Consider what this Reuters report had to say about Australia’s travel ban from three West African countries currently in the midst of an Ebola outbreak:

Australia has not recorded a case of Ebola despite a number of scares, and conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott has so far resisted repeated requests to send medical personnel to help battle the outbreak on the ground.

Two things.

First, yet Australia has not recorded a case of Ebola and it wants to keep it that way.

Second, note how the passage emphasizes that Abbott is a conservative and won’t help stop the outbreak. The underlying message is clear: Abbott is a conservative and doesn’t give a damn about those who are suffering. 

Yet this is patently false. Abbott has contributed millions in aid and is fully prepared to send medical personnel, but not without establishing a protocol which provides said personnel the “appropriate medical assistance on the ground”. Under the circumstances, this seems reasonable. But it is far easier to make blanket condemnations against Australia for acting in its national interests.