Abbott punch story 'remarkable': Pyne

9 Sep 2012, 11:16 am   -   Source: AAP
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Federal Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne says a story about his leader punching a wall after losing a university election sounds implausible.

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If Tony Abbott had really swung punches at a woman who beat him in a Sydney University election we would have heard about it before now, the manager of opposition business Christopher Pyne says.

Fairfax Media on Saturday published extracts from an article in The Quarterly Essay by David Marr, which detailed claims that after losing the 1977 student election to Barbara Ramjan, Mr Abbott punched a wall twice near her head.

Mr Abbott said he has no recollection of the incident.

Mr Pyne called the story "quite remarkable".

"If this story was true, why wasn't it raised when he ran for preselection for Warringah 20 years ago or when he was the chairman of Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy, or when he became a cabinet minister?" Mr Pyne said on ABC Television on Sunday.

"There's been so many opportunities along the path of Tony Abbott's very public career when this could have been raised, and yet for some reason David Marr has chosen to raise it in the last couple of days."

There is no documentary or contemporaneous evidence about the matter and, he said, it wasn't even mentioned in the Sydney University student newspaper.

"If everybody was talking about it, you would have thought it would least have appeared in the student rag," Mr Pyne said.

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Your Comments

Say What?

Bo - from Perth, 8 months ago

I'm no fan of Abbott but I don't believe this story. Me thinks that the politically motivated slurring just reached new low.

Amazing

Walter Egor - from Burnie, 8 months ago

Just another reason to avoid wrecking Australia by voting for that clown. As usual pyne the lapdog to the defence.

implausible tony

oncewas - from bribie island, 8 months ago

Christopher, the idea that T Abbott could become the leader of the liberal party and the opposition was so implausible too. however looking at the alternatives sitting up there with him, and those he has followed, perhaps it had to happen.

Dr

Chandran - from Sydney, 8 months ago

Poor Payne, he has to support Tony . He looked pathetic. But just about everyone including Tony knows what he did to Ms Ramjan

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