Comments on: Turnbull does a Downer on popularity

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:55:53 +0000

Steve K: If the Liberals are so desperate that they have to be bank-rolled by a proven crook they should get out of politics and make way for a whole new Party. It is people like the Liberals who were the inspiration of the Orson Wells masterpiece called Citizen Kane. In that scenario every one and every thing was for sale. If Oz has taken this attitude to politics then we have terminally fu-ked ourselves into oblivion.

By: David Sanderson

David Sanderson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:25:31 +0000

Steve K, they don’t mention it because it is not true.

If you were Turnbull would you do it? It would be very unlikely to change the result.

By: djpl

djpl — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:57:52 +0000

Venise I am amazed you are not at the blog ‘Turnbull: why the Liberals should keep him’
I have had the most absorbing dialogue with a Mr Lewis, a nobody, a person with amnesia, a Turnbull. Hockey, Abbott (omg the defunct priest, the catholic church are so embarrased) he is an Abetz supporter, Abetz he a declining believer in the honesty of a Senate investigation of Abetz, the liar. So the good folk of Tasmania can now see what they have representing them. A stage managed user of a pathetic Liberal mole in treasury, a Senator who has declined with his party an investigation by the Senate Priveledges Committee into his involvement about the questioning and prior knowledge of the fool Grech befofore the said Grech spoke the infamous words…I MAY HAVE BUT i AM NOT SURE IF I HAVE…..as Mr Rudd said there are a lot more questions to be answered. Incidently if the said grech is so ill all of a sudden, whybare the media not chasing it up…is there a blackout on his condition?

By: harrybelbarry

harrybelbarry — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:49:41 +0000

Liz45 , then can we burn them at the stake and remove all demons.

By: diggerozzie

diggerozzie — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:39:08 +0000

Cloak and dagger??

Lets fire this up! Its seem obvious that Rudd and his fellow chums have nothing to answer for regarding utegate. Its obviously a error in judgment by Turnbull and he’s just a usless bum.

Right?????

Strange occurances. A similar thing just happened in state politics to SA’s opposition leader Martin Hamilton Smith. He also received a fabricated email which was subsequently released and has also seriously undermined his leadership.

When this went down a few weeks back. I was quite surprised at how aggressively the labor party struck back. There was a barrage of media and Martin was made to look like a dill. It’s only my opinion, but it all seemed very staged.

Maybe Labor thought another bogus email would work on Turnbull too. He also seemed to be standing like a deer in the headlights while labor mowed him down!

If it was a setup, wow!! Awesome tactic!!!!!

NB: This is only speculation.

By: Steve K

Steve K — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:28:57 +0000

Why is it that media opinion writers fail to mention that Turnbull is prepared to bankroll the 2010 Liberal election campaign? The party is broke and without his money they would struggle to promote themselves. That is why he will remain leader. He has basically rented the Liberal Party for a couple of years to see if can deliver him what he so desperately craves.

By: David Sanderson

David Sanderson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:27:06 +0000

Nick Minchin: “It’s good experience.” Perhaps that is what kindergarten teachers say, with a soothing tone, when one of their charges wets their pants.

I wonder how many more “good experiences” Malcolm is going to be blessed with? And will his handlers ever dare let the little adventurer out of the playpen again?

By: Liz45

Liz45 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:39:33 +0000

JACKS - Funny how you also forgot to mention that neither Grant nor anybody else has to date received one cent. You also ‘forgot’ to mention the fact, that the main ‘evidence’ Turnbull had was a fake. You didn’t ask how or by whom this happened? You conveniently didn’t question or put ‘screws’ on Turnbull to tell who his source/s is/are? Is it because you think that coalition members have the divine right to rule; aren’t covered by the same rules that they demand of others, or are you just using the oldest trick in the book - move the discussion on to what suits your stance? Whatever the reasons, you’re now in the same category as Turnbull - you have no integrity, no intelligence, no conviction of what’s right and just, and certainly no remorse or even feel embarrassed enough to demand a truthful answer to many questions. In short, you’re also guilty - of being an accessory AFTER the fact!

Isn’t it amazing, that after the lies, the allegations (that have not been denied by either Turnbull or Abetz, or anyone else for that matter) the Opposition, in their sublime arrogance now want Wayne Swan to reveal why the email originated from the Treasury office? After moving for a judicial inquiry, the Coalition members in the Senate failed to vote in favour of Turnbull’s motion in the House of Reps. I understand, that this is almost a record in the Senate. The question needs to be asked; Is it just for ‘ordinary’ reasons that the Coalition in the Senate didn’t vote for a motion from their Leader? I find this quite amazing.

