I’m not as excited as Malcolm
In the Canberra Times, Lisa Cox assessed Malcolm Turnbull’s first 100 days as Prime Minister – his successes and problems.
She lists his 5 achievements as:
- Turned the government’s fortunes around
- $1.1 billion innovation statement
- Attended three world summits and met with key world leaders
- Shelved plans to deregulate uni fees and began a new conversation about tax
- Built bridges with the crossbench
There can be no denying the massive turnaround in the polls but it has nothing to do with policy – it was immediate. Primarily it was a huge sigh of relief at getting rid of someone who had become less popular than a dog turd but it is also a comment on Bill Shorten’s failure to capture the people’s imagination rather than any achievement of Malcolm’s.
The innovation statement is just that, a statement. It went part way towards restoring the funding to the CSIRO that had been slashed by the Coalition but it reads more like an investors’ insurance fund.
Malcolm has indeed been busy on the meet and greet, drumming up business in Germany, making promises he can’t keep in Paris, suggesting Obama subscribe to the NT press if he wants to find out about national security, and reassuring Japan about submarines, again. (Don’t mention the whales)
Regarding university fee deregulation, it has not been scrapped, just put off until after the election. Senator Birmingham said “The intended start date of 2016 for these reforms will not be proceeded with. Any future reforms, should they be legislated, would not commence until 2017 at the earliest.”
The new conversation about tax has been derailed by the revelation that companies don’t pay any. Makes it very difficult to make the case for a decrease in the corporate tax rate and an increase in GST.
Tony was never any good at small talk so he sent people like Eric Abetz, Peter Dutton and Christopher Pyne to negotiate with the crossbenchers. Is it any wonder relationships are better now that those three have been moved on? The only way it could have been worse was if he had included Bronwyn Bishop in the negotiations. Malcolm, in his wisdom, chose the latter two to inflame Middle East tensions rather than offend the crossbenchers.
So much for his achievements.
Problems are listed as:
- Appointing Mal Brough to the ministry
- Climate change
- Same-sex marriage
- Disunity
- The budget
The first 4 on the list all have to do with the wheeling dealing that saw Malcolm come to power.
He has rewarded backers with positions regardless of the advisability of the appointments. He has pandered to the dinosaurs by abandoning the very issues that made Malcolm a more palatable choice – his vocal support for action on climate change and marriage equality. These same dinosaurs are far from appeased. They don’t even care if they present a threat to national security let alone party solidarity – freedom of speech means they can say exactly what they want, including telling Malcolm what they think of him.
And as far as the budget goes, Scott Morrison has that covered. Any talk of disasters and emergencies was just politics. Work, save, invest. There has never been a more exciting time to be alive. We have an innovative, flexible, agile economy.
There, that should keep them happy 🙂
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Garth -
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stephengb2014 -
Kaye Lee -
Sen Nearly Ile -
mars08 -
Kaye Lee -
RosemaryJ36 -
Wally -
lawrencewinder -
flohri1754 -
Kaye Lee -
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townsvilleblog -
Kaye Lee -
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Kaye Lee -
townsvilleblog
Return to home pageThanks Kaye. It looks like the achievements list would have applied to basically anyone that took over from Tony (except maybe for the poll turnaround – the entire MSM and much of the country appear to be wearing rose coloured glasses where Mal is concerned). I just dread the thought of these idiots getting another term, especially if the senate turns in their favour. Can you just imagine what they’ll do. You can bet the lessons of Howard won’t have been learnt and they’ll proceed on their quest to make Australia a neocon nightmare.
Sadly, the very lack-lustre opposition is in no way ready to take over the running of our country! Which leaves us in a fix, who else can be the “main” political party that can take us out of the disasters of the Tony Abscess years & now the Malcolm Talkbull tenure? ALL any of the flat earth, right wing, tea party, lying, conservative idiots can do is just ensure ALL their obscenely wealthy mates etc are able to carry on making billions at the workers expense & the Taxation Office expense! What sort of political future is there left for the Australian people I wonder?
