One of the most puzzling lines Malcolm Turnbull came out with as shadow Treasurer earlier in the year was his claim that Labor had talked inflation into existence. This was part of some sort of complex juggling act which allowed the Coalition to try to claim that all had been going swimmingly until November 24 2007, and that Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan had been jawboning the Reserve into raising interest rates and/or exaggerating the need for a $22 billion surplus. It was an appalling political theme because it was too confused to be simply communicated, and left Turnbull wide open to charges that he was out of touch with the strains folks felt from higher prices.
Now he’s at it again.
On the news last night, this grab from Turnbull’s appearance on Insiders featured prominently:
And Kevin Rudd has hyped up this crisis or this financial crisis by saying it’s a rolling national security crisis.
If you read the quote in the context of the whole interview, it makes more sense – because Turnbull’s making a reasonable point about accountability to Parliament (which Andrew Bartlett also makes in somewhat different terms). But the politics are just awful – it allowed Wayne Swan to quickly swat Turnbull away, again making him appear as if he was out of touch and disconnected with what voters are feeling and fearing.
It’s also wrapped up in another argument which makes Turnbull seem self-obsessed – the claim that he hasn’t been included in decision making. There’s a very fine line – at times like these – between playing the bipartisanship card and appearing petulant about your own marginalisation – and it also plays into the perception that the Liberals still can’t accept that they’re in Opposition.
Turnbull might be able to counter that he’s been quoted out of context, but he should surely understand better how the media works. As an apparent media tart, along with others on the Coalition frontbench.
Elsewhere: More from tigtog at Hoyden.
Update: Tony Abbott, via Surfdom, would seem to have fewer excuses than his leader. He’s openly running with the “talking up a crisis” line. Reading between the lines, it appears that the Opposition are preparing to run a “they spent our surplus” flag up the pole. Yep, it’s all about them.
It’s a lawerly way of arguing. Pick an argument, any argument, that might be plausible, and throw it at the judge. You never know, it might stick.
That’s probably right, Jacques. But doesn’t he realise that it might stick straight back to him?
Update: Tony Abbott, via Surfdom, would seem to have fewer excuses than his leader. He’s openly running with the “talking up a crisis” line. Reading between the lines, it appears that the Opposition are preparing to run a “they spent our surplus” flag up the pole. Yep, it’s all about them.
I was a bit disappointed at Rudd for spinning the financial crisis as a security crisis, as its the sort of thing you would have expected Howard to do – turn everything into a security concern. Still, the financial meltdown is looking like its Rudd’s equivalent of Howard’s war on terror and will really help him politically.
I don’t understand Teh Left’s silence on the blatantly cynical “this is now a security issue” stuff. Wait, yes I do. There is a clear pattern, here and elsewhere. It is as old as the hills. In the modern form, it goes like this: if Turnbull makes a reasonable point about something, the debate must be immediately transformed into one about the ‘politics’ of the point, rather than its substance. Some LP bloggers have rightly denounced this tactic in the past. But anyway can the likes of Tony Abbott be more hypocritical? His lot mastered the ‘talking up a crisis’ strategy.
Oh, and Mark: I doubt they’ll run a ‘they spent our surplus’ line. If anything, they’ll run a ‘they spent your surplus’ line. Each of these lines is equally weak, though.
BBB
Chris @ 4 .. but of course it’s a security crisis. It’s one of the worst things that could happen to our national security (short of a debilitating war for national survival against a well-equipped and motivated enemy dedicated to our occupation or destruction). Climate change is also a national security issue. You wait, when Indonesia’s crops fail or they out of water in PNG or something like that, see what sort of security environment that engenders (or, to return it to the current crisis, if Indonesia’s economy completely fails, for example). What happens if the world-economy melts and China goes under forcing a putcsh by hardliners in the PLA to seize control? And then they suddenly decide to seize our natural gas resources? And we, having no air force or navy because we couldn’t afford it as we’re too desparate with a completely dried out Murray-Darling basin and 25% unemployment? These are the ‘nightmare scenarios’, sure, but not impossible ones. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Yep, good ol’ Tone. He’s got to do something to jack up the value of his Gillette shares, though.
