Quote of the day:

“Are you suggesting to me that when it comes from Julia, ‘no’ doesn’t mean ‘no’ … When she said ‘no’, I thought she meant ‘no’ … I believed her … You can’t change the rules just because you are in trouble.” — Tony Abbott, asked whether he would take up Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s challenge to take part in another debate, ridiculed the invitation, but his snappy soundbite got him in trouble yesterday, given the phrase has become linked with several high-profile court cases concerning the issue of rape and a women’s right to not have s-x.

Abbott rejected the accusation in a radio interview yesterday afternoon — ‘‘I’m the father of three daughters,’’ he said on 4BC radio. ‘‘No-one respects women more than I do.’’