Mike Carlton on sexism: not describing Abbott but transcribing himself Mike Carlton is not just a boor but a hypocrite: Meant to sound like Tony Abbott? Mike Carlton, The Sydney Morning Herald, August 17: FEET up on the lounge in his hotel suite, sky-blue tie loosened at the neck, Tony Abbott is relaxing after another gruelling day on the campaign trail. I've been given a rare half-hour to chat with him, which he begins by enthusing about the Liberal candidate for the western Sydney seat of Wirraway. "Great tits and a fantastic arse," he says. "Oh dad!" sighs one of his ever-present daughters. The candidate is Terese Haddad, a 34-year-old mother of two who has a PhD in plasma physics, is qualified to fly jets, won the Boston Marathon in 2011 and has turned down a season as principal cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic to run in this election. But the Opposition Leader sees greater political virtues. "There's not a red-blooded bloke out there who wouldn't want to throw a leg over soon as look at her," he says with a boyish grin. Dad, stop it! ... At that my half-hour is up. The next prime minister farewells me with a meaty handshake. "If I've said anything wrong I can trust you blokes at News Corp to clean it up for me or leave it out," he chuckles. He gives me a manly thump on the back. And if you see Rupert, pass on my best wishes. He knows I'm only a phone call away. Sounds a lot like Mike Carlton. Mike Carlton, The Sydney Morning Herald, December 4, 2010: HAVING met every state premier from Bob Heffron (1959-64), I can reliably report that Kristina Keneally has by far the best legs of the lot. I saw her for the first time in the flesh, so to speak, at a press conference in Parliament House on Wednesday. Phwoar. Rising skywards from a pair of killer heels, her calves had a shapely elegance a supermodel would envy. As Carlton said then: My only defence is that the moment blokes stop noticing this sort of thing is the day the world ends. Then there was Carlton's disastrous appearance on Q&A this year, which suggests Carlton wasn't describing Abbott in the column above, but transcribing himself: TONY JONES: Mike Carlton, let's hear from you. What do youâ¦ MIKE CARLTON: I am puzzled by this because I have spent a lifetime wanting to meet one of these seductive sirens who lures men astray and leads them into temptation. When I was a kid this there was always - there was this mythical figure called the village bike and you were supposed to be able to get on her. I never found her. I don't think she existed. TONY JONES: Mike, retrospectively that's probably a good thing for your credibility. If you were about to tell us another story we might have worried about you. We'll stay away from that one. I never found the bike.... TONY JONES...: But, Mike, let's get your thoughts on this. Do you think we live in a hypersexualised society and have things changed a huge amount since you were a young person? Yeah, I think we do. I think girls are now, what you might say, more giving. There was a feature I think was in - No and I don't mean that lightly. RUBY WAX: Well, if you can't find a bike and now the bikes are all over. MIKE CARLTON: There was a feature, and I think it was in the Herald about a year ago, saying that now that the blow job is a common teenage preoccupation of a Saturday night, which did not happen 20 years ago, but now it's regarded as safe, casual sex by which a girl can - I don't know if it's true or not. I haven't the faintest ideaâ¦ TONY JONES: Let's start with Mike Carlton. For no other reason than you're a man. I think, yeah, you're right. Men have felt under siege for a long, long time, puzzled about their role sometimes. I was brought up to be the hunter gatherer, bread winner and to come back and deposit the fruits of the hunt with the wife who was at home cooking and having babies. That was my childhoodâ¦ RUBY WAX: Are you still married? MIKE CARLTON: Yeah, second time around. But that was my childhood conditioning and I dare say anyone my age in the â60s was brought up exactly that same way, to be the hunter gatherer while the little woman stayed at home tied to the kitchen with the apron strings. Now, my first wife disabused me of that quite firmly, very swiftly and my second wife has carried on but men are still confused, I think, about their role. We've got better. We do feel under siege and I think you're right. I mean, I read a piece, I think it was in The Guardian the other day, which began with âIt's time for us to talk about men" and I thought, well, hang on. Maybe it's time for us to talk about women but if I were to write a piece like that, âIt's time for us to talk about women," there would be howls of protest. So I think you're right, men feel a little under siege and a little puzzledâ¦ WILLIAM DALRYMPLE: ...The men don't seem to have the same anxieties. They go off and do their careers andâ¦ A lot of men are anxious.