Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm "Sugar Bomb"Burke, Liz, "Malcolm Turnbull nicknamed ‘sugar bomb’, ‘sweet dumpling’ in China", Crikey (9/16/15 at 7:20pm). Hey, Daddy ♪ I want a diamond ring, bracelets, everything ♪ TrumbleDaniel, Zoe, "Donald Trump's mixed messages, that phone call and Malcolm 'Trumble'", ABC News (4 Feb 2017, 3:41pm). TurncoatHanson, Pauline, "Turncoat Turnbull", One Nation 9.14.16. TurdballCrikey list: political nicknames, 6.22.13. "When at Goldman Sachs, [he was] known as Turbo when being 'powerful and dynamic', and Turdball 'when high-handed' (according to former colleague)" Turnbull is an economic hit man,Carson, Vanda, "Turnbull, Adler to face $530m HIH damages claim", The Age 6.23.07.Whitley, Angus, "Want to Be Prime Minister? Go Join Goldman, Merrill or Deutsche", Bloomberg (9/1615, 7:00 AM PDT). former Australian Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party. He's an ex-banker and ex-lawyer who sees himself as a thoroughbred. He was really just the sacrificed Yoshi used to make a jump in a Mario level. 
Turnbull may have presented a more measured face (small-l "liberal") to the public than the open lunacy that was Abbott; however, he still echoed the far-right's mad ramblings and was beholden to the same internal factions.Aston, Joe, "Aussie John Symond hosting fundraiser for Malcolm Turnbull", AFR (Updated 12/1/15 at 12:53 PM).Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker, "Mafia adviser's meetings with Malcolm Turnbull, MPs", The Age 5.23.15. Labor + Unions = Royal Commission. 
Liberals + Mafia = Lunch.Boruke, Latika, "Election 2016: Malcolm Turnbull captured headlining fundraiser at Cory Bernardi's conservative foundation", SMH 6.3.16.Gartrell, Adam, "Election 2016: Malcolm Turnbull won't want to rely on Bob Katter to remain PM", SMH 7.6.16.Gartrell, Adam, "'No complaints': Malcolm Turnbull defends Brethren donations to Liberal Party ", SMH 7.18.16. Sheeeeeeeeit. Despite this, many in the Coalition considered Turnbull to be a Labor plant, a fellow traveller, or simply disloyal for not leaning far enough to the right.
Turnbull always argues for both sides of the argument, e.g. taking selfies at a pride parade held in his electorate, then turning around and supporting a referendum that the marriage equality side will surely lose. By fluffing the debate with silly lawyer tricks (using similar language in different contexts), he can make each opposing group think he is on their side. But he is friendlier than Tony and looks better in a suit.Brook, Benedict, "Labor leader Bill Shorten slams Malcolm Turnbull, calling him “half hearted” when it comes to equality", news.au (3/8/16 at 4:23pm).Matthew Knott and James Massola, "Turnbull government at war over funding for same-sex marriage plebiscite" SMH 9.11.16.
In 2018, having changed nothing and facing horrendous polling as a consequence, Turnbull was challenged for leadership by Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison, both in the same week. He beat Dutton but lost to Morrison, who became Prime Minister instead.
== Business experience ==
In addition to his family fortune, Turnbull started his own investment firm (Whitlam Turnbull & Co) and was also chairman of an internet startup called OzEmail. He hardly needs the money, which is one of the upsides in having a very wealthy leader: less likely to take donations! Ah yes, the rich are famously reluctant to further grow their wealth.Hewett, Jennifer, "Defiant Turnbull defends role in FAI sale", SMH 5.14.02.Coorey, Phillip, "Turnbull holds $10m network conflict", SMH 11.22.10.Patrick, Hatch, "Panama Papers: Things 'not quite kosher' at Malcolm Turnbull's Siberian gold mine " Brisbane Times 6.14.16.James Robertson, James Massola and David Wroe, "Bill Shorten attacks Liberal-Parakeelia 'scam'; Malcolm Turnbull, Mathias Cormann dodge", SMH 6.15.16.Nicholls, Sean, "Malcolm Turnbull's $2m donation exposes him as a hypocrite", SMH 8.5.16.Aston, Heath, "Labor attacks Malcolm Turnbull over investments in Cayman Islands tax haven", SMH 10.15.16.Robertson, James, "Department fixes 'error' following questions about Malcolm Turnbull election eligibility", SMH 11.8.16.
== Opposition leader and ousting ==
Turnbull became the leader of the opposition in 2009. He has always been out of his league when it comes to politics: A number of factors led to his downfall, namely his botch-up of the federal car loan program (otherwise known as "Utegate" or the OzCar affair).Rodgers, Emma, "OzCar scandal: controversy explained", ABC (Updated 7/22/09 at 3:58pm). 
More commendably, Malc has always believed in climate science (it's why he got bounced in the first place), and he supported emissions trading against the wishes of his party.Sharp, Ari, "Turnbull blasts Abbott's 'bullshit' climate change stance", SMH 12.7.09.Gratten, Michelle, "Malcolm Turnbull and his emissions trading scheme shadow", The Conversation (9/25/15 9.30am EDT). Once Malcolm got dropped as opposition leader, he went off his nut. When the chance came to take the job again, he capitulated to the ones who dumped him. 
== Minister in Abbott Government ==
Abbott was elected Prime Minister in 2013, and Turnbull went from Shadow to actual Communications Minister. Turnbull was responsible for overseeing construction of the National Broadband Network, which became a half-measure and blew out in its costs under his watch. (He's an investor, not an internet maven.)LeMay, Renai, "Quigley releases detailed evidence showing MTM NBN cost blowout", Delimiter 5.11.15.
It was a clever play by Abbott. The Communications portfolio was a poisoned chalice in 2010, as it was running against Labor's hugely popular fiber-to-the-premises policy. So what does he do? Give it to the guy he beat by 1 vote in a party leadership spill:"Shock win for Abbott in leadership vote", ABC (Updated 11/30/09 at 3:54pm). Turnbull. No way Abbott could run for re-election on such an inferior policy, and by pushing it,Jonathan Swan and Lucy Battersby, "How Malcolm Turnbull was ambushed by the Coalition's own internet policy", SMH 9.6.13. Turnbull's own popularity would fall.Knot, Matthew, "'Short-sighted, expensive and backward looking': ex-NBN boss blasts Turnbull's plan", SMH 6.23.16. It has to be dead, buried, and cremated. Despite it being an utter failure, NBN Co. is still the greatest achievement of his tenure as Communications Minister—and now PM.Duckett, Chris, "Turnbull claims NBN reboot as great Coalition achievement", ZDNet (10/11/16 at 5:10 AM GMT). This is like when you're applying for your first job and have to desperately clutch at straws to put something on your resume.
