‘You were fairly feral Mr Abbott’

TODAY Show host Karl Stefanovic tells PM Tony Abbott that 'no-one is buying what he's selling' at the moment. Courtesy: Channel Nine/The TODAY Show

Fairly feral ... Tony Abbott cops tough questions on breakfast television a day after trying to hit the reset button. Picture: Ray Strange/News Corp. Source: News Corp Australia

A DAY after he tried to hit the reset button, Tony Abbott has been asked whether he is worried about being a one-term wonder.

The Prime Minister this morning did the rounds on breakfast television, facing a barrage of questions and criticism that he was "feral" in Opposition.

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Today show host Karl Stefanovic took it up to Mr Abbott, after he said he wished "the Labor Party wasn't in such a feral mood" over helping repair the budget.

"With respect you were fairly feral in Opposition weren't you, I mean the greatest respect by that, and ... why would [Bill Shorten] do anything different when it worked for you?" Stefanovic asked.

One-term wonder ... PM Tony Abbott asked by Karl Stefanovic whether he's worried about being in government for only one term. Picture: Ray Strange/News Corp. Source: News Corp Australia

"The reality is here that the budget position is in a shambles and every day it does get worse," the Channel Nine host went on.

"It's not in a shambles Karl," Mr Abbott hit back.

"No one is buying what you are selling, what you are laying down. That is the problem," Stefanovic replied.

The Prime Minister insisted that the "budget started to come under control the day the government changed".

"Now, I don't pretend that this parliament has been easy for us, not for a second do I pretend this parliament is easy for us, but we have already made substantial changes."

But it didn't end there, with Mr Abbott asked whether he was "worried" that he might be a "one-term wonder".

'No one is buying what you are selling' ... Tony Abbott confronts the tough questions from Karl Stefanovic. Source: Supplied

"Look, I was a member of the Howard government ... and the Howard government didn't look too flash at different times in its first term but it went on to become probably the most successful government in Australia's post war history.

"But my job every day is to discharge the heavy responsibilities, to discharge the job that I have been entrusted with to the best of my ability and to the best of my colleagues' ability and that is exactly what we are doing."

Lowest in five months ... PM's approval rating drops in the latest Newspoll. Picture: Ray Strange/News Corp. Source: News Corp Australia

Stefanovic asked Mr Abbott whether Treasurer Joe Hockey's job was safe after he tried to reset the agenda yesterday.

"Joe's doing a fine job. All of my front bench colleagues are doing a fine job."

"Is his job safe?" he pressed again.

"Of course."

Mr Abbott's appearance coincided with today's Newspoll, published in The Australian, showing his approval rating hitting its lowest point in five months.

When asked about the result, the Prime Minister admitted the "polls aren't so great", but argued "no-one said that the task of budget repair would be easy".

Labor and the government are tied on a primary vote of 37 per cent each, with the Opposition leading eight points on a two-party-preferred basis, leading 54 to 46 per cent.

Originally published as 'You were fairly feral Mr Abbott'

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Did the Greens really just say that?

Queen Elsa takes the throne as plain Jane comes to town.

In a lively debate on Fox News, the panel discusses how lobby groups push toy stores to eliminate gender specific aisles.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters has urged Christmas shoppers to rethink buying bright pink jewellery or dolls for little girls. Picture: Supplied. Source: Supplied

GREENS Senator Larissa Waters has urged Christmas shoppers to rethink buying bright pink jewellery or dolls for little girls, linking gender-stereotyped toys to domestic violence and pay inequality.

The minor party's gender spokeswoman has endorsed the 'No Gender December' campaign, set up by grassroots group Play Unlimited, which calls on retailers to stop using old-fashioned gender stereotypes as marketing ploys this Christmas.

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The 'No Gender December' campaign warns aisles of pink and blue merchandise can lead to serious social problems including violence against women and children. Picture: ThinkStock Source: ThinkStock

It warns aisles of pink and blue merchandise, while seemingly harmless, can lead to serious social problems including violence against women and children.

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The campaign has already come under fire from leading child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg, who labelled it "a nail in the coffin of common sense" and said there was no research to indicate 'gender-stereotyped' toys were unhealthy for children.

But Senator Waters said shoppers should stop and think about how toys are being marketed to children this Christmas.

The campaign set up by grassroots group Play Unlimited calls on retailers to stop using old-fashioned gender stereotypes as marketing ploys this Christmas. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

"While the starkly separate aisles of pink and blue might seem harmless, especially to well-meaning rellies and friends, setting such strong gender stereotypes at early ages can have long-term impacts, including influencing self-perception and career aspirations," Senator Waters said.