Kaye Lee – you are so absolutely correct with this statement
…also a comment on Bill Shorten’s failure to capture the people’s imagination rather than any achievement of Malcolm’s.
I have been flagging Bill Shortens lacklustre performance since the first year of Abbott!
Clearly the ALP are terrified of pulling a Rudd Gillard Rudd again, and rightly so but it is not as of the ALP does not have several perfect examples of good leaders, the new Canadian PM, the new UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, and the US Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, and that is without looking at Albo. But this Shorten fellow is more interested in being leader than winning the next election. Even his promise of a year of ideas became a bit of a fissore?
I just heard Arthur Sinodinis asked when will the election be. Instead of sticking with the full term line he said “The election will be called when we think we can win and I will give my advice about that in private.”
Interesting call as he is Cabinet Secretary and one of Malcolm’s prime strategists.
great reading as usual kaye. loved the reference to morrison who would flounder if cornered into answering an economic question. But I cannot let you away with “failure to capture the people’s imagination” for the ABC avoiders imagination is all we have of little billy.
Why do so many people want to believe that the ALP has simply, inadvertently ended up on the wrong path? Have you ever considered that they know EXACTLY where they are going? Could it be that they have deliberately chosen to move to the right, and have no intention of altering their course?
I am disappointed with the ALP on asylum seekers and national security but their climate change aspirations and environmental record are much better. I hope to see some detail soon in the New Year. They also show more willingness to tackle tax concessions and corporate tax avoidance albeit by just tinkling their toes.
We used to have a proper NBN and needs based funding for education and Medicare locals and a national partnership on hospital funding and protection for the Murray-Darling etc etc….sigh. What a destructive little turd he was.
At this time a hung parliament which – gives a message to both major parties that they are on the nose – would be an excellent outcome@
Kaye Lee you have a way with words.
“getting rid of someone who had become less popular than a dog turd ”
Right up there with the best I have read this year and certainly the best description of Abbotts popularity.
So, Arfur “Da Spiv” Sinodas is going to call the shots on an election.
Hmmmm… I hope he remembers the election date!
@lawrencewinder ….. the saga of Arthur “I know nothing” Sinodinis I find amazing. His record over the last five years is utterly befuddling to me. How someone who should have resigned and left the scene after that (what should have been completely embarrassing) NSW ICAC showing could be in such a lofty position with the current government is flabbergasting. The same with Brough. Some are utterly shameless, kept in positions of power, influence and their hands in the public till by constituents who seem to put neither thought nor values into their voting.
Arthur doesn’t think he did anything wrong. Accepting very large amounts of money to influence decisions is par for the course for these guys. Nothing memorable about that.
The “dog turd” of the Coalition has just been rolled in glitter to make it look less offensive.
Except for some PR window dressing and distractions, all the original intentions and plans are still there.
Malcolm’s job is simply to apply more electoral lube while we brace ourselves for the inevitable and to spread the pain over more than one term in Government.
Reality will return eventually – and hopefully before the next election.
Biggest problem for Malcolm as I see it is whether to make the 579 profitable companies who did not pay any tax last year, actually pay their fair share or whether to find the revenue needed by whacking us with a 15% GST?
Corporate tax evasion and climate change – two biggies. Are Labor up for the challenge?
Where is The labour Movement. We are being routed & rooted.
The shortn comment – “take my advice”.
Both parties are well aware and are both covering their internationally embarassing back door deals.
Take my advice – the truth will prevail.
Agree with all you say, Kaye, except unfortunately Peter Dutton hasn’t been ‘moved on’. Still waiting for that one.
He was shunted from health, as Pyne was from education, thank the sky fairies. It amazes me how people who fail are rewarded with another job. Just like the golden handshake for CEOs who send companies backwards. And the pedophile priests who just got transferred.
They talk about accountability but have no desire to practice it.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-17/almost-600-companies-did-not-pay-tax-in-2013-14/7036324 what is happening it has been in excess of a month now and no word from the LNP government on these corporate bludgers?