Great books broaden the mind and enrich the soul. Envy and the spirit of vengeance have the opposite effect. Since Turnbull left parliament, the Liberal Coalition has become more unified, determined and dignified. The cheap, gossipy culture and cabinet leaks to the media are largely a thing of the past. But the gossip is back with a vengeance. According to reports in The Australian, Nine and The Guardian, Turnbull is taking aim at leading figures in the Liberal Party. If past form is anything to go by, he will aim at conservatives and sow division among Liberals.
In The Guardian, political editor Katharine Murphy led with the quote, “Scott is a control freak”. The piece depicts Turnbull’s successor, Scott Morrison, in the worst possible light. The left press gave Turnbull’s predecessor, Tony Abbott, the same treatment. The revelation that Turnbull played an instrumental role in founding The Guardian in Australia gives some insight into its political sympathies, especially on climate change and the Liberal Party leadership battles.
When Liberal MPs were plotting to roll Abbott and replace him with Turnbull, there was a marked change in the tone of Australian journalism. Political insight and policy analysis gave way to a culture where gossip and smears led front-page news. Journalists lapped up leaks and begged the authority of unnamed sources as though they were disinterested parties. Few questioned what stake such sources had in the Turnbull ascendancy.
In his first speech after rolling Abbott, Turnbull took time to humiliate the man he had just defeated. He said: “Ultimately, the prime minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership our nation needs … the economic confidence that business needs.” He cited 30 lost Newspolls in a row as proof that the people had made up their mind about Abbott. By contrast, he represented a “new style of leadership”.
Turnbull the triumphant fell off his horse after a 14-seat loss at the following federal election. The Liberal base showed what it thought of the party’s new nimble, agile and progressive leadership team by deserting it in droves. Turnbull made up for a shortfall in funding by donating $1.75m to campaign efforts. But the Coalition government was left with a one-seat majority and a fractured party base.
A wise leader would have recognised the error of his ways and sought to repair some of the damage. But Turnbull used a major speech in London to reject the conservative traditions of the Liberal Party and he was rolled before he had a chance to contest another election.
Shortly after being voted out of office, Turnbull claimed: “There was a determined insurgency … both in the partyroom and backed by voices, powerful voices in the media really to if not bring down the government, certainly bring down my prime ministership.”
It gives some insight into the blind nature of hypocrisy. After all, the campaign to unseat Abbott was the most sustained and brutal mobbing of an Australian PM in recent memory. The press played some part in Turnbull’s perception that an orchestrated conspiracy was to blame for his downfall. The Guardian ran a four-part series blaming Rupert Murdoch for his demise. ABC political editor Andrew Probyn featured in an absurd re-enactment depicting media moguls secretly plotting to bring him down. The ABC later conceded the source for the claims was probably Turnbull himself.
The truth is plain enough but won’t sell copy like a cloak-and-dagger conspiracy. Turnbull lost the Liberal leadership because he failed at the job. At his peak, he was a realist and adapted his personal beliefs to political reality. He strengthened his resolve against Islamist terrorism by supporting stronger border controls. He sought to improve investor confidence by arguing the case for deregulation, industrial reform and a less punitive tax regime for businesses. He held the Australian Human Rights Commission to account when it falsely portrayed offshore immigration centres as virtual prisons with armed guards. He dismissed politically correct bigotry against the free world of the West. He could be tough-minded and fair.
Turnbull’s term as prime minister ended because his personal convictions were at odds with core Liberal Party values, and it showed. He looked and sounded like a hollow man. He failed to meet the performance standard he set for himself by losing 38 Newspolls in a row. He committed public funding to pet projects such as the innovation portfolio and climate change experiments that produced no net benefit for the nation. He spent big on plans initially devised by Labor such as the Gonski education reforms that had no impact-evaluation measures included despite a $22bn price tag. He failed to win public support for corporate tax cuts. He neglected to legislate human rights in key areas of concern for classical liberals such as freedom of religion and free speech. He had little talent as a policymaker, divided the party instead of uniting it and demonstrated poor political judgment on numerous occasions.
Turnbull’s memoir is long-awaited and eagerly anticipated. If you are stuck in COVID Coventry and in want of a good political read, there are more edifying works. Try reading about the statecraft of great world leaders. Life is too short to waste on petty vengeance and mean-girl gossip.
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Malcolm Turnbull has a talent for living up to low expectations. In politics, he governed the Liberal Party into the ground. The spoils of war were conservatives. Turnbull allies publicly humiliated and bullied the traditionalists in their ranks. In the process, they debased Australian democracy. After Liberal colleagues recognised Turnbull’s devotion to green-left climate policy and voted him out of office, he resigned from parliament with a chip on both shoulders. Instead of retiring from public life with dignity as many former PMs have done, he has written a tell-all memoir, to be released on Monday. Reported excerpts show Turnbull as a caricature of envy obsessed with the trivial pursuits of petty men.