Mark , Malcolm Turnball didn’t try and acuse The ALP of talking inflation into existence rather he warned that they could frighten the public into excessive apprehension about the possible rise in inflation. It is all couched in lots of “ifs” and “maybes” but his main point is reasonable.
Politically it is too subtle as you comment but he had Nelson out front doing the “I can relate” stuff anyway.
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And it is an argument you read in other countries’ debates about their economies so it wasn’t original either.
The ALP responded as was reasonable at the time that they had to guard against wasting the surplus by triggering more spending which could be adding to demand inflation and rising prices.
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With regard to the accountability argument there will be swings and roundabouts on this one – the Opposition front bench are all coming out in support so they can at least continue to try and focus the Government’s actions into answering their questions about the risks of the bank guarantees.
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Politic as murky and self serving as usual.
Tyro Rex @ 6 – but virtually anything can be turned into a “security issue” – Howard did it to asylum seekers quite effectively. You could claim the road toll is a national security issue as it kills off many healthy young men that you could otherwise recruit into the defence forces. The only reason Rudd is describing it a security issue is because he knows those sorts of descriptions will resonate with the voters – just more fear politics.
You’re wrong there. Turnbull directly accused Rudd and Swan of causing inflation, by giving businesses protective rhetorical cover to raise prices, thus “raising inflationary expectations”, making higher prices acceptable.
From a the linked article, penned personally by Turnbull:
And Turnbull was right wasn’t he? AS a result of the ‘protective rhetorical cover’ given by Swann/Rudd the RBA completely lost the plot and jacked up interest rates well above where they should have gone.
We had this ridiculous situation whereby a spike in inflation caused by fuel and food was being used as an excuse to jack up interest rates. What? How on earth was rising interest rates going to help with global fuel prices or break a drought?
Now of course – the RBA is in a tailspin. Cutting rates by 1% and probably another 2% in the next 6 months to stop us heading for an ugly recession. The RBA cocked this up big time – got confused by a resource boom in WA and Qld disguising weakness in Victoria and looming disaster in NSW. Battling inflation caused by one off events that it can’t control anyway.
And all egged by on by Swann/Rudd as pointed out by Turnbull.
Well I disagree fundamentally. Apart from the fact that a huge recession is an unpleasant thing in and of itself, an global economic calamity or environmental disaster or what-have-you IS a security issue because it most certainly has the potential to completely disrupt the typical functioning of nation-states and their relationships with one another. An entirely different order of problem than the road toll, which is not a “game-changer”.
Rudd’s exploitation of it is another matter.
BTW immigration/refugee issues can indeed be security issues just not when they were only of the order that we were experiencing in the 1990s and early 2000s when Howard sought to cynically exploit the issue. But if it were a million Indonesians fleeing some calamity in Indonesia by turning up in boats on the coasts of WA? That IS a security issue.
I saw a poll this morning (can’t remember which one) which has Rudd at his highest approval rating. Turnbull can say what he likes because no one is listening to him or the Opposition.
I agree Mark, what Malcolm Turnbull said on “Insiders” was fairly reasonable, if you heard the whole comment.
Wayne Swan then completely misrepresented what Mr Turnbull had said (knowing full well that no TV station is going to run the original Malcolm quote a la “Media Watch”).