The Greens' Larissa Waters and Adam Brandt / Digitally altered image Source: DailyTelegraph

Barbie reinforces negative female gender stereotypes, according to the Greens. Source: AP

"Out-dated stereotypes about girls and boys and men and women, perpetuate gender inequality, which feeds into very serious problems such as domestic violence and the gender pay gap," she said.

"While such serious problems seem so far removed from choosing children's toys, it's important that we think about this issue, especially when so many children's toys are being bought."

Greens Senator Larissa Waters warns that such strong gender stereotypes at early ages can have long-term impacts, including influencing self-perception and career aspirations. Picture: Jack Tran/The Courier Mail Source: News Corp Australia

The web-based campaign is asking shoppers to sign an online pledge declaring their commitment to boycotting gifts that play to gender stereotypes — which could include Barbie dolls for girls, or monster trucks for boys.

It also wants federal parliamentarians to introduce legislation that would ban retailers from marketing toys to children along gender lines.

It is understood the Greens have not yet formed a position on whether the minor party would support any legislative changes.

One of the campaign's organisers, Thea Hughes, said while there was nothing wrong with either girls or boys playing with dolls, parents needed to be aware of the dangers of indoctrinating children into thinking about gender in a certain way.

Leading child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said there was no research to indicate 'gender-stereotyped' toys were unhealthy for children. Picture: Supplied. Source: Supplied

"If you are talking about adults, gender stereotyping is completely unacceptable, it should be the same for kids," Ms Hughes, a mother of two boys, said.

Play Unlimited has seized on research from Purdue University in the American state of Indiana which found strongly gender-stereotyped toys did not support children's development as much as gender-neutral toys.

But Dr Carr-Gregg said parents should not start fretting if their son wants a remote control car or their daughter wants a doll.

"These gender differences are hard wired, and while I'm sure socialisation plays a role, to argue that toys in any way relate to domestic violence is, I think, too far a stretch," he said.

"It's a nail in the coffin of common sense."

Originally published as Did the Greens really just say that?

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‘I have no shame, I’m very vain’

Younger look ... a male 'brotox' patient from Laser Clinics Australia. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

BLOKES are turning to "brotox" in an effort to look young, with top cosmetic clinics reporting an increase in men seeking skin plumping jabs.

Some Australian men are spending more than $1000 a year on Botox treatments — dubbed "brotox" for men — and they're mostly having it done on frown lines and the forehead.

They're even having their lips injected to boost and plump up lips that shrink with age.

Smooth skin ... a before and after shot of a Botox patient. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

One of the country's top Botox providers, Laser Clinics Australia, has reported a significant rise in the number of male patients having injectable treatments over the past 12 months (from 8 per cent of its clientele last year to 11 per cent in 2014).

The figures were based on patients from 47 clinics across the country.

Cosmetic industry experts say 'brotox' has become mainstream and accessible for men, and "there's less of a stigma attached to it now".

Male grooming ... men want to look like Brad Pitt, 50, but he has facial treatments like skin needling, not Botox. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

So what is 'brotox' and why are Aussie men doing it?

'I NO LONGER LOOK LIKE HOMER SIMPSON'

A Sydney nightclub owner, 35, has been experimenting with the youth-seeking jabs over the past eight months and recently went back for his second dose of Botox.

He tried the procedure on his armpits to curb excessive sweating, which had restricted his going-out wardrobe to Homer Simpson-style sleeveless tanks that concealed his perspiration.

The club identity, who did not want his name published, also had the injections on his frown lines and crow's-feet.

A welcome side-effect of the Botox — which he pays between $1000 and $1200 a session for — has been "a bit more interest" from the opposite sex.

"I think that came with the confidence and having a bit more swag and you can dress the way you want to dress and not look like Homer Simpson every time just with a white shirt," he says.

"I'm not going home with everyone. It's given me more choice of clothes to wear.
"If you're in a nightclub environment and are wearing a light blue shirt, it's going to get dark under your arm pits.

"You look at your mates who are 10 years older than you and they do look their age or older than they are.

"You get more compliments because you can wear more clothes and be more stylish.

"You can start mixing up your fashion and not worry about tailoring it around if you break out in a sweat that night."

'I'M VERY VAIN'

Botox makes this 40-year-old look "about 37".

The Sydney-based IT worker started experimenting with Botox about three years ago, and has had the jabs twice in the past six months.