The worst part is how the media didn't rip him to shreds over this or the piracy filter.Eltham, Ben, "FALSE BALANCE: ABC coverage of the NBN since September 2013", New Mathilda 1.22.16.Grubb, Ben, "'It's not a filter': Malcolm Turnbull's anti-piracy crackdown wordplay defies logic", SMH 12.11.14. He should have been a carcass a long time ago but instead he becomes PM.
== Prime Minister ==
Despite all this, Turnbull was consistently ranked in opinion polls as the preferred Leader—and Prime Minister. In September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull deposed Tony Abbott. His Business as Usual attitude in the first week was a bit strange and confused a lot of people. Why change leaders if the policies are going to remain the same? There was supposed to be a huge bounce in the polls, like when Rudd replaced Gillard and Labor went from looking at electoral wipeout to leading 53-47. If the 51-49 polling results were the "honeymoon period" for Turnbull, then his only hope for survival is to shift towards the centre.Hudson, Phillip, "Newspoll: Malcolm Turnbull’s appeal grows, but parties locked", Australian (10/12/15 at 12:00AM).
That hasn't happened. Turnbull largely supports the same agenda as the Abbott GovernmentGartrell, Adam, "Numbers suggest Malcolm Turnbull's government IS pursuing Tony Abbott's agenda ", SMH 3.22.16. — including climate change denial and funding cuts to research and education — though he is less embarrassing than Tony by a wide margin. Abbott safely became the scapegoat for a host of so-called "zombie measures" that are still being pushed through Parliament.Martin, Peter, "Budget 2016: Tony Abbott's 'zombies' add billions to Malcolm Turnbull's first budget", SMH 5.2.16.Massola, James, "Malcolm Turnbull's '25-point battle plan' actually lots of old, failed measures", SMH 8.29.16. 
On election night 2016, before they started counting the votes, experts called a safe win for Turnbull. The election was fought over the question of are unions bad? and "class warfare". They've been trying to shoehorn the term and related buzzwords ("politics of envy","mum & dad investors") into the debate for a long while−a result of importing Republican spin doctors and copying their strategies.Hutchens, Gareth, "Ronald Reagan's economic adviser brought to Australia to promote lower taxes", SMH 3.15.16.
Post-election, the government has been farcical. Turnbull and co. were banking on the marriage plebiscite eating up all the airtime. Once the Catholics put a kibosh on it, they started scrambling for something, anything, to look like they are actually governing. You had radio hosts shouting about the Racial Discrimination Act (18c) and guest workers (impose a harsher tax on people who are already exploited pretty badly)—which, whatever side of it you come down, is a pissant little nothing to spend so much energy on.Hunter, Fergus, "Malcolm Turnbull turns attack on ABC and the 'elite media' for distracting people", SMH (11/1516 at 9:12AM).Leigh Sales and Myles Wearring, "Peter Costello says backpacker tax a waste of time; One Nation has 'mainstreamed itself'", ABC (12/6/16, 2:20am).
===Same as the old boss===
Either unable or unwilling to protect his left flank, Turnbull quickly abandoned all pretense of being a moderate and governed just like his predecessor:
*Looking back, Tony was more misguided than corrupt. He used to sneak in the back door of the Herald Sun offices to his meetings with the editors. Turnbull is more open about it.McIlroy, Tom, "Rupert Murdoch's editors dine with Malcolm Turnbull at The Lodge", SMH (10/16/16 at 10:58PM).
:News Corp also wanted Tony to abolish the "two out of three" law which was preventing them from buying more TV stations. Tony looked into it, but even he could see that securing Murdoch's monopoly on Australian media was not a good thing for democracy.Knott, Matthew, "Rupert Murdoch looms large as Labor weighs cross-media ownership changes", The Age 11.17.15. Malcolm, on the other hand?Borrello, Eliza, "Cabinet gives green light to media laws shake-up", ABC (Updated 2/23/16 at 11:24pm).
*Abbott made his Labor-appointed board members "reapply" for their positions, then gave them to his cronies instead. He politicised ambassadorial postings by awarding them to friends. Just one of many awful conventions and precedents that Turnbull is continuing.Keany, Francis, "George Brandis not aware of donation to LNP from solicitor he promoted to Appeals Tribunal", ABC (Updated 9/8/16 at 3:54am).Hunter, Fergus, "Labor labels George Brandis 'corrupt' following new Justin Gleeson revelations", SMH (11/25/16 at 1:21PM). This current cabinet has got not one, not two, but three ministers with defense-related portfolios.Greene,Andrew, "Confusion reigns as Australia's defence ministers yet to confirm ministerial powers", ABC (Updated 17 Oct 2016, 6:11pm). Turnbull created the extra two positions as a knifing for stabbing Abbott. (Also, it was "inappropriate" for Labor to appoint a Consul-General months before an election—but perfectly fine to appoint judges for vacancies that don't exist yet?')Lowe, Adrian, "Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks sacked by Julie Bishop in 'vindictive' decision", SMH 9.10.13.Tingle, Laura, "Election 2016: Turnbull government makes 103 last minute appointments before poll", AFR (Updated 5/6/16 at 7:28 PM).
:Fortunately, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (LNP 07-13) wrote a letter of documentation in case Turnbull should backflip on his appointment.Patel, Uma, "Malcolm Turnbull hits back at Kevin Rudd over release of 'private, confidential' letters", ABC (Updated 8/1/16 at 6:43am). This gloating tweet made it abundantly clear that Abbott's people shafted Turnbull on his pick; the harm done to Rudd was collateral damage.
*The idea behind a double dissolution is that, if the Senate keeps rejecting the House's bills, then Parliament goes home, and you can elect a new one.Peatling, Stephanie, "Double dissolution election: What is it and why did Malcolm Turnbull call one?", SMH 5.9.16. (And, it must be noted, if the Americans had this system, they would not have had that government shutdown) Abbott had the trigger for almost his entire term: he never pulled it, because he knew he would be ousted.
:Turnbull is burning up political capital like it's for free, hoping to capture the Senate...Anna Henderson and Stephanie Andersen, Kenny, Mark, "Malcolm Turnbull ready to call July 2 double dissolution election if IR bills rejected again", ABC (Updated 3/20/16 at 9:04pm). only his DD was about as useful as a blind man in a titty bar. Leaving aside the triviality of calling it over a labor dispute,Anderson, Stephanie, "Malcolm Turnbull confirms ABCC will trigger double dissolution election", ABC (Updated 4/19/16 at 7:41am). Senate's as feral as before (if not moreso), it set One Nation up to get four seats,Doherty, Ben, "Pauline Hanson elected to Senate as Turnbull's double-dissolution gamble backfires", Guardian (Last modified on 7/4/16 at 3:18 AM EDT). and now he's on a razor thin margin in the House of Reps. Hardly his finest plan.
