After losing the prime ministership, Malcolm Turnbull has said farewell to public life this afternoon with only passing criticism of his far-right enemies and an optimistic appraisal both of his achievements as prime minister and the nation’s future.
Addressing the media, staff and colleagues including Simon Birmingham, Marise Payne, Trent Zimmerman and Paul Fletcher in the Prime Minister’s Courtyard, Turnbull declared that he’d achieved far more than he expected as prime minister but had been unable to stop an insurgency both inside Parliament and in the media determined to destroy his leadership. Notably, Turnbull selected his questions at the end of his address and chose Fairfax, ABC and Guardian journalists and only Sky’s Kieran Gilbert from the News Corp stable.
However, Turnbull did not mention Tony Abbott by name and indicated he would be leaving parliament “not before too long”, suggesting Scott Morrison will soon be facing a byelection test in Turnbull’s Sydney seat of Wentworth. Turnbull also rejected the suggestion he had caved in to the right too often as leader, saying his primary goal had always been to keep his party together after learning that lesson in his first stint as leader. However, he said, carbon emissions and energy had the same intensely divisive status within his party as same sex marriage.
He also declined to identify any regrets about his time as PM. One of them must surely be what in hindsight was a disastrous decision to call on a surprise leadership spill on Tuesday morning, which revealed his lack of strong partyroom support and prompted a shark-like frenzy from his internal enemies and Dutton supporters. That culminated in today’s narrow defeat at the hands of his colleagues after 72 hours of the most extraordinary political chaos of recent decades. If just three more colleagues had declined to back a leadership spill, he would still be PM.
For Turnbull, who left his final media conference with his wife Lucy, his daughter Daisy and his two decidedly lively grandchildren, it may or may not be a cause for regret as he leaves the circus of Canberra behind for a new life.
Time for the Republic … sick of Governments who forget who they work for and the system that allows this to happen without firstly asking the people. Ratification …
The past prime minister’s stability,
Was proportionally related,
To his complete inability,
To handle Abbot’s hatred.
Time to assign this mob into opposition to sort themselves out,if that’s possible and give us all a break.Enough is enough.Piss off.
“Notably, Turnbull selected his questions at the end of his address and chose Fairfax, ABC and Guardian journalists and only Sky’s Kieran Gilbert from the News Corp stable.”
He wanted friendly questions, as he’s got from those outlets since before he was PM. He was happy with News Corp’s “Kill Bill” and couldn’t hack it that they weren’t his mates. Something every single ALP leader has to deal with as a matter of course, he and his media boosters are having a good old cry over.
As for “little bitterness”, I remember journalists telling us that when Abbott was promising no sniping and no undermining, so excuse me if I’m not buying it just yet.
Less than 2 weeks ago, Crikey ran the following headlines: “Newspoll shenanigans at the Oz hide an actual Coalition recovery” and “NEG on his face: Turnbull’s energy win shows Abbott for a fool”, yet you show no fear that Turnbull’s “grace” will be just as illusory. OK then.
Bernard Keane has been a shameless Turnbull booster to the end despite his various and endless debacles.
Is anybody surprised?
No matter all his failings, I despise him for his attacks on the ABC….that Murdoch attacked him is richly ironic.
There are so many reasons to despise Talcum that it is hard, and now pointless, to differentiate.
Wasted opportunities and the NBN must rank highly.