It’s what makes the former PM’s push to censor US rap artist Macklemore – using that old tired line that sport should not be politicised – an entirely hypocritical one. 

And the hypocrisy doesn’t end there. People on the ‘No’ side of the marriage equality debate have sought, at every turn, to distort the debate and make it about anything other than the fundamental question.

Abbott’s led the charge, framing the No case as a defence of religious freedom, rights of children, political correctness and – yep you guessed it – freedom of speech.

Now, he’s seeking to dictate what an artist can and can’t play at an NRL grand final. So much for freedom of speech. The fact a US artist would play a song that was a No. 1 hit in Australia to an Australian audience is hardly astounding. 

Abbott’s hypocrisy, on the other hand, is exactly that.