We’ve been pointing out in a range of posts here that Malcolm Turnbull’s “comment on everything” approach, and, for that matter, the preparedness of journos to let the Opposition lead a lot of the news cycle, may be counterproductive. And the fact that a lot of what he has to say is driven by a lawyerly knack for exploring supposed holes in government statements and announcements.
So, over the last few days, we’ve had Malcolm ask whether the government actually wants to subsidise unprofitable childcare centres, where the detail is on the $22 million support being extended to ABC learning, and so on. This is dumb politically. And the answers to the questions are obvious – that not for profits are negotiating with the receivers, that childcare centres which don’t make a commercial profit can reinvest any revenue in better services and care, and that the situation is a developing one. It’s not rocket science – people want to know that their kids will still have childcare places, not the sorts of answers Turnbull wants.
And Turnbull has been forced to clarify his statements to correct the impression – which you could easily get from his questions – that he wanted to let “market forces” close down the centres. Just as he was forced to clarify an impression left by the only thing anyone highlighted from his “media offensive” over the weekend – that he thought Therese Rein was rude by not becoming his buddy. Now we know that he just thinks Kevin Rudd isn’t polite enough to him.
Let’s be clear about this. Malcolm Turnbull has foot in mouth syndrome.
(Nods wisely). D’ye not know?
Market Forces, m’dear.
Market Forces.
It’s all evened out for the system, in the long run and at the end of the day.
All for the best, in the best of all possible worlds…
The increasingly sinister Turnbull keeps making the wrong approach because his solitary interest is himself.
Now we have Farr and News Ltd attempting to manufacture a new but nonexistent Turnbull by writing an embarrassingly warm and fuzzy reference, as if he were applying for his first job with woollies.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24628155-5007146,00.html
Farr comes over like the over friendly dog and the trouser leg.
Ah, yes, man of the people, etc.
Apparently when Brendan did it it was hokey schtick, but now that Malcolm’s doing it…
I think we’re beginning to see what they mean by “honeymoon with the press gallery”. They’re in lerve…
Poor Michael Brissenden could hardly get the words out when forced to ‘analyse’ the latest Newspoll. In the end he decided that ‘Rudd must be doing something right”, as though he had no idea what that something was, and it was obviously something irrelevant to the commentariate.
As I remarked on the thread about Newspoll, and as Kim infers in her comments, Malcolm seems to be talking himself into irrelevance. IMHO, it doesn’t matter what the commenteriat is saying if the rest of us aren’t listening. Might be different if it was an election campaign, but it ain’t.
Nice tip o’ the hat to Voltaire, paul.
Is it more a case that the opposition are merely filling the void left by Labor saying nothing (of substance at least)? This may not be the case – perhaps they ARE saying things and the MSM are just ignoring it, but I do worry that the MSM have become addicted to Howard’s media style where he’d literally pop up and talk about anything currently news worthy.
Rudd tends to take a more reserved, thoughtful approach – which is great – but it leaves a huge void in the news that, at the moment, the Libs are gladly filling. Worse, it’s starting to look like a LOT of thinking but not a lot of action – which again is probably wrong, but it gives more and more traction to opposition talking points.
Actually I think Malcolm Turnball is an incredible spunk and I really like him as a political figure, even though I am to the left of Fidel Castro. I am listening to what he has to say, to the extent I have time, and I would like to hear more from him. Who wouldn’t? He is articulate, coherent, passionate, politically challenging, likable and funny (ha-ha). He is going to be a formidable Opposition leader and already is to the extent that anyone is listening in la-la land.
Self-delusion and wishful thinking are so very transparent characteristics of sycophants and lazy liberals.
Puffball is flogging the G20 dead horse in parliament again. Once again, he’s accused Rudd of leaking “incorrect details” of that now infamous imaginary phone conversation, according to Mark Kenny, The Adelaide Advertiser’s political editor. He apparently used his “inquisitorial skills to probe the PM” and moved a censure motion against Rudd which was defeated along party lines.
And in the OO, Dennis Shanahan reports that Puffbull “has accused Kevin Rudd of damaging relations with Washington by libelling the US President and portraying George W Bush as ‘a fool’ to fuel his own vanity.”
Never mind that Bush doesn’t need any help in convincing everyone he’s a fool or that the White House has denied the so-called details of the phone conversation, Malvolio just can’t let it go and continues to thunder away making himself look more foolish than Bush at his worst.
Rudd refusing to play is making him even more strident and when he directed Stephen Smith to respond to the censure motion, the shrillometer went off the scale.
I’m sorry I can’t provide links; neither paper seemed to deem it worthy of online inclusion. FWIW, The Australian has the report on p4 of The Nation section and it’s on p28 in the Advertiser.
How deep a hole will the government let him dig before it buries him, I wonder?
Jane ever so nicely said @9
There is something so very wrong about the Turnbull team tactics, at all levels.
They say that it is out of their concern for the Australian reputation for a quiet chat with a dignitary that has been put under threat by the denied Rudd/Bush disclosure of a hardly surprising POTUS ignorance about something. Yet, they are determined to advertise it to death even if it is more likely to cause the kind of damage they pretend to care about.
It is similar to their feigned concern for the economy. They are clearly quite prepared to use any opportunity to damage confidence at a pretty dicey time for a hoped political advantage. Paul Keating pointed this out to Mal, recently, and he just shrugged it off. And as for beating up on public servants, like Ken Henry, they just come across as ignorant bullys.
There is something clearly wrong with any sort of effective critical political tactics if they do not include, in this instance, the simple assertion that the substance of the conversation between Bush and Rudd should not, as a matter of course, be necessarily private. The privacy issue is completely secondary for anyone other than mental slaves.
Yeah. The Ken hendry brouhaha is disgraceful. utterly.
As for Bush, who cares? IMHO, what happened, regardless of Rudd’s denials, is a bit of Labor payback for Howard’s egregious insult of Obama last year. Good on ‘em.