David Speers: Country voters put PM in touch with grassroot issues over lunch and beers

THERE were no cameras, journos or tweets. Just 50 locals around the bar at Albury’s Star Hotel. And the Prime Minister talking to voters about grassroots issues, David Speers writes.

PM Malcolm Turnbull got out of Canberra to speak to country voters this week. Picture: Kym Smith

THERE were no cameras, journos or tweets. Just 50 locals around the bar at Albury’s Star Hotel. And the Prime Minister.

Malcolm Turnbull spent an hour at the pub on Thursday, chatting over lunch and a few beers, away from the media.

Mr Harbourside Mansion, the man who too often seems out of touch with real Australians, is making an effort.

The polls may be awful and the High Court may be deciding the fate of his “stable, working majority”, but this week the Prime Minister was doing exactly what he should.

At the Star Hotel, no one raised same-sex marriage, dual citizenship, banning the burqa or historical statues.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured having a beer in Queensland in March) had a few quiet drinks with locals in Albury this week. Pictures: Jack Tran

The locals in Albury were far more interested in power prices. Terrorism concerns were also raised and even inland rail, but cost of living was the dominant theme.

An hour chatting with locals in a country pub is the best focus group research any Prime Minister can get. It almost always confirms the mismatch between the priorities of the media and ordinary Australians.

Turnbull also visited the towns of Tumut and Moruya, where it was a similar story.

As one of Turnbull’s ministers said privately: “The more he gets out of Canberra and gets his f…ing tie off, the better.”

Of course the PM could have been forgiven for hiding under the Point Piper doona this week. There’s no shortage of spot fires to worry about.

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Yet there’s no sense of panic in the ranks.

Across the moderate and conservative wings of the Liberal Party, the collective view is to batten down the hatches and tough it out. No one is agitating for a leadership change. A number of influential conservatives met Peter Dutton last week. All agreed the best course was to stick with Turnbull.

The lack of a realistic alternative, the sheer nightmare of going through another leadership change and the belief voters don’t actually like Bill Shorten is keeping Turnbull safe, for now.

All are aware though, he needs to clear three big obstacles before the end of the year.

First, Turnbull needs his High Court prediction to come true. He needs his “dual citizen” ministers given the all clear, particularly Barnaby Joyce.

Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten in Parliament. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

It could be three months before the court delivers a verdict and in the meantime Turnbull should give serious consideration to standing Joyce and Fiona Nash aside.

It’s not too late for a change of heart on this. Eat some humble pie. If the two ministers stay in their roles, Labor will have a field day.

Matt Canavan quit the ministry. Joyce and Nash won’t.

It’s a glaring contradiction.

Then there’s the prospect of any ministerial decisions they make being dragged through the courts. Here’s a tip: don’t expect any controversial ­decisions until they have the all-clear.

The second obstacle Turnbull needs to clear is a victory on same-sex marriage. A “no” result in the postal survey would be the worst of all worlds for the PM.

Labor and the 63 per cent of Australians who say they support same-sex marriage would blame Turnbull. Tony Abbott would be ­emboldened.

A “yes” result is not only what the Prime Minister personally wants, it may finally clear this issue from the political agenda.

Turnbull was initially reluctant to get involved in the campaign. That changed this week.

When he wasn’t touring country towns, Turnbull was talking to FM radio stations, urging young listeners to get on the electoral roll and reminding them he supports gay marriage (as well as revealing himself to be quite the Game Of Thrones fan).

Turnbull needs to have some ownership of the victory in this marriage equality postal survey, if indeed there is one.

David Speers says the PM is making an effort for voters.

The third great obstacle is finding a fix to Australia’s energy crisis.

Soaring power prices are hurting families and businesses from Albury to Bunbury. There are many complicated reasons why. Most just want the government to do something about it.

Turnbull can list a range of steps the government is taking. They all make sense, yet the bills keep rising.

What the government really needs to do is make the big decision on whether or not to adopt a Clean ­Energy Target, as recommended by the Chief Scientist.

Big business, the energy sector and even some heavy-emitting industries want the target. The Prime Minister also privately backs the concept.

The Liberal Party, though, is divided. Some fear it will push prices even higher. It’s fallen to one of the government’s more capable ministers, Josh Frydenberg, to convince them otherwise.

A “grand bargain” is being discussed. Conservatives will back a Clean Energy Target, as long as there’s some support for coal. Either a taxpayer-funded coal-fired power station or a purchase guarantee.

Of the three obstacles, this is the toughest. The policy is complex and the politics fraught.

It will take more luck and better political judgment than we’ve seen so far, but if Turnbull can clear each of these hurdles by Christmas, he will be in a much better place.

He might even shout the bar at the Star Hotel.

* David Speers is the Political Editor at Sky News