"I have no shame, I'm very vain," he says, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"I'm a decent looking guy and with a little bit of work, it's going to make you better."

He tried Botox for the first time when he lived in London, using it to smooth lines on his forehead.
"When I first got it done ... my eyebrows were kind of sticking up a bit — I looked a bit like Jack Nicholson," he says.

"I still looked good, don't get me wrong, but it was a bit strange."

Brow how ... keeping the eyebrows natural is key to proper Botox application, according to experts from Laser Clinics Australia. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

After trying Botox, the single and "dating" account manager said he had progressed to fillers in his cheeks, spending about $650 on the procedures.

"You lose volume and you see the lines around the nose and mouth, they get quite thick and quite deep," he says.

"By putting the filler in the cheekbones, it makes those lines less deep."

He typically spends up to $400 per Botox session and described his use of it as "a little bit here, a little bit there".

He said he may curb his Botox use if he had a girlfriend.

"It might go from three times a year to once a year, potentially. It depends on the woman you're with," he says.

Since having his first injection, he confesses to looking in the mirror "quite frequently".

BROTOX RULES

No raised eyebrows,trout pout or frozen forehead — these are the rules of Botox for blokes, according to Laser Clinics Australia skin expert Rochelle Collis.
She says men should still look masculine after having injectables and should avoid the "Mr Spock" raised-eyebrow look.

"You just don't get a return rate of men if they've gone away with a raised eyebrow," Collis says.

"We call it the 'Mr Spock'."

Brow raising ... men should steer clear of Spock-style raised eyebrows as seen on Zachary Quinto in Star Trek Into Darkness. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Ex-cricketer Shane Warne is the pin-up of what not to do with brotox, Collis says.

"The famous face that I think of that got it wrong with Botox is Shane Warne," she says.
"His face was plastered all up and it was all over social media, 'oh Shane Warne has had Botox'. It was such an obvious treatment.
"(For) a male face, you want a strong brow, you don't want to raise up the eyebrow and give them an arch — it's feminising of the face."

And while they haven't had Botox, Collis says Brad Pitt and George Clooney are examples of men who get masculine skincare right, saying they both must have "a very good dermatologist".

Flawless ... George Clooney, 53, hasn't had 'brotox' but he looks after his skin, experts say. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

From her expert eye, Collis believes the Hollywood actors have had radio frequency facial treatments and skin needling.

"They want texture, tone and tightening. They can't afford in their jobs to not have full expression," she says.

"They roll the needles over the face, creating a micro-injury, and through that micro-injury, you get healing, new collagen formation, and an improved appearance of the skin. It's quite an aggressive treatment."

Men tend to stick to Botox on the top half of the face, she says.

"They're wanting a smooth forehead now and not the big frown in between their eyebrows," Collis says.
"They still like to have a little bit of crow's-feet — it's masculine to have wrinkles around your eye.

"Women would have Botox on the lower face as well — to slim the jawline.
"But with men, they want a strong jawline, it's masculine to be chissled and have a square face."
And what about a bloke's pout?
"Men do lips, absolutely, but they don't want to add volume — they want to add hydration.

"The lip is actually a muscle and as we age, we get muscle atrophy. It's not just collagen loss. Over time, the lip will shrink.

"So they're just putting back what they've lost in their lip."

Originally published as 'I have no shame, I'm very vain'

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Parliamentary leaking out of control

The roof of the House of Reps starts leaking during Question Time.

Women in the hot seats ... Tanya Plibersek and Julie Bishop. Source: News Corp Australia

LEAKS aren't uncommon in Parliament House, but they're usually not of the rain variety.

That was until today.

A big storm over the nation's capital featured in Question Time, as Parliament House's roof sprung a leak.

Attendants had to bring towels and a bucket onto the chamber floor to mop up the drips, as thunder rumbled above.

The rain was not the only unusual part of today's Question Time, with two new faces in the big chairs.

Julie Bishop was acting Prime Minister and Tanya Plibersek sat in as acting Opposition Leader, with both Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten attending Phillip Hughes' funeral.

We've heard of wets in power before but this is ridiculous ... an attendant tends to a leak in the roof during Question Time in the House of Representatives in Canberra today. Source: News Corp Australia

"I notice that our roof is leaking," Speaker Bronwyn Bishop said, looking skyward.

She joked that "leaking" is a familiar problem to political parties, before requesting a bucket.

Soggy ... our national capital is wetter than usual today. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: News Corp Australia

Originally published as Parliamentary leaking out of control

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