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A cautionary tale…
Rudd, a PM with “four-in-the-morning courage”
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However the fake email saga plays out, it has provided a revealing contrast in leadership styles between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Simply put, Rudd played a blinder this week. While launching a devastating counter-attack on the Opposition and pulling his Treasurer to safety under cover of its fire, he managed to wow the Spanish royals, continued selling the Government’s schools spending package and, by week’s end, shift back to his regular agenda of nation-building and the economy. Every Government question in Question Time yesterday, until Tony Burke’s little epilogue on harming cats, was about its normal agenda. Rudd used the Opposition’s own questions to savage them and Turnbull. Tony Abbott looked almost cowed when he tried to ask about an Age beat-up involving John Grant, stressing he was seeking information only and not making any accusations. It’s clear that Rudd has what Civil War historian Shelby Foote called, in relating to U.S. Grant, “four-o’clock-in-the-morning courage”, a capacity to deal with the worst news at the worst time with coolness and detachment, not merely working out how to respond to it but how to turn it to his advantage. In retrospect, Rudd’s performance last Friday evening, when he launched the Government’s defence and raised doubts about what we learned 72 hours later was a faked email, was critical in laying the groundwork for the siege of Malcolm Turnbull that this week turned into. He calmly but assuredly disputed the email, repeated his central claims, produced documentation to support it, and ended with a joke about having gone to the “quack” and had a cyst removed from his back. For someone who had been accused of corruption and lying, it was a nerveless performance. This week he has progressively ratcheted up the pressure on Turnbull, first with cold fury on Monday, then a calculated assault on the man’s reputation on Tuesday, switching the focus to Turnbull’s leadership and incapacity to lead his party on Wednesday, before using yesterday to show he was focussed on real issues rather than sleaze. It was a carefully-prepared strategy and it redoubled the damage Turnbull had inflicted on himself when he made the foolish decision to pursue the Prime Minister as well as Wayne Swan. Despite the mild demeanour, it is apparent Rudd thrives on a challenge. While he had a huge reform agenda, his first few months lacked drive and a theme. The arrival of the financial crisis changed all that and seemingly energised him. His response can be assessed in the country’s ongoing economic performance, and the fact that the Opposition switched to personal attacks. Now Rudd has shown the same cool capacity to deal with a political crisis, one unfolding over hours rather than weeks and months. Malcolm Turnbull also thrives on a challenge and is undaunted in the face of them. But he has a penchant for high drama that seems ill-suited to good governance. John F. Kennedy reportedly enjoyed reading the James Bond novels. Turnbull seems to like living them, given his preference for cloak-and-dagger stuff. If he’s not summoning Peter Westerway to a clandestine meeting to hand over the goods on Kerry Packer, he’s ambushing a Fairfax director at a meeting with bondholders, swapping death threats with Kerry Packer, talking in code with his British counterpart during Spycatcher – or meeting Godwin Grech at an undisclosed Canberra location to discuss an email. And this week isn’t the first time Turnbull has got into trouble over problematic evidence. His attempt to sue Costigan Royal Commission counsel Douglas Meagher involved what Turnbull called “significant evidence” that showed Meagher had leaked the “Goanna” material. The bloke to whom it was leaked, Brian Toohey, denies it was Meagher. The Packer action was struck out. Turnbull told Annabel Crabb he couldn’t produce the evidence against Meagher as it would have revealed his source. Sound familiar? For Turnbull it appears to be as much — or more — about the conflict and the drama than the substance. The clandestine meeting becomes the substitute for the due diligence and reality check; the aggressive assertion of impropriety is preferred over the painstaking assembly of a solid case; the overreaching happens when much is already to be gained. What would this man be like as Prime Minister? How would he get his daily dose of drama except by keeping the country in a permanent tizz? The Government’s tactical engagement with Turnbull this week reached inspired heights when Anthony Albanese rose and compared him, devastatingly, to Mark Latham. It was funny line, but its real purpose was to reduce Turnbull to a figure of ridicule, a state that few politicians have ever returned from. The same doubts that voters had about Latham’s temperament, his judgement, his lack of detachment, will form in relation to Turnbull if the Government has anything to do with it, even if Turnbull has a dozen times the intellect and real-world experience of Latham. Of course, all is not lost for Turnbull. He may yet get lucky. U.S. Grant had “four-o’clock-in-the-morning courage”, but his presidency was among the worst in American history for cronyism and corruption. |
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28 Comments
Oh well, as long as Michael Jackson stays dead for the next few days, it looks like Malcolm Turnbull is well and truly off the hook with the media:- there’s only room for one story at a time with the short-attention-span crowd.
