Politics

As things stand, a reform-minded federal Labor government could, with strong policies and political will, lead the effort to arrest this tidal wave of decline.

In parliament, Turnbull did what he failed to do on Radio National and vowed never to trade away Howard’s gun laws but to strengthen them. But he then mired himself in an apparent contradiction.

The difficulty for Turnbull is the split between the hardliners and the moderates. Throw in bruised egos and thwarted ambitions and all Shorten has to do is add water and stir.

A few colleagues and I drafted a blacklist of politicians with lecherous reputations and worded up new female journalists about which ones to avoid.

ANZ’s Shayne Elliott, like CBA’s Ian Narev, came to the parliamentary hearing in sackcloth and ashes. But the penitent’s garb could impress only the most gullible.

It is not a matter of personal freedom for individuals to have their two cents’ worth, but only of ensuring ‘the free flow of ideas’.

George Christensen says the only option is a plebiscite. If the prime minister accepts this in the hope the issue will go away, he is deluding himself.

If ever leadership was needed it is now, before these corrosive views are allowed to destroy the multicultural cohesive society Australia has become.

One of the most significant concessions was the dropping of the baby bonus. The $367 million payment was a condition of the Coalition agreement and a key promise of the Nationals.

Who could have predicted the gutlessness, vacuity and incompetence that this prime minister has delivered? Malcolm Turnbull was not meant to be a short-lived, bumbling, forgettable PM.