Editorial: Malcolm Turnbull best placed to guide our nation through challenges

MALCOLM Turnbull has hardly staged a dynamic campaign but he has demonstrated he can be a successful and sensible Prime Minister in a time of uncertainty.

AUSTRALIA today looks outward at an increasingly unstable and unpredictable world. Britain has just voted to exit the European Union, sending shockwaves through financial markets. In the US, populist demagogue Donald Trump is in the running for the presidency, while the threat of radical Islamic terror – as we saw with the tragic events in Istanbul this week – looms large.

At home, Australians are understandably concerned about the change under way here as the country continues a difficult transition in the post-mining boom era, and view the volatile world in which we live with a degree of trepidation.

ROLLING: Follow the election coverage here

What the electorate wants, and what the country needs, is a period of stability and clear direction. After eight years of turmoil in which we’ve endured a global financial crisis, terror threats and no less than five different prime ministerships, the nation is overdue for a few years of relative calm and consistency. Voters are not interested in factional infighting, leadership coups and partisan intrigues – they simply want their elected leaders to get on with the job of governing.

This is the backdrop against which this marathon federal election has been fought, and fought hard by two men who have both emerged as genuine leadership contenders, but with neither offering a perfect vision for Australia.

Ultimately voters must assess for themselves which side of politics offers Australia a steady course over the next three years and, more importantly, who is the better economic manager to take us through these uncertain times.

This should not be a personality contest, but rather one of ideas and policy. On that front it is fair to say that to some extent Labor leader Bill Shorten has out-campaigned Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and demonstrated in the process that Labor is prepared to fight the Coalition on its own turf in areas such as the economy.

For Labor, though, in a campaign that was always at its core going to be about economic management, much of the gloss came off with the hash it made of its costings. While the fine detail may only appeal to policy wonks, the messy (and totally avoidable) distraction only adds to a wider doubt as to whether the ALP is best placed to heal a still bleeding Budget. In the current climate, promises way beyond the forward estimates are never going to cut it.

Likewise Labor’s Medicare scare campaign is a classic case of overplaying your hand. What might have been a legitimate line of attack in relation to reduced bulk-billing rates for various services was derailed by hysteria about a privatisation that simply will not occur. Nor has Labor been able to tie the threads of their narrative together into a cohesive picture as to what a Shorten government would actually look like, particularly when it comes to economic management. In the context of a Budget deeply in deficit, billions of dollars of extra education spending as a down payment on future employment doesn’t quite pass muster. The ideas are there but the detail is lacking.

For his part, Mr Turnbull has hardly staged what could be described as a dynamic campaign. In fact, in a reversal of traditional roles, he and the Coalition have tended to present themselves as the smaller target.

Mr Turnbull is a more coherent prescription in an era that demands stability. Picture: AAP

The May Budget, though, has proved something of a catalyst for Mr Turnbull and the Coalition, providing a platform from which to campaign on a very simple and positive message of jobs and growth. The economic drivers of phased corporate tax relief and innovation have allowed Mr Turnbull to rise above the prevarication that tended to cloud his first few months as Prime Minister in areas such as wider tax reform. In post-mining boom economies such as Queensland it presents as a clear and easily understood plan that should resonate with voters, especially when combined with a commitment to develop northern Australia.

The choice for millions of Australians tomorrow is not an easy one, and that is a credit to our democratic process and the calibre of the respective leaders. On balance, though, Mr Turnbull has demonstrated that he does have what it takes to be a successful and sensible Prime Minister in a time of great uncertainty. He was never going to be a Messiah, but he is a man who is growing into the role and beginning to reunite what was a deeply fractured party. In that regard, while some Australians may have felt betrayed by some of the Abbott government’s decisions, it is fair to say that the Coalition has meted out its own rough justice by dumping both a prime minister and a treasurer.

Mr Turnbull is right to warn of the dangers of a vote for some of the plethora of minor parties and independents, many of whom consider obstructionism and sabotage as a legitimate tactic, and the interests of the nation be damned. What is needed now is a prime minister and a party with the clear authority to guide Australia through the next three years with a workable majority in the Lower House and at the very least a sensible Senate.

Mr Turnbull has demonstrated himself to be, in many fields of endeavour, a confidence player, and that is the sort of momentum Australia needs to harness right now.

Mr Shorten and Labor have managed to put their past behind them to offer a broadly credible alternative, but on balance Mr Turnbull and the Coalition are a more coherent prescription in an era that demands experience, stability and certainty.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Lachlan Heywood, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details are available at couriermail.com.au/help/contact-us

Originally published as Editorial: Malcolm Turnbull best placed to guide our nation through challenges