AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER TONY ABBOTT puts himself in the line of fire. “For 14 long hours over the weekend, Tony Abbott was just one of 1392 anonymous, sooty-faced firefighters battling to keep the relentless NSW bushfires at bay. . . .If not for a couple of photos circulating on Twitter, it’s a fair chance that Mr Abbott’s weekend exploits would have gone unnoticed. His office did not issue a statement until the blurry image of the PM giving the thumbs-up from behind the wheel of a fire truck appeared on the social media site. While many Twitter followers praised his volunteering spirit, others questioned the wisdom of the nation’s leader putting himself in the line of fire. But for Mr Abbott, it was just another day as a volunteer firey with his local brigade, something he has been doing since 2001.”