*Australia's vibrant arts and culture sectors, from theaters and literary journals to art magazines and other forms of expression, will get slashed across the board; several arts institutions may be forced to close as a result.Spicer, David, "Arts organisations nationwide in jeopardy after Australia Council funding cuts", ABC (5/12/16 at 3:05am).Carter, Lucy, "Sounds Australia: Music industry condemns decision to strip funding from hit-making agency", ABC (Updated 5/11/16 at 3:43am). Conservatives generally have a problem with truth in art.Robbin, Marika, "Archibald winner Lewis Miller destroyed Malcolm Turnbull portrait after future PM said he looked 'big, fat and greedy'", news.au 1.27.16.
*So that's the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,Gordon, Michael, "Election 2016: Cashed-up marginal seat ABC campaign another headache for Malcolm Turnbull", 6.1.16.Knott, Matthew, "'A fundamental challenge to the ABC's independence': ABC chair unloads on Turnbull government", The Age (11/2/16 at 5:52PM). the Australian Medical Association,Lee, Jane, "Australian Medical Association joins campaign against Medicare rebate freeze", SMH 5.14.16. Australian Dental Association,ADA, "New Dental Scheme — Was It Given a Moment's Thought?", 4.23.16. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners,Dunlevy, Sue, "GPs launch attack on PM Malcolm Turnbull in ‘you’ll pay more to see a doctor’ TV ads", news.au (5/29/16at 12:25pm). Department of Immigration and Border Protection,Toscano, Nick, "Turnbull told to 'fix this mess' as strikes return to airports", SMH 8.4.16. and the Specsavers guy,Aston, Heath, "'Shouldn't have gone to Specsavers, Malcolm': Optical tycoon launches Turnbull attack ads", The Age 6.1.16. all campaigning against Turnbull. It's impressive how many employment organisations on top of the regular trade unions he has managed to offend. At least he has John Symond and the banks in his corner.
*Supply and demand, Mr. Turnbull. Construction industry is booming, so of course wages should rise.Karp, Paul, "Turnbull vows to stop 'excessive' pay rises for construction workers ", Guardian (Last modified 6/4/16 at 3:20 AM EDT). And isn't the ABCC supposed to investigate crime and misconduct (not try and ratfuck other trade unions)?
*Raising education fees, whilst shrinking education budgets. What Turnbull failed to mention is here is that each time the price goes up for the students, it is also going up for the government. He isn't saving public money by doing this. Credit to Lambie and the Palmer senators for shooting this down.Andersen, Stephanie, "Turnbull Government shelves university fee deregulation plan, Education Minister Simon Birmingham confirms", ABC (Updated 9/30/15, 11:37pm). I gotta say, today was a good day.
*In a rare (for Australians) display of sanity, he nearly lost his parliamentary majority in the 2016 election, to Bill Shorten, of all people. Cue whining from LNP, despite their own Attorney General, George Brandis, personally overseeing the recount (which was sketchy in itself).Hutchens, Gareth, "Herbert nailbiter: Labor asks for George Brandis to cease vote scrutiny", Guardian (7/24/16 at 5:17 AM EDT).
* #CensusFail. One million submissions was double their projections (500,000/hour), and the website fell over. There was a lot of arm-waving at invisible "foreign actors" who DDOS'ed the online census. Cui bono?Karp, Paul, "Census 2016: outage due to 'overcautious' response, not hacking, government says", Guardian (Last modified 8/10/16 at 12:07 AM EST).
:Turnbull finally admitted that the IP block went plooey, going as far as to blame "hardware failure," but assured everybody that "your data is safe.""Your census data is safe: Malcolm Turnbull" Channel 9 News via Associated Press (8/10/16 at 11:55am). Well if Mister Broadband said it, that puts us much more at ease. It's not like his own commissioner was investigating whether the shutdown of the site compromised privacy."Privacy investigation into census attacks", SBS via Associated Press (8/10/16 at 3:42pm). After all, there is no security breach if nobody is allowed to look for one (nor talk about one)!Coyne, Allie, "Brandis wants two-year jail sentence for re-identifying govt data" IT News (10/12/16 at 6:07 PM). 404 corruption not found.
*The Liberal Party is having a go at publicly-funded "elite media" since it annoys Australia's real-life Bond villain. Turnbull just got finished watering down media regulations, and the ABC is headed by a Liberal appointee,Meade, Amanda, "Top Liberal aide takes senior role at ABC to ensure 'constructive relationships'", Guardian (Last modified 8/11/16 at 5:22 AM EDT). which is why the Institute of Public Affairs are invited on regularly. Turnbull is the "media elite" he despises.
:Malcolm himself spoke about amending the Racial Discrimination Act on the ABC. All of a sudden, it's the ABC's fault for covering an interview which he gave.
*Lost a majority vote for the first time since the 1960s.Kozoi, Michael, "Shock as Turnbull government loses three votes on floor of House of Representatives", SMH 9.1.16. A government reliant on Dutton to win votes? Might as well call the election now. And again a month later.McIlroy, Tom, "Turnbull government accidentally supports Labor in second embarrassing parliamentary blunder", Canberra Times (10/12/16 at 8:16PM). This is the sort of comedy you expect from third parties.
*Established a banking inquiry. Not a Royal Commission, just an inquiry.Amy Remeikis and James Massola, "Turnbull government facing its first defeat in Senate vote on banking royal commission", SMH 8.31.16. The banks are not actively trying to stop the tribunal, and the words he used to describe it are "inexpensive" and "quick", i.e. it won't have any civil or criminal investigative authority.Chain, Gabrille, "Banking inquiry told it does not have powers of royal commission", Guardian (Last modified 10/26/16 at 6:21pm EDT). Another paper tiger to go with the defanged APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) and ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission).Hutchens, Gareth, "Malcolm Turnbull takes on Institute of Public Affairs over superannuation changes", Guardian (5/11/16 at 12:11 AM EDT).Hutchens, Gareth, "Journalists urge Malcolm Turnbull's government not to privatise Asic registry", Guardian (9/12/16 at 12:50 AM EDT).
:It doesn't speak well of his judgement: he actually thought the public would back him up while he was defending the banks from Shorten's Royal Commission."Coalition loses first vote in lower house as Labor pushes for Royal Commission into the banks", news.au (9/2/16 at 4:42pm).
