Disgraceful waste of money a bitter pill to swallow

Turnbull still a better option than Tony Abbott, but the same sex marriage postal survey is a waste of money and a disgraceful exercise in gutlessness

I ONCE greatly admired Malcolm Turnbull.

He appeared to be intelligent, strong, fearless, progressive and a man of conviction.

CLICK HERE: Barnaby Joyce told to "use his testicles"

But his failure to live up to expectations has been disappointing.

I appreciate that the intricacies of party politics make any courageous moves impossible without multiple, lengthy machinations to get the right people on side, but Mr Turnbull appears increasingly less strong and less fearless.

He's still a better option than Tony Abbott, mind you, and is keeping his government together despite the increasingly strident calls for change from some noisy quarters.

The most bitter pill to swallow has been the disgraceful waste of $122 million on a non-compulsory, non-binding same sex marriage survey the government already knew the results to and that has done little but divide the nation and throw a pall of ugliness over us all.

Extremists on both sides have made too many headlines and God only knows how soul destroying the whole thing has been for gay people.

I just wish Mr Turnbull would do the same thing Barnaby Joyce was urged to do when he visited Gympie last month.

Is that too much to ask?