Abbott led the Liberal and National Party coalition to victory in the federal election in September 2013, defeating Labor under Kevin Rudd. On his first day in office he introduced legislation to remove the carbon tax (and later the mining tax) and set in motion Operation Sovereign Borders to stop illegal arrivals into the country as part of his ‘Stop the Boats’ promise while in opposition. He went on to set up a Royal Commission into trade unions, introduced amendments to the Fair Work Act and his government oversaw free-trade agreements with Japan, South Korea and China. But his government quickly fell in the opinion polls and Abbott’s personal standing plummeted as well after the May budget, which was criticised for breaking promises and favouring spending cuts that would hit the poor and vulnerable far more than the wealthy. His government’s legislation struggled in a hostile Senate where a number of independents joined Labor and the Greens in voting down bills.
Abbott, in his first year, made a number of sudden decisions – ‘Captain’s Calls’ – which angered many in his party especially when he re-introduced a limited Imperial Honours System and in January 2015 decided to make Prince Philip a Knight of the Order of Australia. His government’s broken promises, inability to communicate policy and the role of his prime minister’s office built resentment among backbench MPs, as well as continuing a prolonged slump in the polls.
One backbencher announced he would move a spill motion to open up the leadership for contest when the party next met. On 9 February 2015, Abbott’s supporters defeated the spill motion 61 votes to 39, giving him political breathing space but leaving him still under intense pressure to improve his performance and the standing of the government, both still trailing far behind the Labor Party. The party put Abbott on six months’ notice to become more consultative and inclusive in his political style.
A second budget reversed some of the more strident measures of the first surprise budget but Abbott continued to struggle in the polls. His ministers and backbenchers were regularly leaking to the media and it was clear political backbiting had only got worse, not better, since February. Matters came to a head when a leaked newspaper report said Abbott was planning a cabinet reshuffle, interpreted as a move against his opponents – in particular Malcolm Turnbull, leader of the moderate liberal wing of the party. Amid drama no less intense than that of the Labor Party just a few years before, Turnbull announced a challenge on a Monday afternoon. By Monday evening it was all over with Turnbull taking the leadership 54 votes to 44. Deputy leader Julie Bishop won her position yet again. Bishop had been the person to formally break the news to Abbott that he no longer enjoyed majority support within the parliamentary party.
He left office still refusing to accept that he might have been the one to blame for his fall. His critics inside and outside parliament saw a talented and complex man who never got to grips with a leadership role, a man whose vision for Australia was clearly out of touch with mainstream opinion. His enemies described him as the worst Australian prime minister since William McMahon and his government’s legislative program was the thinnest since the McMahon years.
MALCOLM BLIGH TURNBULL
‘RICH DUDE BECOMES PM’
TERM
15 September 2015-
Not since the rapid turnover of prime ministers after the resignation of Robert Menzies in 1966 – six prime ministers in just over six years by the time Whitlam came to office in 1972 – has there been such a revolving door of political leaders. Howard lost the 2007 election and his own seat, and then followed Rudd, Gillard, Rudd, Abbott and now Turnbull.
Like those before him, Turnbull, on his appointment, spoke of the future and an end to the sort of political style that led to his need to challenge Abbott, the man who six years previously challenged Turnbull as the Coalition’s opposition leader and defeated him by one vote. He spoke of ‘renewal’ as he appointed his first cabinet, an attempt to bridge the conservative and liberal wings of the party and its coalition partner, the National Party. He brought in more women – there had only been two women cabinet ministers in the Abbott years – and younger members of parliament, clearly rewarding his moderate supporters but including signficant figures from the conservative wing such as his treasurer and the man tipped as a future leader, Scott Morrison. Polling for the government lifted immediately, and while that had happened to other new leaders, there was little doubt that a very clever and very wealthy man of considerable achievements had taken office.
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull was born in Sydney on 24
October 1954 to Coral Magnolia Lansbury and Bruce Bligh Turnbull. His father was a hotel broker and his mother a radio actor and distant cousin to the British actor Angela Lansbury. His middle name, Bligh, honours an ancestor,John Turnbull, who had supported William Bligh against the Rum Corps in Sydney’s early days. His parents separated when Malcolm Turnbull was nine years old and he was raised by his father after his mother moved to New Zealand and later to the US. Turnbull grew up in the electorate he came to represent and went to Vaucluse Public School and then on a scholarship to Sydney Grammar School where he was co-captain in 1972. For the next five years he studied at Sydney University graduating in Arts and Law and during this time he began contributing articles for Nation Review and working for radio station 2SM and TV station Channel 9 in Sydney.
In 1978 he won a Rhodes Scholarship, studying at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, graduating with honours in Civil Law in 1980. He contributed to newspapers and magazines in the UK, US and Australia and it was during this time that a university don said of Turnbull that he was ‘always going to enter life’s rooms without knocking’. In 1980 he married Lucy Hughes, later a lord mayor of Sydney and a woman of considerable achievements. Originally a Presbyterian, Turnbull converted to Catholicism, the religion of his wife and much of her family. They returned to Australia and a remarkable decade followed.
