For a prime minister who had just won an election, Turnbull’s hold on authority is remarkably precarious. ‘He’s a sitting duck and he knows it,’ was the way one of his MPs put it.
The significance of the industry to the economy is in freefall, and it has happened in spite of huge increases in coal export volumes ... We’re left with an industry of much less value doing far more harm.
The question exercising the minds of many is whether Turnbull has the skills of a Menzies, to not only survive but to propel the Coalition to a handsome win next time.
Malcolm needs to learn that success in business doesn’t necessarily translate to success in politics. Being the boss man in a merchant bank doesn’t mean he is a leader of people.
People have had enough of being courtiers for Liberal whims or a distant and self-satisfied Labor elite. Any seat where NXT and the Greens can share 30-40 per cent of the vote between them will be in play.
What is clear is that Turnbull’s rush of blood to the head in calling a double dissolution to clean out the obstructive senate is sure to prove foolhardy.
The rise of private power is far more critical to the future of Australians than are the policy tweaks on offer from the major parties in today’s election.
The fact of the matter is the published national opinion polls have the election in a deadlock. Labor has been in front by a nose in three of five polls in the past fortnight.