Two decades ago, Malcolm Turnbull on what might have been: ‘This is the real world’

Turnbull’s book was called Fighting for the Republic: The Ultimate Insider’s Account. It opens with some reflections from a tough campaign.

The same people who disappoint me in July are admired in November. The diary reveals me as tougher and more exacting than I would like to be seen and a less confident person than I am seen by many. But this is the real world. Many of those personal assessments would be different yet again if they were written in the post-­campaign calm.

Here’s his entry for August 27, 1999, when Bob Hawke and Blanche d’Alpuget came to dinner, along with Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward:

Hawkie is becoming more positive. “Aargghh, Malcolm, three weeks ago I would not have put money on the ­republic, but I think I would bet on a win now. You are getting closer.” I hope so. We need to work out a good way of using Hawke.

Another entry. October 12, 1999:

I am not sure if it is my melancholy disposition, but I am not at all confident. I can sense a disaster here.

Tony Abbott, leading the No campaign, is clear about his view of the risks. The Sydney Morning Herald, October 16, 1999:

The prospect of King Charles doesn’t upset me. What upsets me a lot more is the prospect of President Malcolm Turnbull or President Paul Keating and that’s the risk people run if they vote for this dud model republic.

When the result comes in, Turnbull aims high. November 6, 1999:

Whatever else John Howard achieves, history will remember him for only one thing: he was the prime minister who broke the nation’s heart.

Australian Republican Movement director Greg Barns kept a diary too. The Age, December 11, 1999:

Malcolm Turnbull is, as I expected … mercurial, restless, brilliant and politically risky, but listens to advice from those who know these things.

But the defeat hurt. The Weekend Australian, November 27, 1999:

Three weeks after the republic was defeated, Malcolm Turnbull remains bitterly unforgiving of his monarchist opponents, saying he cannot bring himself to compliment people who won by cynically “misleading their fellow citizens”.

But that was then. Mike Steketee assesses a new world. The Australian, January 24, 2007:

Whether in his heart of hearts Turnbull has revised his now heretical views about Howard hardly matters. He won’t be repeating them any time soon. There have been reasons to question his political deftness in the past but he has proved to be a quick learner when it comes to knowing on which side his bread is buttered.

Five years later, as Turnbull pays tribute in parliament to Robert ­Hughes, he turns to Abbott and recalls an encounter from the republic campaign. August 14, 2012:

I think he had a swing at you, Tony, in one of those debates.

Abbott points out that Hughes had failed to connect, and Turnbull doesn’t miss a beat:

Yes, he missed. What a loss for the ­nation it would have been if he had connected.

In his new memoir, A Bigger Picture, Turnbull recalls how it felt after he had finally taken over the top job from Abbott in 2015:

The pace of events hadn’t allowed a moment of reflection, but it had happened: Lucy and I were sitting in C1 (his official car). I was prime minister.

Turnbull marks one year since winning the 2016 election with a column for the News Corp Australia dailies. July 30, 2017:

This is a time for builders, not wreckers. For leaders who get things done and don’t just talk.