Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has issued a dramatic public humiliation of former prime minister Kevin Rudd, announcing that the government will not be nominating him for the role of UN Secretary-General on the basis that he is “not well-suited” to the role.
And on the face of it, there is little to fault Turnbull’s judgment. Kevin Rudd is a toxic egomaniac who can only function in a managerial sense in the extraordinary circumstances of a crisis, but who is entirely unable to operate in a normal management environment. If the UN Secretary-Generalship were decided on merit (which, of course, it never is), he would be lucky to get an interview. But that’s very far from the end of the story.
Turnbull has been forced into this decision by his own weakened position. He came within a couple of seats of losing the election and the right within his party have repeatedly signalled they are prepared to take him on. He currently faces a backbench revolt, partly orchestrated by the right, against the government’s superannuation tax changes.
It’s very likely that, given Julie Bishop’s support and the tradition of backing Australians internationally, had Turnbull been his own man, Rudd’s name would have gone forward — almost certainly to defeat, given Rudd’s chances were slim at best. But with a cabinet split, the issue turned into one about his leadership.
That’s the position that Turnbull now occupies — a wounded leader too busy looking over his own shoulder to worry about how he’s going to look to the electorate. And, regardless of the community’s mixed views about Rudd, this is a very bad look.
What a pathetic leader. You really have to lift your game.
The use of juvenile , ignorant comments on Rudd to provide faux gravitas for your remarks on Turnbull does you no credit.
Juvenile, maybe. But accurate, certainly!
Why suppose that Turnbull is not his own man? I have never thought him incapable of the sort of vindictive partisan decision he made on Rudd. The proper thing would have been to nominate him and leave it up to the UN to decide whether he was suitable. But Turnbull no doubt thinks his judgement should trump the judgement of the UN selection committee, which lacks his own acute observation, so aptly shown in his dealings with Godwin Grech.
That this is Turnbull himself is indicated by his warning to Rudd after the May budget that he should not put himself forward.
A Turnbull government was never going to show the supposed liberal side of Turnbull, which led so many commentators to pin fans hopes on his election to PM on July 2.
Lawdy… If Labor were in power and Abbott wanted this job… I am very sure Labor wouldn’t support him either… A non story.
This is not about Krudd – as noted by everyone & their dog, he would not have made it to an interview, let alone further.
It IS about Talcum’s woeful position – he can’t scratch himself because the time taken is desperately needed to beat off (sic!) his loyal colleagues.
So it’s lucky he had the royal commission come along when it did – to take our attention off this (and the indefinite detention of “potential terrorists”)?