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Is Turnbull’s election strategy too little, too late?

By Glen Anderson and Alan Berman - posted Tuesday, 3 May 2016


Even if Turnbull is successful come polling day it is now likely that he will be returned with a reduced majority, laying vulnerable his Prime Ministership to conservative discontents and marginalised Abbott loyalists.

The Government’s policy indecision and leadership instability have created favourable conditions for the Labor Party to highlight its policy credentials. This means that the election’s focus has shifted from Turnbull’s charisma towards substantive policy debate.  

While Turnbull has engineered an early election on the back of the Australia Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) bill, Shorten has announced a royal commission into the banking and financial services sector. While Turnbull has defended negative gearing, Shorten has proposed measures to tackle Australia’s housing affordability crisis. While Turnbull has remained largely silent on marriage equality and deferred to a costly plebiscite, Shorten has promised to immediately legislate for change upon assuming office. While Turnbull has prevaricated on tax reform, Shorten has announced his intention to strike at the superannuation contributions of the very wealthy. While Turnbull’s senior cabinet colleagues such as George Brandis and Fiona Nash publicly proclaim their climate change agnosticism, Shorten has committed to a vigorous carbon emissions reduction target and two staggered emissions trading schemes.

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Time will tell whether Turnbull’s fortunes will be reversed by the recent multibillion dollar submarine deal for South Australia and the impending election budget.

It may just be that Turnbull’s election strategy is too little, too late.

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About the Authors

Glen Anderson is a lecturer in law at the University of Newcastle. Dr Anderson researches and teaches in the areas of international law, equity, company and property law. He has formerly taught Australian and international politics.

Dr. Alan Berman, an Adjunct Research Fellow of the Socio-Legal Research Centre at Griffith Law School and a Senior Lecturer in Law at Newcastle Law School, teaches and researches in the areas of crime and Australian society, international human rights law and sexuality and the law.

Other articles by these Authors

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All articles by Alan Berman

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