I think you can guarantee that the PM will never, ever let cronyism of any kind seep into the dealings of his government, from anyone who is an elected member of the ALP.
Before this week destroying Turnbull would have seemed unseemly and excessive. Now the government has been handed ample cause to do so. That may be the major upshot of Turnbull’s bungled assassination attempt.
As illustrated in many movies (I have the attempted assassination of the mayor in ‘Miller Crossing’ in mind) there is nothing like ‘seeing off’ your assassins to confirm your grip on power. Rudd has well and truly dug himself in for the long haul after this weeks events. Turnbull may be on the pension before Rudd relinquishes the prime ministership.
I wonder if there will be a directive from on high to make sure there is nothng in the stables to clean?
Benard K. Malcolm Turnbull’s intellect is more than off-set by his crookedness. That he won the seat of Wentworth by an exercise in branch-stacking reveals a man so patently corrupt and so ambitious that I’m surprised even the Liberal Party gave him the nod. It places the Libs on a rung so low that not even a centipede could get under it.
That Malcolm the Mad should be a product of our legal system does little to endear us to members of this profession.
It is an undeniable fact that there will always be those that will not see, even when the evidence is thrust before their nose. The smart arse holier than thou, we are beyond reproach doctrine of the Liberal Party is oh so well demonstrated by the comment of Victoria Collins. Not having the intestinal fortitude to actually say openly what she is getting at, its couched in terms that simply supports the whole attitude the majority have at this time about Turnbull, his disgraced partners from the Coalition front bench and now the informer Grech. She should take care not to be too fast with the cronyism shot at the Government. I have a feeling in the bones the next six weeks will locate a good deal about the activities of mad malcolm and they will not be to his benefit. he started this nonsense and along with his sewer dwelling rats refused to let go, even when the ‘cat’ was out of the bag. Sharing your problem Victoria, Mad Malcolm gave the “Christian”, the former God fearing seminary attendee, Abbott the task of wearing the boots yesterday to continue the attack on Rudd about a fund raising activity for Rudd by some good citizens of Queensland to cover a Court Case Rudd brought years ago, years ago mind you, and also added to Rudds declarations on the registry. Of course it was a sham, another dead case, not a cold one ,absolutely stone dead and buried. Did Turnbull get the message oh no, he sent the cowering Abbott back to the despatch box with another blank round to fire, and it met the same fate. Abbott almost apologetically whispered had the PM had a meeting with car dealer Grant in China? When? asked the incredulous Rudd. Abbott shrugged his shoulders, he had no idea what he was talking about and it showed. Another pathetic attempt by Mad Malcolm to have one last attempt at scoring one point and it went where all the others had gone, down the dunny back to the sewer to be wept over by the assembled rodent troops.
I thought Abbott, with his deep spirtitual upbringing and desire to wear the collar, the badge of office of the Church would have finally climbed above the deceit, the lies, the sham, the dirt throwing, the character assassination attempts. Not likely. Our Tony still has visions of a higher calling, not in the church but to still climb the lofty heights of power of another type. I doubt he will ever get the chance again.
So thanks Vicky Collins, I bet you felt good about your little effort.
This is a rediculous rose tinted version of history.
