On Wednesday (26/2/19) Tony Abbott did an interview with radio announcer Ben Fordham and ducked and weaved, like he did in the previous video from 2004, when asked if he had spoken to George Pell after he was convicted of being a paedophile. Eventually Abbott answered yes but his ducking and weaving says a lot. The interview is below.
Below is the letter that former Prime Minister John Howard sent to George Pell after he was convicted of being a paedophile to be used as a reference in court to try to help Pell get a reduced sentence. As far as I am concerned the letter is about as scandalous as it gets and shows what contempt John Howard has for survivors of abuse.
John Howard’s reference for paedophile George Pell to try to help reduce his sentence and is almost identical to Tony Abbott’s reference for accused paedophile Priest Father John Nester in 1997 to try to help him get his conviction overturned. I wrote an article in 2013 titled “Tony Abbott and his friend Cardinal George Pell. Perceived bias for the Royal Commission into child sex abuse” and said:
Tony Abbott – reference for accused paedophile Priest Father John Nester in 1997
Father John Nestor and Tony Abbott both attended the Sydney’s St Patrick’s Seminary in the 1980s when Mr Abbott was planning on becoming a priest.
Father Nester “was a priest in the Wollongong diocese in NSW when he was charged with the indecent assault of a 15-year-old altar boy in 1991.”
“Father Nestor was convicted in Wollongong Local Court on February 18, 1997, and sentenced to 16 months in jail, with the magistrate describing the case as a ”gross breach of trust”.”
“In court, the priest admitted he had – while dressed in boxer shorts and a singlet – slept on mattresses on a floor in the presbytery with the boy and his younger brother some time between June and September 1991.”
On appeal in October 1997 the conviction was overturned. But Father Nester was never allowed to return as a priest.
“The then-Wollongong Bishop, Philip Wilson, now Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, advised Fr Nestor in writing ”significant additional material that I have received … has been a cause of worry concerning your suitability for a further pastoral appointment in this diocese or any other”.”
“Fr Nestor appealed to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy, which decreed he be reinstated.”
“But in February 2001, the Wollongong diocese appealed and the decree was overturned.” (Click here to read more)
During the course of those proceedings Tony Abbott who was then a Federal MP gave a reference in court for Father Nester.
“Tony Abbott insisted on providing a character reference for a Catholic priest later struck off the clergy list by the Vatican following a child abuse case, the former priest says.”
“Mr Nestor told AAP at his home in rural NSW that Mr Abbott agreed to provide the character reference in 1997 after being approached by his barrister.”
“When the lawyer approached Tony Abbott, he said look, I know you’re a parliamentary secretary and you may feel that because of your position you don’t want to get involved in this case’.”
“Tony said, no, I’m coming down,’. He insisted on coming down and giving the reference, because he’s a man of integrity.” (Click here to read more)
Tony Abbott told the court Father Nester was a “An extremely upright and virtuous man. I guess one of things that I liked very much about John when I first him, was his maturity, intellectual, social, emotional he was, to that extent I guess, a beacon of humanity at the Seminary” (Click here to read more)
In an interview in March this year the victim questioned why Tony Abbott gave evidence:
“the alleged victim, who asked not to be named, said Mr Abbott should not have provided a character reference for Mr Nestor.”
”I was not aware of who Tony Abbott was at the time,” he said.
”While I do not necessarily believe that he has done anything wrong, in hindsight it may have been better if he had not involved himself in the matter.”
It is understood Mr Abbott communicated with Mr Nestor twice after the court cases, but has had no contact with him for almost 15 years.
”In 1997, Mr Abbott provided a reference for Mr Nestor in an open court. He was subsequently acquitted by a District Court judge,” a spokesman for Mr Abbott said.
The alleged victim queried why Mr Abbott hadn’t stayed in contact with Mr Nestor.
”If someone was of such good character, why has contact not been kept?” he asked.
He said Mr Abbott’s reference may have been a factor in Mr Nestor’s successful appeal.
”Certainly a character reference from a member of parliament would hold some sway, no doubt about it,” he said.
“It probably did play a big part, but there were other things that played a bigger part. For example, John Nestor never gave evidence at the trial. He was never cross-examined.”
He said his case should be examined by the royal commission into child sex abuse. (Click here to read more)
The Nester case and Tony Abbott’s involvement at the very least show poor judgement by Tony Abbott given Nester was ultimately struck off as a Priest. (Click here to read the article)
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