Prime Minister Tony Abbott vows to 'shirtfront' Russian president Vladimir Putin at Brisbane G20

[Matilda]

Mr Abbott confirmed he would hold a bilateral meeting with Mr Putin to raise concerns over the deaths of Australians in the MH17 disaster.

(snip)

"Look, I'm going to shirtfront Mr Putin ... you bet I am," he told reporters in Queensland.

"I am going to be saying to Mr Putin [that] Australians were murdered. They were murdered by Russian-backed rebels using Russian-supplied equipment."

A shirtfront, an Australian rules football term, is a "head-on charge aimed at bumping an opponent to the ground," according to the Macquarie Dictionary.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-13/abbott-to-shirtfront-vladimir-putin-at-brisbane-g20/5810002

All the media have been kind to Mr Abbott – what he said, in his usual bumbling, inarticulate fashion, was "I'm going to shirtfront Mr Putin – you bet you are – you bet I am", but every newspaper has tidied up his actual words.

Personally, I'd put my money on the KGB man.

[Downwinder]

1. Wonder if Greg Abbott and Tony Abbott are related.

[Matilda]

2. And, true to his nature, when Abbott was questioned about his threat in a presser today,

he walked out rather than answer the questions.

He's now using the phrase "robust conversation".

I'll still put my money on the KGB man.

[Matilda]

3. Russia hits back.

Pravda, still the official mouthpiece of the Russian government, has hit back at Abbott's comments in no uncertain way.

In an email exchange with the ABC's AM program, Pravda journalist Timothy Bancroft-Hinchley said Mr Abbott's comments were "the most blatant example of shit-faced ignorance and pig-headed arrogance the world has seen since the likes of Hitler or Pol Pot". (The emphasis is mine).

Bancroft-Hinchley was speaking after penning an editorial for Pravda, in which he wrote that of Mr Abbott that: "It is difficult to find a more blatant example of childishness, incompetence for the position, criminal intent, downright nastiness and an indication of a disturbed mind crying out for therapy. Don't the Australian people deserve better?".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-15/moscow-responds-to-abbott-shirtfront-comment/5814258

The Australian people do deserve better, even the dimwits who voted for Abbott. Having a bovver-boy in charge of the country is downright embarrassing, never mind the harm he's doing

[Esra Star]

4. Maybe Vlad will defend himself

and accidentally kill the budgie.

[Fairgo]

5. Whose on first?

Assuming Tony "Bud" Abbott can make it to the parlay, please let us have the unedited transcript - should read like pure vaudeville. I think the bereaved deserve a better advocate.