Turnbull—square peg in round hole

Perhaps Malcolm Turnbull’s self-appraisal sets him distant, if not at odds with his Party colleagues? Maybe he views them as less sharp and less accomplished in commerce by comparison? Undeniable, however, is his unrelenting quest for success—Turnbull style.

Malcolm’s form has a repeating factor—what he wants and who he wants to be is variable. The goal posts are movable. Hardly the cohesiveness and consistency suited for political policy and the Me, before Us presents as a constant in the man’s character.

Where would Malcolm be today had Kerry Packer not leapfrogged his legal career to various boardrooms of mercantile moguls? Turnbull showed his appreciation by dumping on Packer over a business deal in 1991. Acrimony between the two was palpable.

Turnbull later told Sydney newspapers that, “He [Packer] did threaten to kill me. And I said to him: ‘Well, you'd better make sure that your assassin gets me first because if he misses, you better know I won't miss you.’ He could be a complete pig, you know. He could charm the birds out of the tree, but he could be a brute.”

After years of trying to replace the Aussie flag, Turnbull was appointed by the Keating government to lead the Republican Advisory Committee. The campaign flopped in the 1999 referendum and thus went Malcolm’s dream of becoming a big fish in a small pond. King Malcolm of the Antipodes. He’d love that.

Then in 2007 as John Howard's environment minister, Turnbull vowed to outlaw the incandescent light bulb. He said by 2015 they will only be found in a museum. His extrapolation reckoned Australia would emit 4 million tonnes less of carbon dioxide than it otherwise would. So, we were forced to pay many times more for light bulbs. Many brands were junk—dim and expensive. And it reduced nothing, because the generators produced just as much power as before.

With every knee-jerk reaction, especially in the climate business, there comes a reaction. Engineer John Buckeridge blew the whistle. It's a neuro-toxin, warned John, and what it does is it disrupts the ends of the neurons, our nerve system, and prevents them functioning effectively. So our nerves simply breakdown, disintegrate.

When Malcolm became leader of the Opposition in September 2008 he was a dedicated proponent of the carbon tax and seemed likely to become Prime Minister at the next elections. Mal was also rather chummy with Goldman Sachs because they referred to him as a “political friend.” Whatever that means. Investment houses around the world must have been mighty miffed when Tony Abbott rolled Turnbull as Party leader. Australia was supposed to lead the world by carbon tax example. Remember?


With ego on the rocks and international banking guru reputation under question, Mal spat the dummy—quit politics. Not quite, even though Abbott refused him a place on the front bench saying it would be “impractical, given Mr Turnbull's stance on the ETS,” Malcolm was already eyeing the resignation of Senator Nick Minchin.

Meanwhile, Malcolm continued to beaver away pushing his personal issues, change the flag, carbon trading, and the republic, all being contrary to party politics. The common trademark of self-made people.

In October 2011 Turnbull was invited to speak at The London School of Economics. His subject was the rise of China in the world of commerce. His mandate to represent Australia appears to have been his own. Ignored as the LSE speechmaker was Tony Abbott and the Opposition’s foreign affairs shadow Julie Bishop. China chose Turnbull.

The Australian reported: “This nonsense from Turnbull does not constitute serious strategic thinking. But politically it suggests a lot of Turnbull-centred turbulence may well lie ahead for the Liberal Party.”

Turnbull wasted no time in proffering his personal views that were at odds with Liberal policy. He offered China’s revolutionary leader Mao Zedong’s quote, “The Chinese people have stood up.” As expected, the acquiescing toadies at The London School of Leninomics were mute on Mao’s murderous record.

Mao ruled from 1949 to 1975 and began his handiwork with affluent landlords who were liquidated and their assets claimed by the state. 20th Century mass murderers like Pol Pot who killed about 1.7 million was a mere trifler compared to Mao who holds the body count record with around 70 million—nearly three times Australia’s population.

But Turnbull is not the first Australian politician to placate China. Upon Mao’s death in 1976, Malcolm Fraser breasted the parliamentary dispatch box and honoured him for policies that “secured the basic necessities of life to China’s people.” Fraser said Mao had “achieved peace internally” for China. Sydney’s Chinese restaurant clique rewards such political sycophants with hero status and the old windbag Fraser was often “guest of honour” and hailed clamorously as “Comrade Fraser.”

Turnbull’s résumé is substantial: journalist, author, barrister, grazier, investor, multimillionaire, chairman of Goldman Sachs and once leader of the Liberal Party.

Author Tom Keneally once said of Turnbull: “I always felt that he was, particularly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a minority among the new rich in that he had the feelings of noblesse oblige.”

My column "Gillard's scorched earth policy" of April 12 is more apparent today.

Comments

[Jim Witt]

1.

I have always been in favour of having leaders with some real world experiences, however they have to be real people with real accomplishments, not lucky light weight fairy floss like Turnbull.

[Georgina]

2.

He's now stating his views on recommencing the Republican debate. Surely Australia has more to worry about rather than a Republic. Australia needs fiscal responsibility not more debates, plebiscites, papers etc. and other costly side issues.

[Oscar]

3.

To be fair, I would say that Turnbull would be the best choice if Abbott wasn't in the picture.
Between the only competent candidates, Joe Hockey can't manage an economy, Julie Bishop is a joke who's only job is media one liners and Chris Pine is essentially Julie Bishop.