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Not Sure Who Famed Raw Onion-Chomper Tony Abbott Is? No Problem, We've Got You Covered

If reports that ex-Australian PM Tony Abbott has been recruited by Boris Johnson to assist with Brexit trade deals doesn’t make you choke on your coffee, then you’re clearly not acquainted with ex-Australian PM Tony Abbott.

According to The Sun, the man who was so bad at his job he was ousted by his own party, has been appointed joint president of Britain’s relaunched Board of Trade.

Now it should be noted that UK officials have played down the reports but even the mention of his name among Wednesday’s headlines warrants a nostalgic examination of the man’s erm... highlights.

The onion

Let’s begin with something that even five years and one president Trump later, still ranks of one of the most bizarre moments in global political history.

In 2015 while visiting a farm in Tasmania, Abbott ate a raw onion – skin and all – in front of the presumably aghast press.

Just watch...

Why did he do this? Even all this time later it’s still not exactly clear. In a 2019 interview he claimed it was to show “appreciation” to a hard working farmer. But he could have just shaken his hand like a normal person...

The wink

Onions aside, Abbott is actually best-known for a series of truly awful public gaffes, an alarming number of which feature a heavy dose of misogyny and/or xenophobia.

One of the creepiest occurred during a radio call in 2014 from a distressed pensioner who said she had to resort to phone sex work to make ends meet.

As the chronically-ill grandmother and pensioner Gloria introduced herself, saying: “I work on an adult sex line to make ends meet”, Abbott was caught on camera winking and smiling in the direction of ABC Radio host Jon Faine (off camera).

The...

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