*You know this government is in trouble when John Howard is more progressive than them. Howard was the one who enacted the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and National Firearms Agreement, and now it's his own party who will tear them down.Hepburn, Samantha, "Turnbull wants to change Australia’s environment act - here’s what we stand to lose", The Conversation (10/30/16 at 3:06pm EDT).Farr, Malcolm, "Malcolm Turnbull won’t take David Leyonhjelm’s shotgun demand off negotiating table", news.au (10/18/16at 2:19pm). The NFA is perhaps the only Howard legislation which has massive support across partisan lines.Belot, Henry, "Adler row: PM Malcolm Turnbull rebukes Tony Abbott in stoush over banned shotgun", ABC 10.20.16.
*In an increasingly mail-order world, the post office is being downgraded. The internet must be a big and scary place to him.Pedley, Nick, "Post offices at risk of closure due to government indecision over Australia Post corporate plan, operators say", ABC (Updated 11/27/14, 7:26pm).
*All I Want for Christmas is my AAA Rating... Whatever happened to that "budget emergency", anyway?Belot, Henry, "MYEFO: Deficit to increase by more than $10 billion", ABC (12.19.16). When the government's entire legitimacy is predicated on being economic managers and they fail to do so by every metric, even the arbitrary ones they set for Labor and themselvesMcIlroy, Tom, "Recession talk 'alarmist': Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison", Canberra Times 12.8.16. ScoMo: Labor ate my homework.Belot, Henry, "Scott Morrison draws good and bad debt distinction ahead of budget update", ABC 12.14.16. (while voting themselves bigger perks, staffs and salaries),Mannheim, Markus, "Public servants' salaries still effectively frozen ... except for senior executives", Canberra Times 8.11.16.Reynolds, Emma, "The Eye-Watering Extent of Pollies' Perks as Double-Dipping Scandal Emerges", news.au (5/24/16 at 9:59am). via that notorious pinko publication, News Corp. then this is further proof of their irrelevance.
==== Budget mess ====
Abbott had a short window where voters believed in a "budget emergency". The '15 budget made no mention of an emergency, yet it handed out tax deductions like they were candy. Suddenly crying poor after those cuts has only aroused cynicism.Martin, Peter, "Fairfax-Ipsos poll: First Turnbull budget gets election 2016 off to a shaky start", The Age 5.9.16. 
First came the Goods and Services Tax. Turnbull's treasurer, Scott Morrison, asked for a model to increase a regressive tax in order to cut a progressive tax. As though he had zero understanding of basic economics.James Massola and Mark Kenny, "Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison face backbench backlash if Liberals hike GST", SMH 2.4.16. (This from a man with a degree in "Economic Geography".) He finally agreed to scrap the GST hike, since consumption taxes affect the poor more than the rich, so it's effectively lowering taxes on the wealthy while raising them on the poor.Martin, Peter, "Scott Morrison's tax change would have taken from the poor and given to the rich", Canberra Times 2.12.16.
According the now-infamous '16 budget, Scott's plan will benefit the wealthiest top 30% at the expense of the lower 70%.Long, Stephen, "Budget 2016: Rich get the benefits from Scott Morrison's tax reforms", ABC (Updated 5/3/16 at 2:54am). You'll just have to trust Malcolm's forward estimate on where this $50b of corporate tax cuts is going to come from.Gordon, Michael, "Budget 2016: Malcolm Turnbull's interview gives Labor a second free kick in as many days", SMH 5.5.16. In four years, the superannuation (pension plan) cuts will have a net savings of $3 billion. How does that make up for the remaining 6 years (and $47 billion) in his 10-year plan?Gareth Hutchens and Paul Karp, "Malcolm Turnbull reveals how Coalition will pay for part of $50bn tax cuts", Guardian (Last modified 7/4/16 at 3:19 AM EDT). Their forecasts were widely considered fantasy when they first made them; even the rating agencies didn't buy it.Lasker, Phillip, "Credit ratings caution Australia on financial vulnerabilities", ABC (Updated 12/15/15 at 9:07pm).
By Turnbull's own acknowledgement in a 2005 tax paper, which he authored, the country is in a housing bubble. By supporting policies that distort the housing market, he's essentially arguing that prices must never fall. ("It's common sense!")van Onselen, Leith, "Fear-mongering Turnbull dumps negative gearing reform", Macro Business (3/3/16 at 7:19 am).Aubusson, Kate, "Malcolm Turnbull grilled on ABC's 7.30 over negative gearing 'common sense' claim", SMH 4.27.16. He also introduced a cap on superannuation (after income tax) which only affects multimillionaires. This change is likely to make negative gearing even more popular, worsening over-investment in property.Coats, Brenden, "Super contribution cap changes could end up benefiting the rich", The Conversation (5/9/16 at 10:35pm EDT).Caitlin Gribbin and Francis Keaney, "Superannuation backdown: Cabinet scraps $500,000 limit on after-tax contributions after backbench pressure", ABC (Updated 9/15/16 at 4:29am).
They later admitted that an entire generation may be unable to achieve financial independence. Of course they have no solution, just doubling-down on the economic mismanagement which failed their children. Actually, ScoMo had the temerity to blame them.Andersen, Stephanie, "Scott Morrison targets handout generation, says too many people pay no tax", ABC (Updated 8/25/16 at 3:14pm). He is seriously lacking in imagination if he thinks taxing tobacco is going to make any significant dent on the budget.
In 2017, they released a new budget commonly referred to as Labor-lite.
===== Backpacker tax =====
Foreigners on working holidays are to be slapped with a tax on each dollar they make—but it died in the Senate.Koziol, Michael, "Senate snubs government deal on backpacker tax in surprise Turnbull government defeat", 11.30.16. Derryn Hinch switched his vote because Scott pissed him off at Turnbull's weekend barbecue by admitting the LNP doesn't compromise.Meers, Daniel, "Derryn Hinch double crosses government on backpacker tax after BBQ fallout with Scott Morrison", Daily Telegraph (November 29, 2016 8:15pm). It is vital to follow Abbott's example and never concede anything.
The worst thing is when both parties agree, but don't want to look like they agree.Barbour, Lucy, "Backpacker tax: Coalition settles on 15pc rate for working holiday-makers "Backpacker tax: Coalition settles on 15pc rate for working holiday-makers", ABC (Updated 27 Nov 2016, 7:11pm). Actually, it's even more tragicomic than that: The "Better Economic Managers" were conned by a bunch of "eco-terrorists" into paying $100m for land conservation in exchange for the votes needed to pass—instead of just agreeing to Shorten's figure (which would have cost them around $15m). It's likely they just conceded the money so the PM could claim a (much-needed) victory.Bourke, Latika, "Nationals MP George Christensen calls Green activists 'terrorists'" SMH 9.25.14.Grattan, Michelle, "Government gives Greens $100 million for Landcare to get backpacker tax deal", The Conversation (Updated 12/1/16 at 4:19am EST). 
