Australians want the old Malcolm Turnbull back

ONCE, Malcolm Turnbull had a Q&A audience eating out of the palm of his hand. Those leather-clad days are well and truly behind him now.

THERE was a time when Malcolm Turnbull could have a Q&A audience eating out of the palm of his hand. But those leather-clad days seem well and truly behind him.

In fact this week’s live show seemed to be a mass mourning of the “old Malcolm”.

With the Prime Minister’s approval rating rapidly dropping, one young man seemed to sum up the mood of many Australians with the show’s very first question.

The man, who described himself as a Liberal supporter, said he did not think Malcolm Turnbull had lived up to expectations since becoming Prime Minister.

And then he made a plea that many may still hope for ... would it be possible to just let “Malcolm be Malcolm?”

Maybe if Australians asked politely enough, perhaps the “far right of the Liberal Party” would just let Mr Turnbull go back to being his old self, and “win back voters”?

Its true, Malcolm has changed, he doesnt even wear the leather jacket anymore #auspol #qanda #wheresthejacket

— Nat (@007Natty007) May 23, 2016

But as one Twitter user noted, this focus on the “real Malcolm” sounded disturbingly familiar.

Now there is a search for the 'real' Malcolm; just like when we had the search for the 'real' Julia. Reaches this point, he's toast. #qanda

— RR (@prof_rr) May 23, 2016

Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Christopher Pyne was having none of it.

“I didn’t agree with the premise of the question,” Mr Pyne said.

“Malcolm Turnbull is doing exactly what he wants to do as Prime Minister and leader. He looks like a prime minister, he sounds like a prime minister, he acts like a prime minister.

“He’s obviously intelligent, he’s a success in his own right and he’s brought that success into politics.”

Host Tony Jones probed further and asked whether Mr Turnbull’s leadership would be safe if there was a hung parliament.

“It’s not at issue. We are 100 per cent behind Malcolm Turnbull,” Mr Pyne said.

It was probably not the best choice of words.

Pyne says 'we are 100% behind Malcolm Turnbull', true but he didn't mention they're all carrying knives #qanda

— Joanna Mendelssohn (@oldlillipilli) May 23, 2016

But Shadow Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese didn’t agree. He said he thought many Australians saw Tony Abbott as a negative and divisive leader and breathed a sigh of relief when he was no longer PM.

“Malcolm Turnbull promised to treat the Australian people like adults,” he said. “Now when they look at Malcolm Turnbull, they hear Tony Abbott.”

He said Mr Turnbull had decades on the record of wanting strong action on climate change, supporting marriage equality and supporting the republic.

“It isn’t so much that Malcolm Turnbull is in conflict with Tony Abbott, it’s that Malcolm Turnbull is in conflict with himself.

“And politicians who aren't conviction politicians I think, will be marked down by the public.

“I think the public are very disappointed.”

When asked for his opinion on the responses, the questioner disagreed with what Mr Pyne said.

“I want the old Malcolm back,” the man said. “The old Malcolm who was more socially progressive, the Malcolm who crossed the floor on the emissions trading scheme, the Malcolm who was for marriage equality.”

There has never been a better time to be Malcolm. #qanda

— Jimmy Phillips (@newsguyjimmy) May 23, 2016

He was not alone, there were plenty on Twitter who agreed.

"I want the old Malcolm back"#qanda - yes please!!!!! #auspol

— tracy walker (@thewollemipine) May 23, 2016

But others who thought people should just get over it.

Can we just accept that Malcolm had to make concessions to get the job? #qanda

— Kurt (@Kurt_Sengul) May 23, 2016

The presence of the “old Malcolm” seemed to become a theme that ran throughout the show.

Debate continued about the amount of money being spent on Australia’s new submarines and superannuation changes.

Refugees were also a hot topic and Mr Pyne was asked what he thought of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s comments about “illiterate” refugees taking Australian jobs. He said it was spun out of context.

But Jones kept the pressure on, asking what was probably the question of the night: “I thought if they become Australians as refugees they’d be in their right to have an Australian job? In fact you’d probably want them to, wouldn’t you?”

Mr Pyne couched his answer carefully around being a “high population man”, and said the more refugees and other migrants there were, the “greater the economy will grow, which means jobs and growth”.

Meanwhile Mr Albanese was asked how Labor was going to pay for more asylum seekers to settle in the country.

“The problem is that it assumes it’s just a cost,” Mr Albanese said.

He said migrants including Frank Lowy and Victor Chang had made a contribution to the country.

“Unless you are an indigenous Australian, you’re the son or daughter or granddaughter of a migrant,” he said.

"Unless you're an Indigenous Australian, you're the son/daughter/grandson/granddaughter of a migrant" @AlboMP #QandA pic.twitter.com/50sIP4Gqgs

— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) May 23, 2016

One young woman asked a pointed question about cuts to CSIRO funding and jobs: “Why should we think science and innovation is important if you don’t?”

Mr Pyne denied there were “net job cuts” at the CSIRO. “There are 275 jobs going in one division of the CSIRO. And 350 new jobs being opened up in another division of the CSIRO,” he said. There had simply been a shift of focus away from measurement of climate change, to mitigation strategies.

“So there’s no change to the support for climate change at the CSIRO,” Mr Pyne said.

Mr Albanese disputed this and said people had lost their jobs at the CSIRO. “The fact is there have been cuts at the CSIRO.”

“And the fact is, one of the areas that’s been targeted at the CSIRO is climate change research.”

But when asked whether Labor would re-employ the climate scientists, Mr Albanese would only say: “Let’s get real here. It was their decision”, and he would not make commitments on behalf of the relevant shadow minister. “We will be a government that takes climate change seriously.”

Mr Pyne also denied that Environment Minister Greg Hunt had been so embarrassed about the decision to sack climate scientists that he had helped re-employ about 50 of them at the Bureau of Meterology. “That’s factually not right,” Mr Pyne said.

“CSIRO has created a centre for climate change in Hobart, paid for by the CSIRO, using CSIRO staff, which will be about 40 people ... paid for by the CSIRO not by the Bureau of Meterology.”

Mr Pyne also denied that the government was bringing in a “virtual” emissions trading scheme.

Nothing to see here. Christopher Pyne on Q&A. Picture: ABC

“We have a number of different levers that we are pulling to reduce our emissions through the Direct Action Policy ... it’s not an emissions trading scheme.”

While Mr Pyne was busy denying the Coalition was bringing in an emissions trading scheme by stealth, Mr Albanese asked people to stop describing Labor’s own emissions trading scheme as a “carbon tax”.

He also pointed out that it was one area he thought Mr Turnbull had disappointed voters.

“If there’s one area people could’ve expected some change in from Tony Abbott to Malcolm Turnbull, it’s the area of climate change,” he said. “Essentially we don’t have any change of policy in that area.”

He also couldn’t help but have a dig at Mr Turnbull’s NBN.

“Malcolm Turnbull’s fraud-band is double the cost of what ... he said it would be. It is half the speed ... and the delay is extraordinary.

“He promised that in 2016, everyone in Tasmania would have NBN in their home. If you’re watching this in Tasmania, and next time your little device is buffering, blame Malcolm Turnbull.”