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Day to Day Politics: Turnbull won’t lead the Coalition into the next election.

Sunday 1 April 2018

1 I know it is Easter and, whether you are of the cloth or not, the word “grace” should be front of mind at this time. Having the grace to forgive someone who has wronged you could be considered to be an amazing grace.

Last week I used the analogy of our politics and our cricketing test team to make some comments on leadership. I said:

“I must confess I don’t know what I was more disgusted with: the Prime Minister’s hypocrisy in decrying the actions of the Australian Cricket team, or the sheer stupidity of the players themselves.

In the Prime Minister’s case, hearing him denounce the lying and cheating while at the same overseeing an institution that is renowned for it, was simply staggering. In reality, the ugly truth is that there are remarkable similarities between Turnbull’s cabinet and our cricket team. Both are arrogant, full of bullies, and big-noters full of their own importance and supremacy. It is a cultural thing brought about by the lack of genuine and honest leadership in all facets of Australian society including politics, religion, sport and corporate”

My words sprung from a recent observation that our Prime Minister was dispensing moral judgement on this that and the other as though this was an essential part of the Prime Ministership.

This week he proclaimed his displeasure at cricketers fiddling with things other than their natural appendage, in the recesses of their underwear.

He said that ball tampering, was a “disgrace, a terrible disgrace“, adding that:

It’s wrong and I look forward to Cricket Australia taking decisive action soon. Where do we want to get to? We want to get to the point where we can all say once again, not rhetorically but heartfelt and with sincerity, that cricket is a fair game, cricket is a game that is synonymous with a fair go and fair play.”

I went on to explain just how sanctimonious and hypocritical his words were in light of his leadership and the poor governance of the nation. The PM just didn’t get the analogy at all:

“I think there has to be the strongest action taken against this practice of sledging. It has got right out of control, it should have no place in, on a cricket field.”

Then when a reporter finally got around to asking the obvious question;“Doesn’t it happen in Parliament?” Turnbull, with a turn to his opposite side, ignored the reporter but isn’t the answer obvious.

He gave Barnaby Joyce a father son stern lecture as he condemned Joyce’s “shocking error of judgement” that but “I’m not here to moralise.”

Then he told his cabinet who they could and couldn’t have sex with.

After that it was the Church’s turn. He told them “they will be shamed” if they didn’t agree to the government’s proposed redress scheme for child sex abuse.

Then it was the Banks turn:

“To pursue profit above all else is not simply wrong but can place at risk the whole social licence, the good name and reputation” of a bank. And this from a former Goldman Sachs investment banker.

Remember when Turnbull was charged with inconsistency? Glen Lazarus had a go at what he described as his selective application of standards: “I want a national corruption watchdog established in this country, said the big fellow “It should include politics.”

Turnbull wasn’t up for it and we still don’t know if he will commit to one. Labor and the Greens do.

Turnbull has a formidable intellect and moralising is all part of of a superiority complex. His moralising only ever extends to supporting popular positions. He likes to bat with the breeze.

Of course he cops a lot of flak himself so I suppose he is entitled to judge for his own gain. Remember he once tried to promote the Liberal Party’s moral ascendancy over Labor – “we are not run by factions” – remember his own party laughing at him.

Having pronounced judgement over himself in the next fortnight when the magic figure of 30 will manifestly occupy the minds of political scribes: at the same time giving licence to initiate internal descent and unleash the hatred they have for him.

Usually there is a ripple on the waters of recovery this far out from an election if one is to take place. However, there is not even a sign of a wave formation.

Turnbull will not form the next government. Any hope of that disappeared when he lay naked his personal morality by abandoning many long held beliefs. Beliefs he had held for many years – the republic, climate change and gay marriage.

You cannot toss away your morals and retain respect at the same time.

In reality we can expect moves to replace him begin to come to fruition over the next couple of months. Just who will emerge from a lot of well educated no hopers is anyone’s guess.

2 I had hoped to be a bit further advanced with my piece A New Way Forward to a better Society however, some comments have sent me into a game of mental gymnastics which will take a little time to resolve. So it has become a work in progress. A work that with your participation I am hoping will be fruitful and worthwhile.

