It’s been over a month since I’ve updated my stories on Abbott’s press release regarding James Ashby’s case against Peter Slipper (post 1, post 2) , so I thought I’d give an update on some new information that has come to hand.

Vince O’Grady, another Independent Australia contributor, pointed me to an article on the Sunshine Coast Daily’s website that seems to be at odds with what both DPS & Tony Abbott’s office have claimed. The article is a follow on from a statement sent to them by Abbott’s office.

Looking at the time of publishing on the story, it seems that the Sunshine Coast Daily was aware of Abbott’s response prior to the file being saved on the DPS network. This raises questions as to where & when the first drafts of Tony Abbott’s press release were created. The article clearly makes reference to a line in Tony Abbott’s press release demanding Peter Slipper be stood down. It could not have been from the press conference as the article was published 1 hour & 4 minutes before Abbott held his press conference, just under an hour before the original Microsoft Word document was saved to DPS’s network.

Extract from Abbott’s press release:

From the Sunshine Coast Daily:

Again, this is no smoking gun, but does raise questions about when Abbott was aware of the case Ashby raised against Slipper, & who informed him of this. I have requested more information from the Sunshine Coast Daily but have yet to receive any response. I’m getting the feeling they are going to stonewall me, & if that’s the case I would hazard a guess they know more than they are letting on.

For now, I’ll let people decide on whether they believe Abbott had “no specific knowledge” of the impending Ashby case, I know what I think given the evidence & reaction from Abbott, Brough, Pyne, & Bishop.

As more information comes to hand (which there most certainly is to come) I’ll keep updating & writing posts.