The government bungled it from start to finish, and then they accused Shorten of helping these migrants (or is it "rich European kids", Mal?)Knott, Matthew, "Backpacker tax: Malcolm Turnbull attacks Bill Shorten for favouring 'rich white kids' from Europe", SMH 12.1.16. avoid paying tax—the same tax these buffoons introduced in the first place.
==== "No stone unturned" ====
More hacking away at Australia's support systems. Early into his first term, he eliminated the Disabilities Discrimination Commissioner, and instead appointed a do-nothing commissioner on wind farms.Gartrell, Adam, "Windfall for wind farm watchdog: PM's part-time commissioner to nab $600,000", 11.29.15. In the spring, he named Alan Tudge, a graduate of "Tough Love" University, as Minister for Human Services.Ireland, Judith, "Alan Tudge: Meet Malcolm Turnbull's rising star minister who's still flying under the radar", SMH 3.26.16. He then cut over $1 billion worth of healthcare funding for the elderly, $2.1 billion from disability pensions,Binsted, Tim, "Aged care funding cuts set to drive industry consolidation", ABC 5.5.16. Vote us in again next time, you pack of idiots. and cut welfare payments to fund Labor's disability insurance scheme—which has also come under threat in the past.Norman, Jane, "Budget 2016: Disability support crackdown to help fund National Disability Insurance Scheme", ABC (Updated 5/3/16 at 5:40am).McKinnon, Michael, "National Disability Insurance Scheme: Treasury considered private investors to help fund project, documents show", ABC (Updated 2/12/16 at 9:38am EST).
LNP policy on paid parental leave has gone from the worst extreme (approved by Murdoch) to the most generous, and then back to not doing anything.Vickery, Kara, "Turnbull Government shelves changes to Paid Parental Leave", news.au (4/6/16 at 10:43am). Shelf's getting pretty full. Domestic victims then lost phone access to trauma counselors and therapists, which disproportionately affected women and children.Price, Jenna, "Callers to domestic violence hotline lose direct access to counsellors", Canberra Times 5.29.16
Turnbull promised to "leave no stone unturned" in addressing mental illness. How about unfreezing the medicare rebate so people with mental illnesses can keep seeing their doctors? cricketsBeech, Alexandra, "Election 2016: Malcolm Turnbull promises to 'leave no stone unturned' in addressing mental illness", ABC (Updated 5/23/16 at 9:26pm).Michael Koziol and Jane Lee, "Election 2016: Malcolm Turnbull promises nobody will pay more to see the doctor despite rebate freeze" SMH 7.1.16.
He already silenced the ICAC for exposing political class crooks. Now he wants to bankrupt or jail citizens for speaking out against the Medicare cuts.Aston, Heath, "Malcolm Turnbull requests legal advice on pursuit of 'save Medicare' grandfather", Canberra Times 11.24.16. The medicare logo, along with a whole bunch of government department logos, images, symbols, etc. are protected by the 1995 Trademark Act and some other Commonwealth legislation. Turnbull is going after the "Save Medicare" guy for two reasons: 1) he's an easy target who may take down his website without a fight, and 2) it will have a chilling effect on bigger organizations who oppose the government.
He's also encouraging job services providers to create a living Hell for 'clients'.Aston, Heath, "Malcolm Turnbull and officials defend youth job scheme against 'intern churn' fears", SMH 5.5.16.Roy, Eleanor Ainge, "New Zealand experts warn Australia data-driven welfare 'abuses and brutalises'", Guardian (Last modified on 7/28/16 at 2:25 AM EDT). That's just Mal doing his bit to solve unemployment.Towell, Noel, "Public service bosses score $6000 pay rise", Canberra Times (11/216at 3:18PM). The more job seekers he pays to exploit the unemployed, the more jobs he creates in the job network. By the way, if a Minister can't crack down on his own underlings for illegal activities, then he has no business being in politics.Bagshay, Eryk, "Young Liberal in vocational education scheme as government cracks down on sector", SMH 7.29.16.
=====Robo-Debt=====
Centrelink, the authority who handle unemployment, disability and Social Security benefits (among other things), claims to be so busy and overworked that it takes over six months to process applications for student aid or disability pensions,"Centrelink payments delayed up to four months, students freaking out", ABC (Updated 4/21/16 at 6:29pm).Chambers, Geoff, "Most disability support pension appeals rejected, in line with Centrelink’s tough approach", Daily Telegraph (9/1/14 at 6:00am). but they have plenty of time to chase after the $12 they overpaid six years ago.Purtill, James, "Students accused of welfare fraud say Centrelink's sums are wrong", ABC (Updated 12/17/16 at 8:52pm). "Dole bludgers" are like immigrant detainees: People don't have sympathy for them, so the Coalition can kick them as hard as they want and still get a poll bump."FactCheck: do welfare recipients owe the Australian government about $3.5 billion?", The Conversation (8/7/16 at 8:00pm EDT). This time, they overreached.
Centrelink set up a computer system to compare their records with the Australian Tax Office to determine if you owe a debt. Someone decided to take your annual reported income and divide it by 26 to calculate your fortnightly income. So if you were on Centrelink and got a job like you're supposed to, the government thinks you were earning money when you weren't, and sends you a letter demanding repayment immediately.Chirgwin, Richard, "Oz government on its Centrelink debacle: 'This is fine'", The Register 1.10.17. The system reaches back 6 years retrospectively,6.7.3.08 No Time Limit on Debt Recovery, Guide to Social Security Law.Belot, Henry, "Centrelink debt recovery: Government knew of potential problems with automated program", ABC (1/12/17 at 7:50pm). and often targets people who no longer in it—say, pensioners who are about to see their disability benefits gets shaved?Belot, Henry, "Centrelink's controversial data matching program to target pensioners and disabled, Labor calls for suspension", ABC (1.16.17 at 12:01 am). The program also cost a billion dollars to run and will probably make a negative return in the billions, all in the name of ideology. Turnbull set them on this course with the NBN.Pash, Chris, "Here's why it costs $500,000 to change a letter on the ancient Centrelink computer system", Business Insider (3/9/15 at 3:35 PM).Warren, Justin, "Centrelink And The Mystery Of The $4 Billion", eigenmagic 1.12.17.
