So the election has been called. Unlike the US President Campaign, Australian elections are usually short and sweet. It comes like a flash flood and it is over before you know. You just hope you won’t get yourself drowned in the process.
Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister in my opinion was quite underwhelming. This perhaps was because I had such high hopes for him when he took over from a ridiculously narcissistic right wing government, I expected things to change into the correct directions. A lot of issues were unresolved including education, health and same-sex marriage. He did change a bit of stuff like dropping the magnitude of arts funding cut and replacing some questionable personnel in the government. However as a person who put himself as the Prime Minister of the modern age and understands what the Australian people want and need, he really hasn’t done much to prove that.
So it is not surprising that his approval rating (something he used to challenge his predecessor) had been tumbling in the last few months. Bill Shorten, the opposition leader came back up as a resurgent and became a contender again. That makes a lot of people think: “isn’t this a risky business to call for an election now?” It really does seem under the current political weather and in the current Australian social environment. However, judging from the point of view that Malcolm Turnbull is a businessman I have a strong feeling that this is a calculated risk that he is willing to take to secure a better controlled government.
First of all, Bill Shorten’s resurgence and Malcolm Turnbull’s downturn has just begun. The longer Malcolm Turnbull waits, the more disadvantageous position he puts himself into. There are lots of things that despite being the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull’s hands are tied. On the other hand, Bill Shorten, unproven as a Prime Minister but working the same magic as Tony Abbott did when he was the opposition leader was serving plates after plates of counter proposals to a lot of policies. Whether they would work God knows but they are certainly ideologically enticing proposals. The difference between Bill Shorten and Tony Abbott was that he is not just a no person but he said no then put something else forward, whether tested or not. This makes him looks like he is the man of change, which Australia is craving for after almost two years of disastrous Abbott leadership. Malcolm certainly knows that the longer he allows Bill Shorten to act as the “social conscience” the harder he could counter his rise with his hands still being tied. Under such circumstance it is essential to put the election forward before Bill Shorten can secure enough Australian votes to take the precious Prime Ministership from him.
The other risk Malcolm Turnbull is willing to take is losing some seats in this election to flush out the old conservatives. In the past two and a half years it is not a secret that the Australian public learnt its mistake by voting in someone who is not popular in but just because they did not want the existing government at that time to stay in office. Australia as a country has evolved beyond the conservative right wing white supremist society Australia once was. The actions of the Abbott government had completely alienated majority of the voters and Malcolm Turnbull certainly knows that. However, if he wants to stay in power he also has to answer to the cabinet, whom holds his fate at this point by some extremely conservative members. An early election can be used as a tool to flush out these cabinet members and members of the Parliament who have become nothing but stumbling blocks for Malcolm Turnbull. The fact that Cory Bernardi lost his primary ticket position in his electorate to make way for another minister is a sign that Malcolm Turnbull is attempting to use the public’s power to get rid of people who are still putting a shackle around his Prime Ministership. Of course losing a few seats could mean looking bad for the Coalition government but Malcolm Turnbull at the same time knows with the current majority in the Parliament he can afford to lose a few seats to freshen up his cabinet for his own visions and reforms. This is the risk that he is willing to take to gain more power both in the Parliament and in the cabinet.
People might think Malcolm Turnbull is risking his government for an election that he might or might not win. But Malcom Turnbull as an experienced business man is a man who is willing to take calculated risks to achieve what he wants to achieve. This is something that a lot of current generation politicians do not have in their guts or their wits. Would he succeed? At this point I do think he would. The good thing about this tactic is that it took the spotlight off him a bit so he could show he is a person who endeavours to get things done. The noise generated by critics and the media around him, if we look closely, is not entirely about him but about other groups of people who are scrambling to stay in the spotlight for power.
The current circumstance seemed to be Malcolm Turnbull turning the table against him but for me it looks like it is going to be a 360 degree turn that is going to consolidate his own power by shaking off unnecessary items that used to be on the table.