In 1983 Turnbull left the Sydney Bar to become general counsel for Consolidated Press Holdings Group during which time he defended his boss, Kerry Packer, against allegations raised during the Costigan Commission. He then formed a legal partnership and in 1986 defended Peter Wright, a former British MI5 agent, blocking the British government’s attempt to suppress Wright’s book Spycatcher. A year later Turnbull founded an investment banking company with former NSW Labor premier Neville Wran and Nicholas Whitlam, son of Gough Whitlam. Whitlam left in 1990 but the firm of Turnbull & Partners flourished until Turnbull went to Goldman Sachs, where he was a managing director and then partner. During this time he was a director of a number of related companies but it was his development, then sale, of OzEmail in the 1990s that saw his already considerable wealth grow even more rapidly.
Intertwined with his legal, journalist and business activities, Turnbull showed early interest in politics, standing for pre-selection for the Liberal Party for the seat he now holds, Wentworth, in a by-election in 1981. He lost and let his Liberal Party membership lapse in the 1980s, not rejoining until 2000. He rose quickly to become the party’s treasurer and a member of the NSW and federal executives as well as serving as a director of the Menzies Research Centre, the party’s research organisation.
In addition to all this, from 1993 to 2000 Turnbull was the chairman of the Australian Republican Movement. He accused the then Liberal prime minster, John Howard, of ‘breaking Australia’s heart’ when the referendum for a republic was lost in 1999. Five years later he again sought entry to federal parliament, this time winning a fiercely contested battle among conservatives for Wentworth in the 2004 election.
Less than two years later John Howard promoted Turnbull from the backbench to become a parliamentary secretary for water at a time of widespread drought. By early 2007 Turnbull was environment minister. It was not all a seamless rise, however. In February 2007 Turnbull was criticised for claiming a government allowance of $175 a night in Canberra and paying it to his wife as rent while living in a townhouse she owned there. At the end of that year the coalition government led by John How
ard lost office after eleven years in power, but despite the huge swing against the government, Turnbull increased his majority in Wentworth.
Howard lost his seat and Turnbull made a run for the leadership but was defeated by Brendan Nelson. Ten months later Turnbull made another run and took the prize in September 2008. Then, just over a a year later in December 2009, largely over the issue of climate change, Turnbull was challenged by Abbott who took the leadership by 42 votes to 41 on a second ballot.
In 2010 Turnbull considered leaving politics but was persuaded by former prime minister John Howard to stay on. In the federal election later that year Turnbull gained an 11 per cent swing and was promoted to the position of shadow communications minister. He was often at odds with the dominant conservative wing of the party on the issue of same-sex marriage and other social policy, including government intrusion into digital privacy. Turnbull was considered tech savvy and up-to-date on emerging businesss opportunities, plus he was seen as having a more nuanced approach to foreign policy than the often simplistic and aggressive style of Tony Abbott.
When Tony Abbott led the party to victory in September 2013 Turnbull became communications minister. Despite his public protestations to the contrary, Canberra insider gossip never left alone the possibility that he would one day challenge Tony Abbott, especially if the government continued to do badly in the polls. Turnbull kept his powder dry in February 2015 when a backbench revolt brought the leadership into question. His decision not to challenge saved Abbott for the time being but put him on notice that unless he improved his leadership skills he would be gone before the year was out.
On 14 September 2015, after a thirtieth consecutive poll headed southwards and Abbott’s popularity continued to slump, Turnbull struck. Coalition MPs had decided that Abbott had been given a strong warning about his leadership but had not heeded it. Despite the conservative wing’s dislike of Turnbull, pragmatism triumphed over ideology and small-’l’-liberal Turnbull seized the day.
Of all the media coverage, the quirky tabloid in Darwin, NT News, seems to sum up Turnbull’s rise best with its headline: ‘Rich dude becomes PM’. Turnbull was, after all, the wealthiest member of parliament until Clive Palmer was elected in 2013. Less kindly, Turnbull’s enemies refer to him as the member for NetWorth, as the seat of Wentworth includes the most expensive real estate in Australia.
Turnbull’s critics claim his ego and arrogance will bring him undone, as it did before. That remains to be seen. But what is clear is that the Liberal Party under Turnbull will move back closer towards the centre-right of Australian politics and, in the short term at least, will make life harder for the Labor opposition.
CONCLUSION
THE ROAD AHEAD
(2015- )
As Australia emerged from the first hundred years of Federation and crossed the threshold into the twenty-first century, it did so with a sense of pride and self-satisfaction with its many achievements. Yet while events such as the landing of the ANZACs and the war in the Pacific strengthened and united the nation, more recent events such as the Tampa crisis and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have challenged the country’s traditional notion of national identity.