To top it off, you have to prove you didn't earn any money, even though they have no evidence you did. Phoning them involves a wait of an hour if you are lucky and hours if you are not, because the government cut thousands of staff to weaken the agency.Towell, Noel, "Thousands of public service casuals thrown Labor lifeline", Canberra Times 5.21.16. The irony is that the Robo-Debt only hits the people who found jobs; if you stayed on welfare you'd be left alone.
Morrison will be the one to sink this government. He has built an imaginary revenue stream of $4b into the Mid-Year Economic Outlook based on the income from Robo-debt. He can't back down on this without exposing the shambles he and Joe Hockey have created.Dziedic, Stephen, "Election 2016: Crackdown on welfare payments cornerstone of Coalition's final budget costings", ABC (Updated 28 Jun 2016, 3:21pm).Morrison: "Centrelink is not an IKEA shopping list"
==== Tough Borders ====
It's been a quarter century since the Royal Commission into an aboriginal death in custody, and of the 339 recommendations made, almost none have been implemented. The Lib policy on detainees is to abuse them so badly it is legally torture, tell the UN they are sick of hearing about it,Stephanie March and Stephanie Andersen, "UN refugee summit: Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton tout Australia's immigration policy", ABC (Updated 9/19/16, and 10:21pm). and stop right before an election.Karp, Paul, "Malcolm Turnbull will not broaden inquiry into NT juvenile detention", Guardian (Last modified 7/29/16 at 8:26 PM EDT).
The abuse in "offshore" detention facilities doesn't even merit a review. Sure, let's just ignore the fact that the centres are funded by Australia, staffed by Australians, operated under the control of the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Control, and the detainees are there because of the Australian Parliament. And don't forget the 2 years' jail time for any staff member going on record about the conditions.Doherty, Ben, "Immigration detention doctors challenge Border Force Act's secrecy clause in court", Guardian (Last modified 7/26/16 at 10:02 AM EDT). Why bother to rationalize your policies when you can just shoot the messenger?Parp, Paul, "Gillian Triggs to go as human rights chief, Turnbull confirms", Guardian (Last modified 11/16/16 at 1:29am EST).
Even this "Tough Border" policy is just a half-measure, not a sustainable solution:Anne Henderson and Stephenie Anderson, "Manus Island detention: Malcolm Turnbull warns Australians against being 'misty-eyed' on immigration policy", ABC (Updated 4/27/16, 7:53pm).Le Grand, Chip, "Syrian resettlement: Less than 2000 of 12,000 places filled", Australian (8/13/16 at 12:00AM). Labor had Malaysia all lined up to take a backlog of refugees, but Abbott them stopped in their tracks. The Coalition had three years to do something about the Nauru-Manos camps, and decided to wait until the week an anti-Islam, anti-immigration candidate was in office before settling some in Costa Rica.Matthew Doran and Uma Patel, "Labor calls out Government for blocking Malaysia refugee settlement amid reports of deal with United States", ABC (Updated 11/13/16 at 6:21am).McGeough, Paul, "Donald Trump backer says Australia-US refugee swap deal is 'dead on arrival'", Brisbane Times (11/14 16, 12:16PM). New Zealand even offered to take in a bunch, and Turnbull said no.Davidson, Helen, "Turnbull rejects New Zealand offer to take 150 refugees from detention", Guardian (Last modified 7/14/16 at 8:38 PM EDT). 
After winning reelection, Turnbull immediately went to the state premiers and called for indefinite detention to suspected terrorists.Hutchens, Gareth, "Malcolm Turnbull urges legislation for indefinite detention of terrorists", Guardian (7/24/16 at 3:57 PM EDT). Imagine telling Malcolm back in 2009 that when his ship came in, he would end up carrying water for Abbott and Pauline Hanson.Hunter, Fergus, "Tony Abbott praises Malcolm Turnbull for increasing conservative focus", The Age 11.11.16.Innis, Michael, "Australia’s Proposed Lifetime Ban on Boat-Borne Refugees Draws Fire", NYT 10.31.16. Tragic.
==== No wind turbine unstopped ====
More tinkering around the edges to make it look like Liberals are doing something about the environment.Andersen, Stephanie, "Election 2016: Malcolm Turnbull unveils ministry", ABC (Updated 7/19/16 at 6:08pm).Morton, Adam, "Turnbull government confirms Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising - projected that it will not meet its 2030 target under current policies.", Canberra Times 12.22.16. His government "created" a 1$ billion fund to promote the growth of clean energy,Taylor, Lenore, "The good, the bad and the shell game – what Turnbull's clean energy shift means", Guardian (Last modified 7/4/16 at 3:23 PM EDT). but what he really did was cut the renewables budget by 1.3bn and then re-label $1bn that was already in there.Ison, Nicky, "Cutting ARENA would devastate clean energy research", The Conversation (8/30/16 at 1:18am EDT). That's so much better, thank you Malcolm for this innovative move. He also removed Australia from a U.N. climate change report, just so he could preserve his tourism industry.Slezak, Michael, "Australia scrubbed from UN climate change report after government intervention", Guardian (Last modified 7/4/16 at 12:22 AM EDT).Hannam, Peter, "Australia cut from UN report on climate threat to avoid damaging reef tourism", SMH 5.27.16.
$50 billion on tax cuts to big business, $50 billion on French submarines.Wroe, David, "France wins $50b contract to help build Australia's new submarines", The Age 4.27.16. Not only that, the government has also raised spending on border protection and other right-wing favourites.Watson, Matt, "Border protection policies cost Australia $10b in three years, international aid groups find", ABC (Updated 9/12/16 at 6:12pm). Somehow those take precedence over the NBN and climate research, which would have far greater economic benefits to the country. First they sacked the climate scientists, and now suddenly they want to hire some of them back at cheaper wages. The smart ones already got offered jobs overseas. All that will be left are the B-team and new graduates in a race to the bottom. Jobson Grothe.Vaidyanathan, Gayathri, "Australia Cuts 110 Climate Scientist Jobs", ClimateWire on 2.8.16.Hasham, Nicole, "Turnbull government orders CSIRO U-turn towards climate science ", The Age 8.4.16. In the interests of rewarding innovation and efficiency we'll cut your wages. 
