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Malcolm’s at it again

In several pieces on The Political Sword it has been argued that Malcolm Turnbull is at his best when he’s advocating ideas and actions in which he believes, but when he’s required to promote that in which he does not have his heart, he flounders and is unconvincing.  Over the last few days we have seen both sides again.  When offering bipartisan support for the Government’s $10 billion emergency boost for the economy, he sounded statesmanlike, but as soon as he started to qualify it to make a political point, insisting the public be informed of the details of why the Government decided on urgent action, he began to sound less persuasive, became circumlocutory, and arguably lost his audience.

This was starkly apparent on ABC Melbourne 774 radio this morning 15 October, when being interviewed by Ali Moore.  When he was asked about the desirability of the Government providing a guarantee for deposits in financial institutions not overseen by APRA, he waffled.  Even listeners with a working knowledge of the subject would have found him difficult to follow; those without would have turned off.  It really was awful - halting, long-winded and confusing.

Kim Beasley was criticized for his prolixity, and unable to overcome it, eventually people stopped listening.  Indeed this was a major factor behind the move to replace him as leader.  Leaders who lose their audience – Beasley and Howard are examples - lose elections.

Turnbull’s minders would be wise to point out this defect to him, and try to rectify it, always providing Malcolm’s ego will tolerate such a move.

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2 COMMENTS

janice

16/10/2008The more I see of Malcolm Turnbull, the more I see an opportunist out to realise his own ambition to hold the most influential and important job in the nation. His 'address to the nation' was very telling indeed as to how he sees himself in what he considers his rightful place as PM of Australia, and he has no qualms whatsoever about putting his own agenda before the interests of the country. He is doing his best to govern from opposition, hence his offer of bipartisanship and his demands to be privvy to all information Rudd and Swan have regarding their meetings with world leaders as they attempt to tackle the global crisis. Turnbull is not a man the government could trust in any circumstances, let alone at a time when we face a crisis as serious as this.

MassiveSpary

16/10/2008The more I see of him the more I see it as more of the same "born to rule" mentality. This morning I saw a snippet on the news where he was hooking in to the government asking why they didn't tackle this sooner when the warning signs were there in the beginning of the year. He stated that the government was just talking up inflation. Now I may be a bit impartial, but is he totally insane? Firstly he's bagging them out for talking down the economy when they are being realistic and forthright, then he's bagging them out for jumping the gun, but when it hits the fan it's OK and he's fully on board. Then with his magical hindsight, they should have been doing it earlier regardless of the fact that his party was doign everything in it's power to halt budget legislation being passed. Does he seriously think anyone actually believes anything he has to say any more?

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