ALL IS FORGIVEN ONCE THE OTHER PARTY IS IN POWER:

Poor man's Howard moving backwards to the future (PETER HARTCHER, August 9, 2010, Sydney Morning Herald)

TONY ABBOTT has launched the Liberal Party's campaign as a poor man's John Howard.

The biggest single applause point among the faithful at the Liberal launch came when Abbott embraced Howard in the front row of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

It was the personification of the Abbott pitch - a return to the philosophy and policies of the Howard era.

So when Abbott declared that it was time to "give Australia back a grown-up government'', it was clear which grown-up he had in mind.