Worse yet, he continues to print money from resources he can never replace,Aston, Heath, "Turnbull government called on to explain where Australia's offshore gas wealth is going", SNH 10.9.16. drawing every red cent he can from mining,Cox, Lisa, "Gautam Adani makes special request to Malcolm Turnbull over $15b deal", SMH 12.9.15.Gartrell, Adam, "Malcolm Turnbull and Barnaby Joyce at odds over new mining tax proposal", SMH 9.10.16. SOLD! To the man with the big fuckin' hole in the ground. and laughs off renewables as "political claptrap."Murphy, Katherine, "Malcolm Turnbull says Labor's stance on renewable energy is 'political claptrap'", Guardian (Last modified 10/2/16 2:18 EDT). Murphy, Katherine, "Malcolm Turnbull says Labor's stance on renewable energy is 'political claptrap'", Guardian (Last modified 10/2/16 2:18 EDT). At least Abbott believes the nonsense he spewed about this stuff.Chan, Gabrielle, "Turnbull says own rooftop solar not inconsistent with 'clean-coal' message", Guardian (Last modified 2/19/17 11:34 PM EST).
It looks like Turnbull is about to stuff up the National Electricity Grid (wind power) just like he 'fixed' the NBN.Crowe, David, "Malcolm Turnbull to put the wind up states over power blackouts", Australian (10/6/16 at 2:00AM). The transmission lines went down. It doesn't matter if the power is being generated from wind or coal, if the cable breaks then power can't get though. He keeps coming back to investment in his speeches. You can certainly tell where his priorities lie.Scott, Jason, "Aussie Leader Slams Renewables ‘Obsession’ as Energy Chiefs Meet", Bloomberg (10/6/16 at 4:56 PM PDT). (Didn't Turnbull write a paper on the merits of emission trading? Before it became politically inconvenient.)Hutchens, Gareth, "Turnbull warns Labor's emissions trading schemes will destroy jobs", Guardian (Last modified 4/4/16 at 12:33 AM EDT).
==== Gay marriage plebiscite ====
Labor voters were ecstatic about a plebiscite when it was first announced. A majority of Australians are socially liberal anyway, so this was a brief window to get marriage equality passed.
One year and $175 million later, they've come to realise that this plebiscite is nothing but an expensive stalling tactic by the Liberals. There have been forty-four referendums in Australian history, only eight of which were successful. The right-wing ideologues who oppose same-sex marriage are cashed up to the gills. A paltry few million allocated for a "No" campaign is nothing to them.Taylor, Josh, "Money and mining men behind the shadowy Australian Christian Lobby", Crikey 2.22.16. The opportunity to publicly attack a minority under the guise of open debate is exactly what they want. When Ireland tried to do the same thing, the conservatives had direct control of the bill outcome while the LGBTQ community had to suffer through endless, and ugly, 'discussions'.McIlroy, Tom, "Irish gay marriage referendum campaigner warns Malcolm Turnbull and MPs against plebisite", SMH 8.23.16. Even if "Yes" wins, the Coalition won't be bound to vote in favour.Fettes, James, "Election 2016: Liberals' Zed Seselja 'likely' to abstain from same-sex marriage vote if public vote in favour", ABC (Updated 6/27/16 at 10:17pm).Knott, Matthew, "Same-sex marriage: Malcolm Turnbull says MPs will have free vote regardless of plebiscite", SMH 6.24.16. So he's admitting up front that it's a complete waste of time and taxpayer money? Bold move.
Turnbull has communicated in the most parliamentarian terms that he's been given shit to sell and doesn't believe in what he is doing.Gratten, Michelle, "Turnbull admits to critic of marriage plebiscite: ‘you make a powerful point’", The Conservation (6/20/16 at 11.02am EDT). Yellow card: Asking difficult questions. Due to whinging from Christian lobby groups, he defunded an anti-bullying program which was meant to help LGBT kids seeking education."Safe Schools program downsized after campaign by right-wing MPs and Christian lobby groups", SBS (3/18/16 at 3:28pm). This emboldened the right wing and conservative media to speak out against the "homosexual agenda" and the plebiscite, which was gathering public support.Stark, Jill, "Marriage equality: Safe Schools attacks part of the plan to kill same-sex marriage", SMH 5.22.16. He can't even hand-pick a "moderate" Sheik to dine with without drawing a hate preacher who thinks poofs should be executed.Karp, Paul, "Malcolm Turnbull regrets inviting homophobic sheikh to Iftar dinner", Guardian (Last modified 7/4/16 at 12:15 AM EDT). It's pretty clear that Malcolm never spoke to his MPs about reigning in the homophobic discourse, either.Mitchell, Bea, "Cory Bernardi hits back at Malcolm Turnbull for ‘implying Coalition MPs are homophobic’", Pink News (6/22/16 at 10:14 AM).Hunter, Fergus, "Election 2016: Scott Morrison says he too has faced 'hatred and bigotry' for his conservative views on same-sex marriage", SMH 6.22.16.
And now, the 'Labor's fault' whinge.Karp, Paul, "Same-sex marriage issue won't be back on table for now, says Turnbull", Guardian (11/10/16 at 10:28pm EST). George Brandis is still pretending Labor killed the plebiscite because they secretly hate marriage equality.Patel, Uma, "Same-sex marriage: Bill Shorten moves amendment for free vote in Parliament", ABC 10.11.16. Now Labor gets to introduce a bill to parliament while at the same time catching heat for blocking the plebiscite. They can also blame the micro-parties, which is bonus mudslinging for them. Then there's this:
That's the same type of logic as opposing boat turnbacks means you want them to drown!, so it's sadly not surprising.
Aussies don't take kindly to back-stabbers, and Malcolm has turned it into an art form. The gay scene in Sydney isn't too happy with him at the moment.Robertson, Joshua, "Turnbull banned from attending Mardi Gras in official capacity", Guardian (11/11/16 at 11:46 pm EST). Mal can slap on a bit of lippy and a nice wig and slip past security.
===Mendez is back===
Abbott is a sewer rat: Tearing down governments is what he does. Apparently Tony doesn't understand what "underminding" and "sniping" actually mean.Van Onselen, Peter, "No wrecking, no undermining and no sniping: no kidding, Abbott?", Australian (3/26/16 at 12:00AM). (Sadly, he genuinely believes that he has a valid legacy, that he can defend it, and that doing so isn't sniping or undermining.)
Since Turnbull took over, a lot of cracks are showing as the civil war within the party gains heat.McIlroy, Tom, "Liberal senator Cory Bernardi says Malcolm Turnbull's future is up for debate", SMH 7.4.16. The attack dogs are circling.Chan, Gabrielle, "Eric Abetz says Coalition under Abbott ensured 'everybody had their voice heard'", Guardian (12/22 16 at 6:09 OM EST). If there's one thing Abbott was good at, it was keeping a lid on stuff like this. It seems like twice or three times a week, some "rogue" coalition MP comes out with a criticism of the government or threatens a walk-out—and they're not always backbenchers, either.Chan, Gabrielle, "George Christensen threatens to vote against Coalition's superannuation changes", Guardian (7/20/16 at 12:59 AM EDT). George does quite a bit of walking these days. Judging by his appearance, you can't discourage him.Andersen, Stephanie, "Malcolm Turnbull admits missing Government MPs 'did the wrong thing' after Labor's vote ambush", ABC (Updated 9/1/16, 10:06pm).
