After waking to yet another Monday morning of media leadership spill speculation headlines, I pleaded with the party via my blog, to Put Up or Shut Up. Little did I know, when making that impassioned plea, we would end up with a new Prime Minister by day's end.
Malcolm Turnbull called for a spill. Sitting Prime Minister Tony Abbott moved quickly to bring the spill on and he lost the vote to Malcolm Turnbull 54-44. A sad day for Australia and a sad day for many conservative Liberal supporters. But that said, something had to be done to bring the leadership issue to a head and whilst I am extremely disappointed with the outcome, I am relieved that it has been sorted.
The reaction from many conservative voters is to be as expected. They are deeply distrustful of Malcolm Turnbull, and they did not want to see their party sink to the same lows as the previous Labor Government. They are very angry with regards to timing, with the Canning by-election this coming weekend. And they are deeply distressed that Tony Abbott has been executed by a previous failed leader who was ably assisted by a deputy who is looking very much like ‘the teflon princess’, never to be Queen. But the deed has been done, and the question is now, what do we do.
A number of people have declared they are resigning from the Liberal Party. Others have declared they won't be voting for the Liberals at the next election. An understandable response. Perhaps just not the best one given the alternative; a Labor Government come the next election.
Malcolm Turnbull’s press conference to announce his spill motion wasn’t inspiring. His underhanded swipes at Tony Abbott were disappointing. And I suspect Turnbull's comments about the Prime Minister only add to the distrust people have of him. That said, Turnbull's address to the press gallery following the spill was more positive toward Tony Abbott if somewhat full of hubris.
I don’t trust Malcolm Turnbull, I’ve made no secret of that. I trust Julie Bishop even less. Her doe eyed flirty looks at her ‘very dear friend’ Malcolm as he addressed the gallery after the spill were nauseating.
As mentioned, I’m disappointed with the result. And, I’m angry about the timing? But I won’t knee-jerk and cancel my membership or threaten not to vote for my sitting member. I will wait three months before I pass judgement. I expect Malcolm to his promises to support the agreed climate policy, stand by the commitment to hold a SSM plebiscite, stick with the existing immigrant policy and control of our borders, improve the economy, and to have articulated a clear strategy and vision for the country.
For this leadership change to be successful and to start to go some way toward mending the bridges that have been broken, Malcolm Turnbull has to swiftly and decisively;
Pick the right team. The team capable of delivering ‘the message to the electorate’ and the team to get this country moving again. He has to bridge the gap with the conservative arm of the membership base. He has to negotiable an agreement with the Nationals who are clearly fed up with the infighting and destabilisation of the previous regime. He has to prove to conservative voters that we can trust him. The trust element also applies to Julie Bishop. She lost a lot of support yesterday. Turnbull has to unite the team and with 44 MP’s not supporting him that won't be easy. He has to seek the cooperation of a feral senate and he has to stop the media assaults. Most important of all he has to turn the poll results around.
There has been a very obvious, active and vicious anti conservative campaign being run by the media in this country. It destroyed Tony Abbott. Of course, it wasn’t the only cause of his downfall, but it did play a significant role. I expect Turnbull will be given the expected honeymoon. But if Turnbull does deliver a new style of leadership from his previous very green stance and he moves to the centre / slightly left of centre ground we may end up back where we started. Only time will tell.
First things first. We have to win the seat of Canning on Saturday. We need a public declaration of peace from those MP's who supported Tony Abbott. And, we need to see the promised unity. For now, I'm looking forward to questiontime today. I expect it will be facinating to watch.
