His weak response when cornered, however, helps to reinforce the perception (even among his own colleagues) of his instability.

  24. The only thing inappropraite in all of this was Tony Abbott’s response to Mark’s question. Any politician the gives a ‘stunned mullet’ response is not helping their cause at all.

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