On the 8.30 pm ABC tv news update of last Friday Rudd was shown stumbling, quavering, fumbling, white with shock and barely able to make a straight sentence.
That’s a fact. Not altered by the smooth, quite possibly edited version of the very same audio (??) that the ABC radio news bulletins and AM programme ran the next morning.
Indeed the footage that night was not so different from the agonised testimony of Godwin Grech earlier that afternoon.
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So then we go to the “proven” fake email. True enough that line has been sold hook line and sinker to the Big Media, and minor media here, and consequently to the general public.
Problem - who did send the email from Treasury. Julie Bishop pursued this line in Question Time yesterday. Lindsay Tanner had trouble answering not least because it was off the Govt ‘coerced’ narrative.
So who did send the email? Charlton hot desking a work station in Treasury??? Another ALP hack fully knowing a ministerial let alone PMO office cannot do electorate related lobbying for a constituent????
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Ironic really to notice Christian Kerr in The Australian today pick up the Bishop/Tanner interplay and the implication of a fundamental disjunct between the highly conditional and qualified AFP statment and the categorical assertion of a ‘fake, fictitous, forgery’ ad nauseam.
Funny isn’t it how Turnbull has been ridiculed and then proven right on a few other policy stoushes in recent months. And the fat lady at the AFP and court of public opinion hasn’t quite sung yet in my view.
True enough that Rudd to be forced to resign over potential misconduct of a staffer would be travesty of democracy and the election, but true enough also that the Press Gallery only a few weeks or a month back were seriously complaining about deliberate dishonesty of PMO flaks in dealing with their questions.
Cie la vie.
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And lastly the fact Grech may or may have met the Coalition leaders, or leaked, to them before, is frankly a non sequitor as regards the origins of the ostensible ‘Charlton Email’. I notice the two Sydney Murdoch press break to opposite directions on this - with one story in The Oz noting Grech is under suspicion, but SDT specifically declining that smear.
Whose work station in Treasury was it sent from? Which computer was it cut and paste on? Where was Charlton on that day? Where indeed was Lachlan Harris?
I notice that not of the electronic coverage has reported after the AFP questioning ‘two PMO staffers being investigated by AFP’. Yet that was the line after the search warrant on Grech.
Mmm. Cie la vie.
It seems it’s not just Turnbull suffering premature you know what, but also ‘the media class’.
Howard gone,Nelson gone,Costello gone,Turnbull going going………. Even as far away as Perth the sweet aroma of the decaying corpse that was Turnbulls ambition fills the air. Some advice for the next tory leader, don`t bring a knife to a gunfight and think long before you pick a fight with a man known to some as Dr. Death.
Tom, your confusion is so terminal it is beyond help. Why you are so eager to have the email proved genuine is hard to say but despite your obtuse ramblings it is clear that the email was composed by Grech himself - he admitted as much to the Federal Police.
It seems to me, by his groveling praise for Kevin Rudd, that Mr Keane is looking for a job with the government. All politicians are the losers in the OzCar affair. Their so called “political advisers” are seen as doing nothing but to ring up, or write email, to various government departments to push the interests of the mates of their masters.
the real cat will be out the bag when we know how much immoral coercion by Malcolm the Mad and his sidekick senator abetz put on the Goblin for him to suddenly produce that email “come-on Goblin are you sure you had no emails from the PMO’s office” email and suddenly remembered “conversations ” with the PMO’s office that were not presented at the goblin’s last senate grilling!
Couple of your other fantasy ramblings require elaboration Tom. “Funny isn’t it how Turnbull has been ridiculed and then proven right on a few other policy stoushes in recent months”. OK what are they? or is this another figment of the Liberal card carrying rabble. Perhaps you shouldn’t rely on the Muddoch press for your info, that is bound to get you right up a creek, you said so yourself. “I notice the two Sydney Murdoch press break to opposite directions on this - with one story in The Oz noting Grech is under suspicion, but SDT specifically declining that smear.” The Telegraph would be the last authority on anything, its the home of Akerman, The well known Liberal writer of handouts from the Coalition party room. He who has a fixation on every breath the PM takes.