I want to know how the email was ‘found’ to emanate from Treasury. I want Turnbull and Abetz to answer some pretty basic questions under oath. I want to wait for the AFP and the Auditor General’s reports re their investigations. I want to know if Gelch is going to be charged, and with what - then, if he feels his freedom is in jeopardy, he’ll ‘sing like a canary’! Great!

By: vance

vance — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:46:36 +0000

I turned on the TV last Friday (19th) and I saw Turnbull in all his arrogant glory calling for the PM and the Treasurer to resign. My first thought was that somehow he has convinced himself that he is going to be Prime Minister before the year is out. Wow, he must be so deluded. He probably thought that he was going to initiate another constitutional crisis and get the GG to act and make him PM. LOL. Not that the Rudd lot are going to be much better but at least they are not as racist or as nasty.

By: Possum Comitatus

Possum Comitatus — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:55:02 +0000

Keda,

Howard Mk 1 was Oppo leader when Newspoll started, so I couldn’t trace his satisfaction timeline from the beginning. I have done a chart before of Howard’s leadership that overlapped with Newspoll (along with all the other leaders) if you’re interested:

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2009/02/16/historical-satisfaction-ratings-of-opposition-leaders/

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:46:08 +0000

David: Well said. He even branch-stacked the electorate of Wentworth to gain his seat. All his life he has been getting away with whatever he so wishes. There was a good article in New Matilda, last week, written by Ben Eltham. He brings up a couple of nasty legal scams which Turnbull got away with. The man has no moral parameters of any kind. His whole existence has been by himself, for himself and up himself.
He-if elected-will be the Liberal Party’s nemesis, and Australia’s shame.

By: harrybelbarry

harrybelbarry — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:41:06 +0000

Turnball and abetz/hockey/grech should all be sacked and lose their large tax-payer part of their golden hand shake, after being found guilty of cause. Turnball has form and this is not a person who should be PM of Australia. I think australians are sick of lawyers and barristers running the country and talking to us in a slow calculated way, we are not in court. In china, mal and friends would have be marched out to a brick wall for target practice. Shame ,we are in australia. We could have sold tickets and got rid of the debt of the country.

By: Keda Ley

Keda Ley — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:36:22 +0000

I thought I read recently that JW Howard had a very negative satisfaction rating when opposition leader the first time around. I guess this was pre Newspoll. Is this correct? BTW I am not an oposition supporter.

By: David Sanderson

David Sanderson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:24:22 +0000

Jacks, you don’t even begin to appreciate how half-cocked and amateurish the whole thing was. There are too many instances of this to enumerate them all here so I’ll restrict myself to one example. Once Rudd stated that, after a thorough search, the email could not be found in the PMO system it was obviously incumbent on Turnbull to absolutely ensure that he had the genuine article.

The cocksure dope obviously failed to do any such check. This is all the more amazing as he has indulged in plenty of skulduggery in his time and should have been fully aware of the possible pitfalls.

By: bakerboy

bakerboy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:47:43 +0000

I forgot to mention Turnbull. He could be in big trouble with the law depending on how much Grech sings to save his own backside. If Turnbull (and Abetz and Hockey) are found to have been involved in cooking up the fake email, charges will follow. Notwithstanding that, the Libs cannot win the next election (to be held in early December, I guess) so Turnbull will be allowed to stay, to lose that election and to be replaced by a new leader who may have a chance in 2013.

By: bakerboy

bakerboy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:42:18 +0000

Jacks, Jacks - Grant never was, and never will, be eligible for assistance under Ozcar. The program is for the major vehicle financiers like Ford Credit or the Holden equivalent. If Grant (or any dealer) was to receive assistance, it would have been at the discretion of the major financiers not Rudd, not Ozcar. Grant was knocked back by Ford Credit, so Grant got zilch, zero, sfa. Swan took a bit too much interest in Grant’s case compared with other dealers (who did get some assistance from Swan) but that’s not a hanging offence. Don’t let the facts get in the way of prejudice!

By: Jean Thornton

Jean Thornton — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:19:01 +0000

I think Turnbull is like Peacock - never had any goodwill to start with but as Phyllida says - who are they going to replace him with? It seems that the Libs are playing the good old race card in order to deflect attention from the Ozcar debale (I heard some Liberal MP mention this morning about the number of boat people entering Australia since Labor got in power) so perhaps they could get Ruddock as their new leader!!

