And those are the issues that have occupied most coverage since. Which is crap.

Firstly, and I hate defending Tony Abbott, but the comments he made were to a question without notice from a journo and his response, on a scale of sensitive human being to Tony Abbott, were kind of mild for him. Fish swim, crocodiles snap, and Tony Abbott will never be mister sensitive, but what he said alone is not worthy of outrage.

So then someone from the Labor Party leaked info to the protesters, and not only leaked it but did so with an exaggerated slant. Really? That’s as surprising as hearing Tony Abbott may have, on occasion, been insensitive. Obviously, from a security perspective alone, such a person (or persons) is unworthy of their position as they passed on sensitive and confidential information and so sack them by all means. But is that worthy of the outrage Mr Abbott is trying to wind up. Nope.

It’s a mix of the old magician’s trick of misdirection and the political one of opportunism by taking advantage of miss-steps by the opposition but the pity of it all is that at least on the night it happened there was uniform agreement that this should not happen here.

And that’s where the outrage should stay focussed.

Our nation’s leader feared for her safety. Maybe Mr Abbott was too. And their security guards legitimately feared for their safety. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life and I asked our senior journo Leigh Bottrell, who has a couple of years on me, if he had, and he hadn’t either.

This was a horrible sight, and much more than just a sight, but again some are choosing to cloud the issue by saying there was no real danger and that it was an over-reaction. Garbage.

Professional security guys spent half an hour observing the situation before jumping to a flimsy solution. And the main bodyguard who looked after Julia Gillard had at least one thing in common with Jack Bauer from 24 - he got the job done. He kept who safe, took no chances, put his body on the line to protect hers.

In the end, the debate about whether there was any real danger is a furphy and a side-track to the real issue. I believe there was danger, so did the security present, and the police, and all the media AT THE TIME, regardless the miraculous hindsight some have since engaged in. If someone else disagrees, so be it.

But the fear experienced was genuine, and that’s what got me angry. I don’t want to live in a country where our leaders (whether we voted for them or not) make decisions out of fear so that reforms and justice get marginalised and we are left with politicians unconcerned with what’s right as they worry about their safety.

Australia has never been that place and only started to look like it briefly on Australia Day.

And it’s no good excusing the aggression of the protesters based on what Mr Abbott said in this crazy daisy chain of schoolyard whispers. Even IF Abbott had been harsh and insensitive, and even IF it had been accurately portrayed when it was passed on by ALP insiders, would that in any way excuse that level of aggression? No matter what they had heard or been told, would it have excused the actions on the day.

The best news that came from this was the following day when numerous Aboriginal spokespeople condemned the action, thus showing it was not at all a racial matter but a matter of moronic behaviour unrelated to race. Thankfully that also stopped any of the morons who would try to lay the blame on Aboriginals.

Going forward, as some politicians are wont to say, there are a number of issues to work through following this.

Regarding Australia Day - as I said, I love Australia Day and I think we need one but I don’t know that it needs to commemorate the day the Europeans arrived in numbers. I’m quite happy for it to be moved so it is more inclusive for all (although I’d prefer a day around January or February still if that’s ok – I like the weather then and there IS room for a public holiday).

Regarding the tent embassy, I personally have a large amount of ambivalence. If it helps achieve something let it stay. If it’s outlived its usefulness, get rid of it. I’m happy for it to stay or go, I don’t mind either way and will happily go along with whatever all involved parties involved agree upon.

As to the matter of leaks within ALP, good luck fixing that. Then you can try and bring peace to the Middle East. But you could certainly show the door to anyone who helped create this situation.

But concentrating on political spin is allowing the enormity of the event to be reduced to petty politicking. On Australia Day this year, something terrible happened – something that had the potential for something even worse. That’s where this year’s Australia Day outrage should be directed.

Fol low @ChrisGordon65