As for your comment on Rudd on the ABC , surprised would be a correct description of his response. Any damn PM would have been surprised had he just (that afternoon) been accussed of corruption, lies and bringing Parliament into disrepute. Further, that was a 50sec edited news grab ( phoned ABC TV News to check) I saw the same short bulletin and didnt see the phony theatrics of Grech on display. Your comments are rubbish and the bleating of yet another blind Liberal.
@DJPL: I don’t mind Tom being blind. It’s his stupidity I question.
All this back and forth seems to me to be missing the point. This whole affair is over an old ute worth around 10 grand maybe? The imputation is it may have been a donation that effectively secured special favours? Whether or not that may have been the case-and it appears that nothing has yet been secured aren’t we missing the elephant in the room here. Last time I looked Australia’s largest greenhouse polluters were donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the labour, liberal and national parties. I’d say they are getting what they paid for. We are witnessing a debate in which the government and the opposition are competing with each other to see who can come up with the most pissweak response to greenhouse emissions while falling over themselves to shovel as much free cash to the industries causing this problem. This ute affair seems to have distracted the entire punditry and press gallery from this issue which has REAL and SERIOUS implications for our future. The govt and opposition disgust me and the journos are equally culpable. Get a grip everyone for gods sake. Policy has been outsourced to Australias biggest polluters in front of our eyes and we are worried about a ute and whether or not some poor twerp faked an email? Give me a break. Unless of course we assume that all those donations are because the big polluters just care passionately about fostering democracy.
Wake up-stop focussing on the parliament like its a beauty contest/footy match and worrying about whos up this week or whose down and get back to the real policy scandals that we are all facing.
Tom McLoughlin - you obviously don’t understand how a computer network or an email server work. If one of Rudd’s staff ‘snuck’ into Treasury and sent an email to Grech, firstly their network log-on would have been recorded on the system. Also, the email’s image would have been left on the email server. The cops have said it’s a fake, they will explain more later I’m sure. Also, ‘Cie La vie’? What language is that? The French say ‘C’est la vie’ - such is life. Turnbull will be saying that as he writes his resignation lateer.
Amazing what one finds when digging is done……..A contributor elsewhere writes…Who else has benefited from gifts similar to that obtained by Kevin Rudd, i.e., the use of a motor vehicle of some kind? Can I really have noted, over a number of elections, that Joe Hockey, has had the use of a vehicle, I would describe as a small table top truck, in his electioneering for the Federal seat of North Sydney? Can I have also noted that a member of his staff had the use of what may be the same or at least a similar vehicle in his campaigns in standing for election to North Sydney Council? Is this sort of ‘gift’, whether as a loan or as a transfer of ownership, something quite normal in the hurley burley of election ‘gifties’?
Goodness gracious can this be true? The loud mouthed Hockey who is still leading the charge over the rust bucket given to the PM in 1992 has much the same. Tsk tsk.
Perhaps Mr Wong (I’m tempted, but far too polite), McLoughlan or Ms Collins would care to check with Hockey’s electoral office.
honestly, this 2-party picture is so facile. every global agro-chemical company in the world is seriously gearing up operations in oz. our soil, seeds, air, rivers and oceans are about to be seriously pumped as synthetic peak oil deniers race us hand-cuffed to the cliff face. why are we all involved in these petty 2-party issues when increasingly government sponsored corporate pop-fascism threatens our landbase and therefore our way of life? who’s covering the real stories – the ones concerning flesh, soil and water, and human and non-human suffering – not the ridiculous abstractions and game playing of overpaid, two-party fraudulent politicians? crikey!
the lobby group ‘crop life australia’ is made up of monsanto, dupont, dow, syngenta and bayer. they parade as a body of agricultural science, but they’ve simply bought out independent science and branded it AgriBusiness. their science is monological illogic or anti-ecological nonsense, but it’s big business and we will once again suffer the greed. a lobby group like this is akin to mcdonalds, hungry jacks, pizza hut, kfc and subway parading as an interest group for kids health. these 10 companies are simply ecological terrorists, the former 5 sponsored by state and federal governments. when terrorism is committed by governments and global corporates it is called something else - virtue.
