The question Malcolm Turnbull doesn’t have a good answer for

MALCOLM Turnbull is never lost for words but a curly question from shock jock John Laws managed to stump him this morning.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING

• PM draws a blank on Shorten

• He says Labor could win election, but says Abbott had warning
• Submarine contract will be announced soon
• 60 Minutes payments will likely be investigated

MALCOLM Turnbull is never lost for words but a curly question from shock jock John Laws managed to stump him this morning.

During an interview on 2SM, Laws asked the Prime Minister for one characteristic that he admired in Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

Although the PM is generally able to reel out detailed responses to most questions, it was obvious he had never prepared an answer to this one.

One can only imagine the blankness that descended.

Initially, Mr Turnbull seemed to want to buy more time, saying: “I haven’t turned my mind to that.”

After a pause, he said: “I don’t want to say there’s nothing I admire in him.”

It was always going to be a difficult question to answer.

Perhaps Mr Turnbull’s mind turned to the advice that many give job applicants when asked for their greatest weakness? Nominate a weakness that’s actually a strength, such as being a perfectionist.

In this case how could Mr Turnbull turn his opponent’s strength into a weakness?

But after a few more seconds of dithering he could only come up with: “I’ve always got on well with him.”

Finally he tried to explain away his difficulties, saying he hadn’t focused on Mr Shorten’s “personal qualities or deficiencies”.

LABOR COULD WIN

Later Mr Turnbull admitted he thought Labor could win a July 2 Federal Election.

With opinion polls showing voters evenly divided between the Coalition and Labor, the Prime Minister conceded he might lose the nation’s top job.

“Shorten is definitely the alternative prime minister, Labor could win the election,” he said.

But he noted that elections in Australia were always very close.

“53 per cent is a landslide, 52 per cent is a great win,” he said.

Mr Turnbull said he was genuinely surprised at the policies Mr Shorten was setting up because they would stop investment and growth.

Too tough: Malcolm Turnbull struggled to find anything nice to say about Bill Shorten. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian.

In contrast his Budget, to be delivered on May 3, would be prudent, fair and would encourage enterprise.

The Prime Minister was also asked about the Liberal leadership challenge and whether he gave Tony Abbott enough warning.

“There was a spill moved in February of last year, so there is no doubt that he had very ample warning that there were concerns in the party room,” he said.

SUBMARINES

Mr Turnbull promised that a decision on the submarine contract would be announced soon.

When asked whether Australians would be happy with the decision, Mr Turnbull said: “It is my passionate, committed belief that we must spend more of our defence dollars in Australia”.

He said building up the country’s defence capabilities to build ships was crucial to security.

Mr Turnbull said he was putting in place the commitment and infrastructure to ensure the “continuous build” of ships in the country, not just for the next few years, but for the next 30, 40 and 50 years.

60 MINUTES

The Prime Minister was also asked about payments made by Channel 9 to free the 60 Minutes crew from a Lebanon jail.

Mr Laws questioned whether the Australian Securities and Investments Commission may investigate the payment, which some have speculated could be considered a “bribe”.

Mr Turnbull said he had “no doubt” the payment would be of interest to many regulatory agencies.

He also said he thought the operation was “most unwise”.

Originally published as The question Malcolm Turnbull doesn’t have a good answer for