Surely it’s obvious to anyone with half a brain and an ounce of objectivity that none of the shamble that constitute the opposition has any idea that they are actually no longer in government. If they did, their leader would:
1. Shut up if he had nothing to say;
2. Refrain from make contradictory statements;
3. Shut up once in a while;
4. Stop looking like an idiot by pleading for bi-partisanship while simultaneously critisising the government at the slightest opportunity and claiming credit for anything positive that happens;
5. Try to refrain from talking in a manner that suggests you are lecturing us and are more than a little pleased with the sound of your own voice. I know we tend to like smug entertainers, but not politicians;
6. For heaven’s sake shut up!
Heard MT on the radio this morning and he’s lost the plot a bit. Apparently he’d been talking to some small business owners (in Mosman IIRC, which isn’t a good look in the first place) and that nasty Mr Rudd had been scaring them with his comments. Classic Emo Man. And honestly, it doesn’t stick. Kevin Rudd isn’t given to intemperate language, and we all know it. KR as a bespectacled bogey frightening small businessmen doesn’t really work, either (“I’ll grind your bones to make my Iced Vo Vos!”)
We also know that most national leaders have lost sleep over this financial crisis. And most of us know that MT was a merchant banker. So where is the Big Critique of government policy with all the Big Financial Words from the man who we’d expect to know them?
The Essential Research numbers are pretty damning for the Opposition. No wonder why David Gazard came off looking more than a little unhinged on ‘Agenda’ when reciting the Liberal Party talking points.
I get the feeling that Mal is projecting onto Kev every slimey trick that his old boss engaged in. He and his parties stocks would undoubtedly rise significantly if they followed adrian’s advice and shut the f*** up.
Mal talking is helping Kevin Rudd no end, somebody has to provide the ideas. Once Kev became PM he had nobody to copy (“me-too” style).
With a desperate Mad-Mal trying to get into the economic debate ably assisted by a stooge called Fielding in the Senate, isn’t it way past time we had a republic?
Crash through or crash ALP, because the whole world hates a weakling.
It’s politics. Turnbull would know full well that inflation happens in a boom and that Howard exacerbated it by his social engineering programmes the Popakid Grant and the Buyahouse Project. What a commie.
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It coulda been worse the RBA might’ve been run by Greenspan.
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But the Liberal Party’s Brand is on the line. Turnbull needs to stay on message viz the ALP being bad managers. That is: He will lie. I’ll have to give Kevvie one thing he’s trying very hard not to lie and thus far been successful. He’s also a great strategist. An opportunity for the ALP to wrestle the Lib’s brand from it?
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I’d feel sorry for the slander on the ALP but they have it coming. Keating y’know. There’s a reason he had a piggery. He wanted to observe ‘em lying in the mud. And he learnt well. Sins of the fathers etc.
The problems with the economy of late have been a loss of confidence and a loss of liquidity arising from investors becoming more risk adverse. This situation directly arises from the Government pontificating about the problems in the Australian economy for political gain.
“This situation directly arises from the Government pontificating about the problems in the Australian economy for political gain.”
God Almighty, spare us the opposition spin.
I just wish the opposition would realise one simple truth – 2010 is not for winning. But just like the 2nd round of a golf tournament, they could lose elections post-2010 by running around doing stupid things right now.
I think the opposition’s strategy in question time is a good one, but then they ramp up the outrage once they get outside the parliament. They need to speak calmly, speak selectively, and let the government hog the limelight for a while. During a “crisis” like this, most of what the government says will not be good.
Possum was saying that Turnbull was worse than Latham in his effect on the polls. Well, of course he is, as Rudd is still like Hawke Early ’84. I can’t think of any opposition leader who could make much of a dent into Rudd’s popularity at the moment. The opposition just needs to avoid mistakes and let the electoral cycle take it’s course.
God Almighty, Kevin Rudd engineers global financial crisis to get a boost in the polls. He’s far more cunning than I thought.
God Almighty:
Look, old bean, I’m not one to waste time reminiscing, but those tablets you gave to Moses really stirred things up there for a while. Would you mind slipping a Ms Bishop a couple of tablets? Something to lower the glare of the stare…. Goodonya!
Another day and Malcolm makes more of a mess of things. Beating up on public servants is never a good look. Sometimes I think that the opposition needs to understand that the public really does not appreciate a kind of continuous election mode.
This sought of stuff is far beyond keeping the government accountable and is just plain ugly and unnecessary.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=650790