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My key witness died tragically: Tony Abbott EXCLUSIVE
by Stephen Hagan 20 June 2013
T
he astonishing story covered exclusively by First Nations Telegraph on Monday that made specific allegations of inappropriate touching by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of award winning Aboriginal author Ali Cobby Eckerman (pictured), has a new twist. Mr Abbott’s office contacted First Nations Telegraph yesterday to restate his earlier claim that he did not inappropriately touch Ms Cobby Ekerman. The new twist is that he now named his journalist friend from Adelaide who was with him at Borcellis Cafe at the time of the incident as Christopher Pearson. Mr Pearson, 61, who died on the weekend of 8/9 June, was a speechwriter for former prime minister John Howard and edited three books by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. He was employed as a columnist for The Australian and founded the news magazine The Adelaide Review in 1986. “Ms Eckerman’s claims are wrong. “As I stated when I wrote to Ms Eckerman
at the time, I reject any suggestion that I acted inappropriately. “That, also, was the view of my friend who was with me in the café during our breakfast meeting. “The respected journalist and columnist, Christopher Pearson, who died tragically this month, was with me at the cafe. I spoke to him after Ms Eckerman made her complaint and he endorsed fully my version of events. “I would be concerned if this false accusation has only re-surfaced after Christopher’s death when he cannot again endorse my account. “This is nothing more than a baseless smear,” Mr Abbott said in a statement sent to First Nations Telegraph by his senior media advisor
Andrew Hirst. Ms Eckerman said she was “flabbergasted” that the man who everyone expects will take up residency at The Lodge in the national capital after the September 14 polls are declared would imply that her allegations surfaced because his key witness had since died. “I’ve never heard of Christopher Pearson before. I’m just a poet with little interest in politics or the media,” Ms Cobby Eckerman said. “What silly game is Mr Abbott playing at? If he didn’t contact First Nations Telegraph today ... I would’ve been none the wiser. All this does is give me a name to look up on the Internet.” An executive with the major television network who was shooting footage of Ms Eckerman and
her brother Christopher Coleman Eckerman drinking coffee at a cafe for a story to be aired later this week, told First Nations Telegraph that Abbott’s new statement “sounds a bit like the Justice (Marcus) Einfield case (where he got two years jail in March 2009 for lying about a $77 traffic fine) where he said that he did not drive his car but his friend - who had since died - was behind the wheel.” “If Mr Abbott is innocent of my claim, why is he bothering to add further comment,” Ms Cobby Eckerman said. First Nations Telegraph will provide updates on this story as news comes to hand and will promote the television program’s airing when advised by the network.
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