"What we can't do is endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices if those lifestyle choices are not conducive to the kind of full participation in Australian society that everyone should have," as Tony put it to the ABC on Tuesday. And it's about time someone stood up and defended the PM by reminding everyone that this is actually how he thinks. "Why don't you people just get more privilege?" See, the PM has never known any sort of hardship, from a privileged upbringing in a well-off family through constant employment in conservative circles through to political life (interrupted by a stint heading Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy, an organisation dedicated to protecting the rule of future Australian Knight, Prince Philip).

He'd have to make a conscious effort to live in poverty, or to be unemployed, or to live in a remote and badly serviced region, and therefore assumes that this is true of everyone else. And you can see it in the government he leads: the government's entire suite of health, education and social services policies only seem cruel and insane if you assume that people are not in complete and direct control of their own destinies at all times. In fact, he said as much on radio today, doubling down during a chat with Alan Jones. "If you or I chose to live in a very remote place, to what extent is the taxpayer obliged to subsidise our services? I think this is a very real question," he blithely declared. And what's good for Jones and Abbott is good for everyone, right?

Ministry leaps to the PM's defence! Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion has responded by wisely maintaining his impressively consistent record of saying absolutely nothing in public, but Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has come out in defence of the PM. "It's important to put that issue on the table, talk about it rationally without turning it into a let's-give-Tony-Abbott-a-belting occasion, as often people like to do," he said, presumably before whispering "Soon - oh yes, my pretties, soon…" under his breath. Treasurer Joe Hockey also waded in to help make matters worse, by insisting that "What the Prime Minister is saying is there comes a point where the taxpayer says how much money can be spent in this community where there is no economic future in these communities." Seriously, Joe. When you're already in the hole, at least try to dig up.

…and everyone else kinda has a problem with it However, the PM's long-suffering chief advisor on indigenous affairs, Warren Mundine, has had a hard enough time trying to justify the half-a-billion-dollar cut in services for First Australians over the last six months - but this kerfuffle has been enough to turn even his impressively strong stomach. "That is a complete misconception of what it is and he's wrong in that regard," Mundine fumed. "It is not about a lifestyle, it is not like retiring and moving for a sea change, it is about thousands of years connection, their religious beliefs and the essence of who they are." Indigenous Labor Senator Nova Peris was predictably scathing, declaring that "In the Territory, Aboriginal people call [Abbott] 'The Gammon Man.'" According to Peris, "gammon" means false and not, as Abbott has probably hitherto assumed, "handsome and cool". Meanwhile, filmmaker Rolf de Heer heard the news just before his flick 'Charlie's Country' somewhat embarrassingly won Best Film and Best Director at the Australian Film Critics Awards last night. And having spent a lot of time working with remote communities, he… look, he wasn't impressed with the PM's comments.

"It's so inappropriate that it's laughable," he raged. "It shows such ignorance that he has no right to be the prime minister of Australia." Also, let's not ignore the fact that Native Title claims are a lot harder to make if a community is not physically on the land, since their traditional tie to said land is harder to demonstrate. The same goes for sacred sites, conveniently enough. But obviously there's no reason why the Coalition might have any reason to force people away from suddenly-conveniently-mineable areas of WA, is there? More quality diplomacy Meanwhile, you might be aware that there are a couple of Australians all set to be executed for drug-related crimes in Indonesia and that there has been a concerted diplomatic effort to have their sentences commuted.

And, once again, it's looking like the PM has managed to take a complicated and delicate negotiation, and turn it into a pissing contest. Indonesian president Joko Widono was already in a difficult enough situation: executing Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran would bring international condemnation; not doing so would be domestically risky since it would suggest Australia was dictating Indonesian policy. So it didn't help when the PM weighed in by saying "well, we gave you all that tsunami aid, so you owe us," and then failed to apologise before the offence had curdled into rage. Widono is now refusing to speak to Abbott, despite the latter having insisted that he gave the issue "a pretty good thrash", and is also threatening to release "a human tsunami of asylum seekers" on Australia, because he knows what would scare the government most. Apparently Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is still planning to meet with Indonesian Ambassador Nadjib Riphat Kesoema next week, presumably so they can both shrug and say "yeah, sorry about my boss".

And sorry, Chan and Sukumaran. Your PM has probably blundered you straight into a firing squad. The cocktail hour: from little things… But all that said, you'll remember that Abbott is our first "Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs". Sure, Paul Keating was the PM who pushed Mabo through, and Kevin Rudd was the PM who gave the national apology, but Abbott… um, went to the Northern Terrority for a bit that time, and then cut health, education, infrastructure and legal aid for vulnerable communities. So y'know, swings and roundabouts. While there's no song yet celebrating the Abbott Government's financial prudence, one of our unofficial national anthems celebrates a different PM - a chap named Gough Whitlam, who was the first to take Native Title seriously.