Politics

The irony is that Dastyari hadn’t broken any of the disclosure rules. He even declared his dumb mistake. But what gave the government attacks force is that he appeared to have been caught out telling his Chinese donors what they wanted to hear.

Destabilising Turnbull is as much a motivation as fighting for pristine free speech. The laudable conservative value of promoting ‘civility’ is collateral damage in this play.

Turnbull’s piecemeal announcements are doing nothing to restore the trust and integrity necessary for a healthy banking sector.

While Turnbull is confident the plebiscite vote will pass, the republic, another of his magnificent causes, looked a no-brainer only to fail amid confusion and skulduggery.

When cast as a guiding light for policies of all kinds, ‘innovation’ turns attention away from fundamentals such as health, labour and infrastructure policy.

We should remember Tony Abbott has form. He’s much like an addict who knows he has to kick the habit, says he’s going to do it, only to keep falling off the wagon.

The green light was given for the first online census, to outsource it and to extend the length of time for names and addresses to be held. All without serious explanation or adequate planning. The government even left the Australian Bureau of Statistics leaderless for a year and substantially cut its budget.

There is a reason people such as Leak fear and resist the word racism. It is powerful. It is definitive. It carries the inescapable burn of hard truth.

Attention to detail doesn’t seem to be the attorney-general’s strong suit. But in a scramble to save face, George Brandis, QC, would have none of the criticism.

Christensen’s fit of pique on superannuation only reinforces just how precarious is the Coalition’s hold on government.