*The Attorney General is doing his best to ignore the law.Farrell, Paul, "George Brandis loses legal bid to keep ministerial diary records secret", Guardian (Last modified on 9/5/16 at 23:59 EDT).Whitborn, Micheala, "George Brandis direction to Solicitor-General 'unlawful', former top adviser says", The Age (10/2/16 at 6:06PM). 
*The Immigration Minister looks (and acts) like a potato.Binnie, Kerrin, "Election 2016: Peter Dutton stands by refugee remarks", ABC (Updated 5/18/16 at 6:42pm).Conifer, Dan, "Peter Dutton forced to flee interview", 4:04 PM 10/10/16 Tweet. 
*Julie Bishop can't find any asbestos, so now she's crawling through Syria.Julie Bishop says Tanya Plibersek wants Australian planes to drop "food hampers over Syria" resulting in a "terrorists' picnic", Vine (via ABC).
*Scotty is crying about lesbians taking away his rights. (Scott, you are not the victim. You even went out of your way to defend an actual bigot.)Munro, Peter, "Treasurer Scott Morrison defends anti-gay commentator at Australian Christian Lobby event", SMH 4.23.16.
*The media, despite FOX's best efforts, is uncovering the truth of the NBN.LeMay, Renal, "'Breathtaking arrogance': Labor slams Turnbull’s support for Ziggy breach", Delimiter 6.17.16. 
*NBN Co. keeps asking for more money.Yoo, Tony, "NBN Co. just dumped its $800 million Optus cable plan", Business Insider (9/29/16 at 11:43).Coyne, Allie, "The govt will loan NBN Co $20bn to finish rollout", iTnews (11/18/16 at 12:31PM).Knott, Matthew, "Leaked NBN budget blowout documents threaten to embarrass Malcolm Turnbull", SMH 11.25.16.
*Those blokes at ABC keep making fun of Mal, even though he appointed a News Corp executive to head it.Peatling, Stephanie, "ABC most trusted news source, poll shows, after Turnbull minister accuses it of 'fake news", SMH 12.23.16. He's seen how successful Trump has been with dribbling shit. 
*Done right, with experienced human staff to vet the process,Centrelink whistleblower memo. the "debt recovery system" could have been a vote-winner. Funny what happens when you shotgun collection letters (let's not mince words here)Belot, Henry, "Centrelink defends debt recovery scheme after Andrew Wilkie criticism", ABC (Updated 1/3/17 at 10:52pm). at hundreds of thousands of people who show up the ballot box. For whatever reason cough the Murdoch press are the ones leading the charge against it."Govt takes Centrelink controversy poll hit", Herald Sun via Associated Press (1/15/17 at 1:18pm).Reynolds, Emma, "‘The man in a box’: Inaccurate Centrelink debt letter sent James into meltdown", Daily Telegraph (1/8/17 at 10:28pm).
Abbott did a lot of dumb things, but he did them very loudly. For the average voter, it probably does seem like Turnbull isn't doing anything because he's not surrounded by flags and giving five press conferences a week.Coorey, Phillip, "Voters rate Turnbull government performance below Abbott's", AFR (Updated 11/27/15 at 6:00 PM). In comparison, all Turnbull has done is break promises. "Malcolm Turnbull considering..."Viellaris, Renee, "Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull considering free vote on same-sex marriage", Courier-Mail (9/28/16 at 7:00am). No doubt in the coming weeks we'll see Turnbull "consider" an inquiry, town hall meeting, online poll, and nationwide game of rock-paper-scissors to settle the matter. and "After the election"Hutchens, Gareth, "Turnbull suggests marriage equality plebiscite may be delayed until 2017", Guardian (7/18/16 at 8:17 AM EDT).Baines, Richard, "Changes to GST carve-up 'some years' away, Malcolm Turnbull says", ABC (9/24/16 at 12:21pm). has become increasingly common and meaningless. Does anyone still remember high-speed rail and 30-minute cities? (Nah, those take more than an election cycle to make.)Koziol, Michael, "The real point of high speed rail: property development", SMH 4.12.16.Blackwell, Eoin, "Government Pours Cold Water On High Speed Rail Announcement", HuffPo (Updated 7/15/2016 12:51 PM AEST). Definitely more of a Shelbyville idea.
Malcolm sees the curtain coming down: he is sounding more and more erratic each time he spots a camera in the vicinity.Hunter, Fergus, "Election 2016: Malcolm Turnbull declares himself a feminist and chokes up over his family", The Age 6.6.16.He might be a Goldman Sachs employee with twenty-eight (negatively geared) properties, a couple million in a Cayman account, and a literal gold mine. But! He's not too proud to ride with peasants on a train provided there's a security team and film crew there to capture his ordinariness!Malcolm doesn't need Mardi Gas, he's got heaps of other parties to go to! (Most of them held by Christopher Pyne.)Dunlop, Greg, "Malcolm Turnbull: 'Australia's happiest prime minister'", BBC 9.16.16.
==See also==
*David Cameron — What did anyone expect, Santa Claus?
*Mike "It's Only a Phase, Now Here's a Taze" Pence — Another religious neocon.
*Tony Abbott - Malcolm wasn't a great guy, but standing next to Abbott made him look like Jesus Christ.
*Streisand effect — The Liberals have so much free time on their hands that they sued an old man over a political parody.
==Videos==
*Malcolm DESTROYS Turnbull on Double Dissolution - Don't blame me, I voted for Malcolm.
*The Malcolm Turnbull Saga - Not As Crazy As the Last Cunt™
*Trumpocalypse Now
==External links==
*A complete list of Turnbull's achievements as Prime Minister
*Satire isn't dead. It just evolved and consumed reality.
*GetUp adds to Turnbull election posters
*Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear
*Malcolm copies Veep's campaign slogan, showrunners lose their shit — This numbnut needs to get off Netflix.
*Turnbull Advises Blackout Victims To Cut Deal With Right Wing - “It’s The Quickest Way To Get Power”
==References==
Category:Australian politicians
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Category:Conservative liberalism
Category:Conspiracy theorists
Category:Global warming denialists
Category:Government incompetence
Category:Homophobes
Category:Journalists
Category:Liberals
Category:Lawyers
Category:Leftists who turned right with age
Category:Living people
Category:Shysters