Global News Journal

Opposition needs a wizard in Oz

On the surface, Australia’s opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull won the endorsement of his party when he put his job on the line over his bipartisan support for the PM’s carbon trade plan. ‘Turnbull wins the day’, was the headline on the Sydney Morning Herald website.

But, dig a little deeper, and the picture is in fact quite bleak for the Liberal Party with around 12 months to go before a national election. Within hours of the vote the obituaries for Turnbull’s political career started to appear.

Two things arise from the leadership vote called by Turnbull as a
result of an internal Liberal Party revolt over climate policy.
First, the count itself. 48-35. This is hardly a vote of confidence in a leader. Second, who was it who managed to secure so many votes against Turnbull? A relative unknown in Kevin Andrews.

The Herald’s Mark Davis writes “the stark reality of today’s vote is that 35 Liberal MPs were so angry at Turnbull they stood ready today to install a plainly politically unviable candidate”. Peter Hartcher in the Herald writes the vote backfired on Turnbull, serving only to highlight an “extraordinary mood of angry, irresponsible recklessness” within the Liberals. He derides what has become an
“angry rabble”, a party out of control.