The internet is an unforgiving beast. It makes fact-checking simple, scrutiny constant and history impossible to erase.
In such circumstances words can easily come back to bite you, as Prime Minister Tony Abbott is discovering thanks to a four-year-old tweet in which he chastised the then-Labor government over the resignation of then-Speaker Harry Jenkins.
The Speaker's resignation reflects a government that is in chaos. The Govt has lost its way, lost its majority and now lost its speaker.— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR)
November 24, 2011
In the past 24 hours the post has become one of Mr Abbott's most popular tweets of all time, clocking up thousands of retweets as political opponents indulge in a little schadenfreude at the resignation of Bronwyn Bishop from the speakership.
The member for Mackellar vacated the chair on Sunday following more than two weeks of controversy about her taxpayer-funded transportation largesse, including trips to Liberal Party fundraisers on a helicopter and a private jet.
The twitterati went to town on the tweet, including former Labor ministers Wayne Swan and Craig Emerson, who reposted it with glee. The lesson? As some users observed: "Never tweet."
Never tweet. #auspol pic.twitter.com/s1lfUbDRt9— Senthorun Raj (@senthorun)
August 2, 2015
How many times is that Abbott "Government in Disarray" tweet going to be retooted today?— Evan Keith Beaver (@evcricket)
August 2, 2015
The tweet has also been repurposed as artwork, complete with the Prime Minister's face and a miniature helicopter in the background.
“The Speaker’s resignation reflects a government that is in chaos. The Govt has lost its way" -@TonyAbbottMHR #auspol pic.twitter.com/VgBTNYdo2N— Sir U Bet I'm Gone (@johndory49)
August 3, 2015
Mr Abbott has been criticised for unnecessarily prolonging the scandal surrounding Mrs Bishop - his friend and ideological ally - by not acting sooner and more decisively to remove her from the chair.
At a press conference on Sunday to announce her resignation, Mr Abbott attempted to deflect from his former Speaker's actions and shift the blame to the entitlements system, which is widely recognised as being open to exploitation.
"What has become apparent is that the problem is not any particular individual, the problem is the entitlements system more generally," he said.
On Monday, Fairfax Media revealed Mr Abbott decided to act only when it became clear many MPs would not support Mrs Bishop in a no-confidence motion.
