http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/malcolm-turnbull/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/turnbull-whisperers-turning-libs-into-a-right-wing-cult/ If the whispering campaign aimed at driving Malcolm Turnbull out of politics succeeds, it will have two effects. It will make the parliament a whole lot stupider and it will make the opposition less representative of the broad spectrum of conservative opinion, cementing the perception that, under Tony Abbott, this party has become much more right-wing than any outfit John Howard ever presided over. The campaign against Turnbull and the dearth of voices rallying to his defence underscores the supine and ineffectual quality of the moderate faction within the Liberal Party. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/turnbull-whisperers-turning-libs-into-a-right-wing-cult/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/turnbull-whisperers-turning-libs-into-a-right-wing-cult/#item6304 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-the-nbn-connect-with-voters/ Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-the-nbn-connect-with-voters/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-the-nbn-connect-with-voters/#item6146 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/schoolyard-scuffles-at-liberal-party-college/ You know all is not well when simmering playground tensions overflow among the senior boys at the nation’s top private school, aka the federal Liberal Party. At the centre of the sparring are school captain Tony Abbott and senior prefect Malcolm Turnbull, who is reportedly keen to reclaim his captaincy after losing the previous student election. The latest incident has been blamed on a roll call tallied by chief classroom monitor Warren Entsch and a tattle tale note passed around the school naming five students who had missed class, including Master Turnbull for being absent on five occasions.  In his defence, Turnbull has questioned the record of attendance and says he was only absent for two lessons of any consequence. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/schoolyard-scuffles-at-liberal-party-college/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/schoolyard-scuffles-at-liberal-party-college/#item5952 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tony-and-julia-battle-for-ratings-with-mal-and-kev-show/ They both have the unpleasant distinction of being among our shortest-lived political leaders – in the case of Malcolm Turnbull, just 13 months as Opposition Leader, in the case of Kevin Rudd, just two years and six months as Prime Minister. The political decline of both men was intertwined with their shared belief in climate change and support for an emissions trading scheme. They also have in common a somewhat imperious manner which grated with their parliamentary colleagues, who have often described them as condescending and aloof. It is unlikely that either man will ever lead their party again. Despite that reality, right now, the two biggest internal problems confronting the Labor Government and Liberal Opposition hinge on both men. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tony-and-julia-battle-for-ratings-with-mal-and-kev-show/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tony-and-julia-battle-for-ratings-with-mal-and-kev-show/#item5950 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/turnbull-is-dancing-to-the-beat-of-a-different-drum/ Last week all six crossbench MPs in the House of Representatives gathered to be photographed for a newspaper with all the ease of men who know they share a loose but important bond. They were Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott from NSW, Adam Bandt from Victoria, Bob Katter from Queensland, Tony Crook from Western Australia, and Andrew Wilkie from Tasmania. Off to the side of the Parliament House courtyard they occupied was another man, not a member of the group, but familiar with them. It was Liberal front bencher Malcolm Turnbull, the shadow minister for communication, and he stood quietly monitoring his iPhone. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/turnbull-is-dancing-to-the-beat-of-a-different-drum/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/turnbull-is-dancing-to-the-beat-of-a-different-drum/#item5512 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-true-cost-of-nuclear-energy/ The image of a child surrendering to be tested for radiation poisoning in Japan is heartbreaking. It reminds me of the iconic picture of Kim Phuc, running naked along the road after being burned in a napalm attack. In 1972, that picture brought home the horrors of the Vietnam War. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-true-cost-of-nuclear-energy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-true-cost-of-nuclear-energy/#item5374 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-turnbull-longshot-that-couldstop-the-nasty-rhetoric/ Tony Abbott is playing hard in his bid for power, but Malcolm Turnbull might offer his colleagues a more elegant solution. In what appeared to be an orchestrated ratchetting up of hostilities this week, senior Coalition figures, one after the other, likened Julia Gillard, courtesy of her backflip on a carbon price (by her own admission, “effectively a tax”) to the murderous and delusional Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Intemperate? Certainly. But it was typical of a febrile atmosphere currently gripping Canberra. The personal vitriol directed at Ms Gillard is now extreme and she has responded in kind, accusing Tony Abbott of baiting on the race issue. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-turnbull-longshot-that-couldstop-the-nasty-rhetoric/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-turnbull-longshot-that-couldstop-the-nasty-rhetoric/#item5302 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/and-the-winner-is-malcolm-turnbull/ In a climate change debate which so far is exclusively about integrity and conviction there is only one winner - Malcolm Turnbull. Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott would not even podium if constancy of belief in climate change policy were an Olympic event - they might not even get through the repechages. There is solid testimony that the Prime Minister, when Kevin Rudd’s deputy, actively lobbied within government last year to have the timetable for an Emissions Trading Scheme dumped because of the unfriendly politics around it. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/and-the-winner-is-malcolm-turnbull/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/and-the-winner-is-malcolm-turnbull/#item5274 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tony-abbott-might-look-safe-but-for-how-long/ Labor was in the box seat as it prepared for the 1983 election but leader Bill Hayden was extra nervous. Even in his first term in Canberra, Bob Hawke was a threat. In a cruel twist of fate, he rolled Hayden on the very day Malcolm Fraser called the election. In power, Hawke soon had Paul Keating’s burning ambition to corral. John Howard held Peter Costello in a perpetual state of leader-in-waiting, a strategy that worked so well that by the end, both men were spent. Even so, had Howard gone under a proverbial bus at any time, no one in the party room doubted who would take over. Kevin Rudd also had a ready made alternative on hand - a fact so glaringly obvious that Labor MPs didn’t wait for any bus. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tony-abbott-might-look-safe-but-for-how-long/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tony-abbott-might-look-safe-but-for-how-long/#item4066 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-old-switcheroo-tony-and-mals-cunning-plan/ Tony Abbott wants to pressure the independents into making him prime minister in coming months without recourse to the people via another election. And the chief battering ram he will use to crack the Labor-independent facade is to be the man Mr Abbott defeated in last year’s show-down over climate change policy, Malcolm Turnbull. The green-tinged Mr Turnbull, also a self-declared internet tech-head, has been named as communication spokesman and specifically tasked with ``demolishing’’ Labor’s signature nation-building plan, the $43 billion National Broadband Network. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-old-switcheroo-tony-and-mals-cunning-plan/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-old-switcheroo-tony-and-mals-cunning-plan/#item4043 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Julia Gillard is hoping a breakthrough broadband announcement made on the eve of her first anniversary as Prime Minister will herald a much needed reconnection with voters. With opinion polls showing support for her Government at the lowest level of any in decades, and her own approval tanking, the timing of the NBN announcement was a handy, if clearly deliberate distraction. But if anything, it was probably undersold, given its weight.