I am currently going through the comments. Some of which were exceptional and full of wisdom, dissecting them and placing them in an appropriate heading. Some I have posted as stand alone posts.

What is obvious is that many headings haven’t any comments whatsoever. So, when I have finished I will re-post it giving our readers a chance to reflect and make further observations.

My thought for the day

“For the life of me I fail to understand how anyone could vote for a party who thinks the existing education and health systems are adequately funded and addresses the needs of the disadvantaged.”

13 comments

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  1. Cool Pete

    I think “well-educated no hopers” is quite generous. Okay, it is applicable to Bishop, as she has a shocking case of NFI Syndrome for a Foreign Minister. That abbott makes a joke of being a Rhodes Scholar, and he was the most marginal they had. Dutton is not well-educated, and he is the face of evil. Realistically, although he will lose, the only decent thing Malcolm Turnbull can do is call an early election. It is better to go down as a losing leader than lose your party leadership to an incompetent nincompoop, or worse still, a fascist.

  2. babyjewels10

    “well educated no hopers” – if only they were that benign. These people are dangerous. They have already shattered democracy and want to go much, much further. They should be behind bars for crimes against Australia.

  3. helvityni

    I had almost forgotten that Turnbull was our leader as he hasn’t done any leading, has he…?

    On his first day in office he promised to stop domestic violence, last week he was ‘horrified’ about the ‘ball tampering’…He did not know anything about Barnaby’s affairs…

    It is so nice that he does not lose his cool anymore, he just smiles, and let Dutton do his dirty work..

    Is he what we call a figure head….?

  4. helvityni

    …oops, I forgot that he shows leadership at the Question Time: he leads the Bill bashing pack, his voice is louder than even Morrison’s..
    Julie stops texting, and puts on her mean face…

  5. Judith

    “You cannot toss away your morals and retain respect at the same time.”
    Or Trust!
    The Victorian liberals, by their actions overnight Thursday, have turned dishonerable conduct into a Key Performance Indicator.

  6. Zyg

    “A New Way Forward to a better Society” I believe is the title of a new article, if you are writing about this LNP mob it should be titled, “No Way Forward to a better Society” .
    I really hate being negative about anything buy this mob leaves no option. I don’t think that they are particularly stupid, but that they are working to an agenda, that is taking us to a place we shouldn’t really go because Australia isn’t and shouldn’t be a Corptocracy.

  7. Maxoz

    John must read the Herald.

  8. Blinky

    We could end up as a Dutton dictatorship which doesn’t bear thinking about.

  9. Frank Smith

    HAPPY EASTER!!!

    Kronomex, thanks for the SMH link to reports of Canavan and Co being in talks to use the Clean Energy Finance Corp to finance a Carbon Capture and Storage Project in which the carbon dioxide would be used to assist the recovery of oil. This technology has been tried on a commercial scale by SaskPower at its Boundary Dam Power station in Saskatchewan. That has ended up as a debacle, due to much lower carbon capture than expected, ongoing technical issues, over-hyped and false reporting of “progress” and inability to supply the CO2 to the oil fields. The project, involving the #3 140MW coal fired power generator at Boundary Dam, was both a technical and economic disaster. In spite of this clear evidence it appears from the SMH report that Canavan is contemplating spending hundreds of millions of our Australian dollars on repeating the folly of the Canadians – par for the course with these Coalition Ministers though.

    The fallout from SaskPower’s Boundary Dam CCS debacle

  10. Cubism

    @ace Jones. I had a terrible sense of deja vu reading this article. I thought I might have dementia until I read your comment. 🙂

  11. wam

    Come on, laud, ‘could and could not????’ I suppose the polls influence your assertion but who has the brains to succeed??? If he is threatened there will be an election and who can be sure labor cannot beat the lnp.
    I believe the jew based religions were by men for men and their god, whose first act after adam was to created a women to be inferior, was male
    Eventually women will reject the boy’s view and make their god a woman and Australia will a great place for all again.
    ps cellulitis is ^^#&%#& awful but having to agree with bolt about cricket was even more painful. Although chappelli was an arsehole and greg had a brain snap, it was waugh who took sledging to epic proportions.

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