Following Federation, Australia, as a former British dominion, remained politically, socially and economically tied to the ‘mother country’. Cracks in the relationship first surfaced during World War II when, faced with the threat of a Japanese invasion, Australia turned to the United States for help. As the country then approached the new millennium, there was a resurgent nationalism and the question of Australia becoming a republic was raised. Despite opinion polls clearly indicating that the majority of Australians wanted a republic, the 1999 referendum failed because of arguments over the type of model to be instituted. After the events of 11 September 2001 and the subsequent ‘war on terror’, the question of a republic took a back seat as the country became consumed by more pressing concerns, most notably climate change and globalisation. With Howard’s coalition government seen as out of touch, the Labor Party under new leader Kevin Rudd swept back into power in late 2007.
The quick-fire removal of Rudd, Gillard and Abbott by their own parties has produced a sense of leadership instability. Australia is in the midst of another great period of change as the economic outlook becomes uncertain after prolonged and remarkable prosperity. In addition, despite immigration, Australia’s population is ageing. The rise of Asia, including China and its tensions with its neighbours, particularly Japan, raises new questions of security. Technological advances are shaking the old business models and structures.
According to polling research, the electorate feels neither of the main parties is properly addressing these fundamental changes. Politicians are seen as failing to define, encapsulate and offer a vision – something Turnbull has stated he is determined to address. For their part, politicians see their actions scrutinised instantly, intensely and incessantly through social media and other online media outlets. Old notions of political loyalty, especially of keeping quiet, are harder to enforce and the job of any prime minister will not get easier.
GLOSSARY
ACTU: Australian Council of Trade Unions.
ALP: Australian Labor Party.
ANZAC: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
ANZUS: Australia, New Zealand and United States.
Assembly: A new assembly commences after each general election. An assembly ends upon its dissolution of parliament by the governor-general, on the request of the prime minister, or upon the expiry of the maximum time it is permitted to continue by law (approximately four years). A general election then follows.
Cabinet: The cabinet is the council of senior ministers who are responsible for managing the policy directions and business of the government. While the cabinet is appointed by the prime minister, who is also its chair, officially it is the governor-general who controls appointments.
Caucus: A meeting held outside of chambers of the members of the House of Representatives or Senate who belong to the same political party, to elect leaders, discuss party policy on particular issues and determine tactics.
Double dissolution: A double dissolution is the termination or dissolution of both houses of parliament (the House of Representatives and the Senate) and the calling of an election for all members and senators. The governorgeneral usually announces a double dissolution at the request of the prime minister.
Executive: While it is the legislature or parliament that makes the laws, it is the executive that puts the laws into practice and polices them. The executive branch of government is therefore responsible for the administration of government business.
GST: Goods and Services Tax.
House of Representatives: The House of Representatives is the ‘lower house’ of parliament. Members are elected from single-member constituencies, usually referred to as ‘electorates’ or ‘seats’. Government is then formed by the party with the majority in this house.
Parliament: Australia’s parliament consists of three main elements: the Queen, who is represented by the governorgeneral; the House of Representatives; and the Senate. Parliament itself is bicameral, meaning that there are two houses: the lower and upper house. For a bill to pass it has to be with a majority vote in both houses in order to create a new law.
QANTAS: Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service.
Senate: The Senate is the ‘upper house’ of parliament and is also the ‘States House’ as each state is represented by an equal number of senators.
SBS: The Special Broadcasting Service, a television station which predominantly broadcasts foreign news and films.
UAP: United Australia Party.
UN: The United Nations.
US: The United States of America.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Bolton, Geoffrey, Edmund Barton, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 2000.
Brown, Wallace, Ten Prime Ministers: Life Among the Politicians, Longueville Books, Sydney, 2002.
Edwards, John, Keating: The Inside Story, Viking, Melbourne, 1996.
Fricke, Graham, Profiles of Power: The Prime Ministers of Australia, Houghton Mifflin Australia, Ferntree Gully, 1990.
Grattan, Michelle (ed.), Australian Prime Ministers, New Holland Publishers, Sydney, 2000.
Hawke, Bob, The Hawke Memoirs, William Heinemann Australia, Melbourne, 1994.
Holliman, Joanne, Century of Australian Prime Ministers, Murray David Publishing Pty Ltd, Sydney, 1999.
Hughes, Colin, Mr Prime Minister: Australian Prime Ministers, 1901-1972, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1976.
Irving, Helen (ed.), The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1999.
Jaensch, Dean, The Liberals, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1994.
Johnson, Carol, The Labor Legacy: Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam, Hawke, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1989.
Johnston, Marjorie, The Menzies Era, 1949-1966, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1987.
Kelly, Paul, November 1975: The Inside Story of Australia’s Greatest Political Crisis, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1995.
WEBSITES
ALP, Australian Labor Party - www.alp.org.au
Australia’s prime ministers, National Archives of Australia - www.primeministers.naa.gov.au
Liberal, Liberal Party of Australia - www.liberal.org.au
PEO (Parliamentary Education Office) - www.peo.gov.au
INDEX
A
Abbott, Anthony John 3, 154, 155–160, 166
Aborigines included in census 97 land rights 114, 115, 133
administration, government in 44
ANZUS security treaty 87
apartheid, opponent of 124
First Among Equals Page 9