Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has defended comments which protesters have blamed for sparking yesterday's violent Australia Day clashes in Canberra.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Mr Abbott were both attending an awards ceremony at a Canberra restaurant when it was surrounded by about 200 protesters who had been marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-27/abbott-praises-gillard-over-protest-response/3796290

Sydney 2GB radio presenter Ray Hadley said today on air that he had received information that suggested Aboriginal tent embassy protester Barbara Shaw had received a call before the protest converged on the Lobby restaurant from a member of Ms Gillard's staff, informing her about comments Mr Abbott had made earlier in the day regarding the relevance of the 40-year-old protest site.

Mr Abbott's words were quickly interpreted as calling for the demolition of the tent embassy, a claim Mr Abbott has denied today.

Shortly after Ms Shaw announced a paraphrased version of Mr Abbott's comments to the crowd - which was gathered to mark the 40th anniversary of the tent embassy - up to 200 protesters stormed 200 metres up the road to where Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott were attending the inaugural National Emergency Medal ceremony.

Hadley reported a staffer rang Ms Shaw yesterday to say Mr Abbott had made inflammatory comments regarding the tent city.

"Once she was told that, she was also told Mr Abbott was across the road, 'Maybe you can give them a bit of a liven up,'" Mr Hadley said.

"Barbara Shaw then went on stage and, for all intents and purposes, incited people."

Aboriginal Protesters Torch Australian Flag Outside Parliament

Hi Gus,

Looks like Julia has a few "urgers" who she could well do without?

Yes John

Tony is stirring the pot though he is presenting himself as white as snow-white in a snow storm... The interpretation of his words is somewhat clear that he "does not like" the Aboriginal Embassy on the account that plenty of "progress" has been made in Aboriginal relations... including the apology made by Rudd (which most of his party opposed)... and the "bipartisan" approach to include Aborignes into the constitution (on which most of his party is dragging its feet)... In regard to the "urgers", who knows what the media (especially Ray Hadley of Jonesville) is making up?....

In regard to Tony, he does not make any idle comments... Every time he opens his trap, there is an underlying purpose of stirring whatever he can, destabilise the status quo and make spirits flare up...

Julia Gillard’s staff were last night fighting off allegations of a cover-up after the Prime Minister accepted the resignation of one of her media advisers who admitted to triggering the Australia Day fracas outside a Canberra restaurant.

Tony Hodges, one of Ms Gillard's press secretaries, resigned after admitting he told a third party the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, was at The Lobby restaurant. The information was passed on to Aboriginal tent embassy protesters, who believed Mr Abbott had earlier called for the closure of the embassy.

Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott had to be hustled away from the restaurant by security after the protesters demonstrated noisily outside.

Ms Gillard's office announced the resignation of Mr Hodges in a statement at 6.30pm yesterday, saying: ''A staff member did call another individual yesterday and disclosed the presence of the Opposition Leader at The Lobby restaurant. This information was subsequently passed on to a member of the Aboriginal tent embassy.

''During that discussion, the staff member did not in any way suggest or encourage violence or demonstration. Nevertheless, given the circumstances of yesterday's function at The Lobby restaurant, this action was an error of judgment. As such, the staff member's resignation has been accepted.''

Within an hour the Opposition was calling for a full federal police investigation, saying Mr Hodges was merely a ''scapegoat'' in a broader conspiracy.

''It's a very grave matter and the Opposition is taking it very seriously,'' the Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne told Sky News last night.

''It was a dangerous act on the part of Julia Gillard's office [and] clearly the Prime Minister is scapegoating one particular staffer.''

A spokesman for Ms Gillard would not reveal who the intermediary was, and would say only that Ms Gillard was told about 2pm yesterday what Mr Hodges had done.

The issue was first raised on radio yesterday morning, when the announcer Ray Hadley revealed that a woman had approached the Aboriginal activist Barbara Shaw and told her Mr Abbott had suggested the tent embassy should be closed.

''I said what's wrong with Tony Abbott, what has he done or said now?'' Ms Shaw told the Herald yesterday.

''And that's when she said Tony Abbott is over at the coffee shop making statements to press, about closing down the embassy - the Aboriginal tent embassy." Ms Shaw said she did not know the woman but did not think she was Aboriginal.

Earlier yesterday about 400 protesters marched to Parliament House where they burnt an Australian flag. The crowd was blocked from entering the building by a 60-strong human wall of special response and armed police, who had locked out all visitors.

Members of the tent embassy later returned the shoe Ms Gillard had lost during her flight from Thursday's protest. The right-foot blue suede shoe was handed to a security guard outside the main entrance to Parliament House last night.

Mr Pyne demanded an inquiry into the events that led to the resignation of Mr Hodges. ''The Opposition won't be satisfied with anything less than a proper AFP inquiry into who this information was released to and for what purpose and who else in the Prime Minister's office had something to do with this action,'' he said.

''Obviously if this staffer acted alone, it would be very surprising.''

A Labor staffer said of Mr Hodges: ''He would have never done anything to intentionally hurt the office of the prime minister.''

PM Accused Of Protest Cover-Up

and, from Mike Carlton ….

Was it really necessary for that security man to drag Julia Gillard away from the Australia Day Canberra protest as if he were hauling a drunk from a pub brawl?

Whatever your politics, love her or hate her, it was a horrible spectacle. No prime minister should have been subjected to such a grotesque melee. This might be the wisdom of hindsight, far from the heat of the moment, but surely it must have been possible to form a tight human phalanx around her and to escort her away with dignity. It very much looked as if the coppers panicked in the face of what was, admittedly, an ugly demonstration. The pictures have flashed around the world.

Gillard herself behaved admirably, to the point of ensuring that Tony Abbott's safety was secured as well, as a TV camera recorded.

And Abbott cannot be blamed for somehow inflaming the mob. His remarks that morning about it being time to move on from the Aboriginal embassy were innocuous enough. Many indigenous leaders think the same thing.

Hold your coffee tightly and grasp a firm object as you read this: I'm about to say something nice about him. Whatever his other faults, Abbott deserves credit for his tireless drive to understand the plight of Aboriginal people. He has worked in their communities and listened to them as few politicians have done. The attack upon him was equally distasteful.