By: jacks

jacks — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:17:27 +0000

The Prime Minister is a mate of Mr John Grant, a Brisbane car dealer. For some years Mr Grant has given the Prime Minister the free use of a ute which Mr Rudd uses as his ‘mobile electorate office’.

Mr Grant was one of a large number of car dealers who were concerned that, due to the credit crunch, they may not be able to obtain ongoing finance for their businesses.

To deal with this problem, the Rudd Government has established ‘OzCar’ to provide a $550 million credit facility for car financiers that is 100 percent guaranteed by the Australian Government.

However, unlike every other car dealer:

Mr Grant personally spoke with the Treasurer;
Updates on his case were faxed directly to the Treasurer’s home in Brisbane;
Mr Grant’s mobile phone number was given to the CEO of Ford Credit at the very same meeting as Ford Credit was seeking access to the OzCar funds– along with words to the effect that “he’s an acquaintance of the Prime Minister”;
Despite having a policy of not writing finance for Kia dealers like Mr Grant, Ford Credit promptly rang Mr Grant on his mobile phone to see if they could help.

Why is it a scandal for the Government?

When asked In Parliament why the Prime Minister’s mate got this special treatment, the Treasurer claimed that Mr Grant was treated “just like everybody else”.

Quite clearly he wasn’t.

For all Turnbull knew he was sitting on top of damning evidence. He was doing what the Opposition is supposed to - QUESTION THE GOVERNMENT. The only evidence of any wrong doing is on the party of the government.

By: asdusty

asdusty — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:01:20 +0000

And just like Downer Turnbull has become a stalking horse. He will remain leader thru the inevitable loss at the next election then be toppled by whoever has the numbers in the aftermath…

By: Liz45

Liz45 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:45:51 +0000

Venise, hear! hear! He’s an arrogant bully, who’s puffed up by a sense of his own importance. Fancy living with him! There’s one thing in trying to embarrass an oponent, or accuse them of misleading parliament, but to engage in ‘questionable behaviour’ to bring it about is just plain criminal. To remove a PM or Treasurer via trumped up or contrived ‘evidence’ shouldn’t be explained away at all. He should go - NOW! I don’t want to see or hear from him again. My faith in the people of the country has risen - or at least those who participated in the polls. Coupled with this is the Opposition’s return to Howard’s shameful stance on those wretched people seeking asylum is unforgivable. He’s too gutless to stand up to those excuses for humans, who advocate cruel and inhuman punishment for traumatized people. I’d say to Turnbull, ‘here’s your hat, what’s your hurry’?

By: jacks

jacks — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:45:02 +0000

I remember Alexander Downer… He was incredibly popular by default because of how badly Keating was loathing… of course until he opened his mouth. The more people knew him, the more they disliked him, while all the while he could have just shut up and rode the wave of anti-keating sentiment to the election that Howard did

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:23:41 +0000

Phyllida Ives: “Turnbull’s failing is total lack of judgement”. I can assure you lack of judgement in itself may make people get the irrits, be dismissive, or even to be defensive. But it takes a lot more effort on the part of the parliamentarian to get him/herself cordially loathed by the electorate. It takes terminal arrogance, bullying,
abominable rudeness, a grinding belief that he/she is absolutely, amazingly, pre-ordained to be born for the job. The spectral but atrocious aura emanating like a viscous fog which says “Why don’t these morons realize that I am the one who knows best?” The voice that resonates like a fermenting plum: whose owner fondly imagines that if he repeats a well-rehearsed story often enough the stupid peasants might finally understand the rightness of what he’s saying.

To become this offensive bespeaks years and years of training. Lack of judgement has little to do with it.

By: Cuppa

Cuppa — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:16:49 +0000

Possum,

These are the same Liberals who could not bring themselves to cut old Howard loose. They won’t have the guts to do what needs doing. They will wait for Turnbull to resign - on election night.

By: stephen martin

stephen martin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:45:19 +0000

Well actually Nelson appears to be recovering somewhat on your graph - maybe he could have recovered further if he was left in position. Who knows?
He certainly appears to be preferable to Malcolm Turnbull, still that’s for the Coalition, God help them.

By: PHYLLIDA IVES

PHYLLIDA IVES — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:26:58 +0000

The question is who will replace Turnbull? Turnbull’s failing is total lack of judgement.