Michael McGuire: Who who Peter Malinauskas see as a role model in an era with leadership under so much threat

EVEN if new Labor leader Peter Malinauskas looks beyond politics for a role model, who does he find, asks Michael McGuire.

SAY you are Peter Malinauskas. Or even to some extent Steven Marshall, although he is the more experienced of the two.

You have just become leader of your political party. But you are still a bit green. After all, you have been in parliament only for a couple of years, you have never sat in the lower house at all.

No doubt, Malinauskas will call on the whiles of old stagers such as Jay Weatherill and Tom Koutsantonis. No doubt he will have plenty of ideas and ambitions of his own.

But in a broader sense who could he possibly look to for inspiration to guide him as a new leader? Who would he see as a role model in an era where the quality and idea of leadership has never been under so much threat. Even if Malinauskas looks beyond politics what does he find?

In business? Dodgy and corrupt practices have given us a banking Royal Commission and a daily walk through the worst excesses of capitalism.

Sport? A strange ball tampering scandal that cost the Australian cricket captain his job and revealed a lack of leadership stretching all the way to the top of Cricket Australia.

Religion? Just about every church in recent times has had some sort of sex abuse scandal. The Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson is on trial in Newcastle at the moment for allegedly concealing such practices.

And then we return to politics. It may be best for Malinauskas not to look to closely at the current suite of bodies attempting to pass as political leaders beyond the state’s borders. If you were looking for a single word that could describe both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten it would be hard to go past “inauthentic”.

Part of Turnbull’s problem is that we know his stance on many issues. So when he carefully softens previous strong support on issues such as the republic and climate change it engenders suspicion about how far is he prepared to bend his values to hang on to power.

Shorten in many ways is even worse. This was a bloke at the centre of the coups which deposed Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. He is a balloon in search of a breeze.

Despite the travails of Turnbull and his 30 successive Newspoll losses, Shorten has consistently trailed in the preferred prime minister stakes.

Then there is Tony Abbott. The man who makes Kevin Rudd’s reaction to losing the prime ministership look reasonable. A man on such a prolonged dummy spit that his lips must be permanently bleeding.

It may be that Turnbull’s best hope at the next election is the continued presence of Shorten. This week’s Newspoll has Shorten in essentially a three-way tie with Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek as best person to lead the Labor Party. Although, the clear winner according to Newspoll was “uncommitted” on 30 per cent, which must be a little like “extras’’ top scoring in cricket. Never a good sign.

Turnbull’s troubles have given rise to a bunch of other Liberals volunteering to take over. Presumably they think they can at least be equally as bad as Malcolm.

Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton, despite displaying as much sentience as a particularly dim slab of concrete, reckons he could do the job. Treasurer Scott Morrison and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg also have their hands up

Then there is Tony Abbott. The man who makes Kevin Rudd’s reaction to losing the prime ministership look reasonable. A man on such a prolonged dummy spit that his lips must be permanently bleeding.

There’s not much inspiration to be found overseas either. Donald Trump has redefined politics in a way that few thought possible, or desirable. In Russia, Vladimir Putin has created an autocracy. In China, Xi Xinping has made himself dictator-for-life.

Long-time fringe figures such as Jeremy Corbyn in Britain and Bernie Sanders in the US have assumed centre stage, in part because of a lack of leadership elsewhere in their political systems.

In assuming the Labor leadership this week Peter Malinauskas struck a positive tone. “I will not lead a destructive-style Opposition. If the Liberal Party have a policy that genuinely benefits everyday South Australians, hardworking mums and dads, then we will work with them constructively.’’ It will be fascinating to observe whether Malinauskas lives up to his own standards or whether the current political reality catches up with him.