Garden, your pet rants and glib certainties are irrelevant to this article and discussion. There are plenty of sites that cater to your need to display your all-knowing ignorance. You should unload your stuff there, definitely not here.
David, does the Garden always carry on like this? Quel/lle Bore. All those company names reeled off in a thoughtless hash!
It may assist Bernard if you have a quick check from time to time and as the author of this blog stop such ignorant entries as from the deranged ‘garden’. Its flowers certainly are not flowering. It will also be of great interest if you can check on the Hockey vehicle being used in his elctorate, it is obvious no Liberal contributor will do it. Frankly Im not on the payroll and I checked the false Tom McLoughlin accusation, which a quick call to the ABC sorted. my time is precious.
Actually I’m not a member of any party, though I was a Green Party elected councillor from 1995 to 1999 and lapsed membership in 2000. I helped triple the Greens vote at Bondi, close the dioxin spewing Waterloo Incinerator, prevent a private rail high rise project, and build a $15M sub regional library complex for the masses.
During those days I worked hard to position myself as an honest broker between the lying Labor Party and the privilege of the Liberal Party.
It’s true my grandfather apparently was a confidant of Menzies as a sub editor or similar with the Sydney Morning Herald and helped write The Petrov Affair by spy Michael Bialoguski, but I never met the old bloke, war correspondent etc.
I think it’s even odds that an ALP hack sent the email from Treasury hot desking someone else’s machine. Though like most others I don’t know. I know the AFP have not charged Grech after a whole week. As regards logging on, that’s unreliable as I wrote elsewhere - there are protocols for logging off in big law firms and presumably big govt departments but support staff regularly leave their workstation without doing so leaving the workstation open. That’s human nature. It’s a simple matter to then access hotmail or gmail or similar.
Or maybe Grech did cook it up, but I am just not ready to assume that without evidence. The AFP were entirely equivocal so far. Did the ALP cook up those fakes in South Australia for instance?
True my French is lousy, only surpassed by my moi malo castellano.
It is only “equivocal” if you are trying to avoid the obvious. Your belief that the ALP may have cooked up the South Australian fakes shows you to be something of a conspiracy nutter.
You’re wasting our time, Tom.
Why is it that when something doesn’t work (I like the guy btw) for the PM the media jump up and down on his”young, inexperianced advisors”
The moment he absolutely, totally monsters the other guy, it’s all about Rudd?
Just saying
This week exposed the Coalition as a no guts all wind rabble who still can’t find traction as a credible political force despite the long term services of a senior public servant. Two years after defeat, a string of failed leaders and dummy-spitters the Opposition now comprises rejects, novices and also-rans like Tony Abbott and Eric Abetz. This morning in a bad-taste brown tweed Abbott fronted the ABC to dig Turnbull’s hole much deeper by declaring the pre-Estimates conflab involving Turnbull and Abetz was run of the mill parliamentary interaction despite file vision of Abetz claiming ‘confidence privilege’ because the average workplace chat was highly damaging. Of course Turnbull and co have a case to answer as does Swan but while there’s only one team in this competition Rudd and Swan will find government a pushover.
tom your english is worse.
You will notice my surname is Irish derivation so it’s possibly the Gaelic coming through, which actually is a much older and sophisticated culture than the English, at least before the 19C Famine. Carried the candle of learning during the Middle Ages for all of Europe apparently. Go the Fenians.
No its the abscence of words in your sentences notably verbs.