Malcolm Turnbull has always been a confident man & believed in himself…….that may not be the case following Saturday's disastrous showing.
He has no one to blame for destroying a once in a generation public goodwill but himself.
He was arguably the only Liberal leader in living memory who got elevated to the top job with a massive public support & political goodwill behind him. Labor leaders Kevin Rudd, Bob Hawke & Gough Whitlam had enjoyed similar support but no conservative leader ever had, certainly not John Howard, Malcolm Fraser or Tony Abbott.
But Turnbull's self belief got the better of him & contributed to his humiliation on Saturday night.
…..and let's make no mistake, humiliation it was! Even in the unlikely event that the coalition manage to win 76 seats & form a thin majority government.
Malcolm Turnbull & his coconspirators executed the first term PM Tony Abbott in no less ruthless fashion than Gillard, Shorten & co had done Kevin Rudd……and yet the unprecedented public goodwill (and intense dislike for Abbott) meant this was not an issue that could be used as character assassination!
But as a Liberal insider suggested to me a few weeks before the election was called…." Everyone knew Malcolm had always wanted the top job, but we now realise he wanted to get there but hadn't thought about what to do the day after he got there!……"
And this has been crystal clear from day one last September!
Thought bubble after thought bubble came & vaporised into thin air as Malcolm Turnbull waffled from one poorly considered idea to the next without consulting his senior colleagues yet alone his party room……..and his claim of a "consultative Cabinet" simply did not eventuate.
But what mainly undid the huge public goodwill & nationwide support for Turnbull were two main issues:
- His & his Health Minister's very poor handling of Health related policies as they alienated most if not almost all stakeholders in the industry, and
- His abysmal & almost embarrassing handling of tax reform as he seemed to be immersed in his own poorly considered ideas & change of mind day after day….from GST, to state taxes, to superannuation to negative gearing to…….
…...and the end wishy-washy policy platform for the election ended up alienating his base support on superannuation & giving his opponents the opportunity to portray his Tax Policy as "handouts to big business"!
The other reason many are disappointed in Turnbull's election strategy is his "double dissolution" idea to make the Senate more workable:
Any casual political observer like me would have known that at a time when demagogues from Donald Trump in USA to Marine Le Pen in France to Nigel Farage in UK to other minor parties across Europe were gaining traction with their divisive populist propaganda, a new Senate would undoubtedly attract protest votes & elevate the likes of Pauline Hanson!
So Thank you Mr Turnbull! Thank you for your political expediency & vision that suggested working with the likes of Glen Lazarus, Ricky Muir, Bob Day & the rest of cross benches was too hard & your solution was the divisive Pauline Hanson & her supporters instead!…..another disastrous result for Turnbull & co! (although I am not questioning the democratic process & election of Pauline Hanson per se, she has got elected because there are many disengaged voters who see no other option but to turn to her as their voice of protest)
And last but not the least, Turnbull decided on an unwise & long 8 week campaign….and then as reported in the media, seemed to switch off the long road even quicker than many voters did! in doing so he overestimated his popularity & ignored Politics 101 rules of campaigning 18 hour days…and some days stopped his media commitments by noon whilst Bill Shorten kept on talking to anyone who wanted to talk to him day & night.
On that note, credit must be given to Bill Shorten & his campaign team, for a very effective, tireless & successful campaign. Not withstanding the dirty & effective "Medicare" tactics, who would have given Bill Shorten the slightest of chances last September?
And a slightly less yet noteworthy credit to the Nationals Leader Barnaby Joyce. In an election which turned out to be full of "protest votes" against major parties everywhere, he was successful against a very experienced & much admired & high profile independent opponent (Tony Windsor) & triumphed when many of his colleagues failed.
This is why most voters' level of disappointment in Turnbull has been much more intense than their disappointment in Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd & Tony Abbott…….& it showed on Saturday……they had such high hopes & aspirations when Turnbull became the PM last September………and it all vaporised into thin air in such a short space of time!
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