Turnbull and the Teddy Bear
Is Joe Hockey "the cuddly, friendly face of the Liberal Party" ... or is he just fat?
Sorry to bore you with more Liberal leadership posts, but it’s pretty big news for this country and its future. I like the way that Malcolm Turnbull is holding firm and talking tough. Will Hockey make a challenge? Well, not according to what Malcolm is saying in this ABC report. Turnbull has thrown down the gauntlet … right at Joe’s feet. What will the ‘Teddy Bear’ do?:
“If Joe was the cuddly, friendly face of the Liberal Party but spouting Nick Minchin’s lines, that would destroy him and destroy the party,” Mr Turnbull told Channel Nine.
“He knows that. He’s got too much character to be suckered into that.
“I will win on Tuesday. I am unbowed.
“Joe Hockey has told me as recently as last night that I have his complete support.
“I am not interested in becoming a mouthpiece or a patsy or a tool for people whose views are completely wrong and are contrary to the best interests of our nation, our planet and indeed the Liberal Party.
“If this issue is not resolved, the climate change war that Nick Minchin and his wreckers have started will continue to destroy the Liberal Party until such time as we are destroyed by Kevin Rudd in an election.”
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Promoting 'Beautiful Bright'.
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It would be interesting to see Joe in the leadership position, it’d be like he and Rudd used to be on the channel nine breakfast program once a week, arguing their relative positions.
I wonder also whether it’s possible this whole debate within the libs is about getting rid of Turnbull and as soon as they get him out they’ll get back on track.
Thanks for the updates Ray as I have not taken the time to watch, read or listen to any news of late.
QUOTE: ” …but it’s pretty big news for this country and its future.”
In what way exactly, Ray?
Yawn.
Because it has the potential to consign the Liberals to the political wilderness for several terms.
It equally has the potential to forge a formidabe opposition if they get their act together
How many new Messiahs does it take?
They are a rabble and maybe, just maybe, the Australian public has understood who and what they actually are. Good on you Turnbull for further exposing them.
“It equally has the potential to forge a formidable opposition if they get their act together”
which is also hugely important. No government should have the unchallenged power the ALP current has.
It equally has the potential to forge a formidabe opposition if they get their act together
The only way they can “get their act together” is to retain Turnbull, dump the old cronies (and Mirabella), lose the next election, and then regroup under a new moderate leader. This hard-right side of the party has to go.
If hockey does become leader, the very first thing he will do is roll over to the extremists in his party. It’s not a good look, and he will be beholden to the far right from day 1.
Can anyone imagine Joe standing up to this mob on climate change 6 months down the track.
Joe is smart enough to know he could be handed a very poisoned chalice on tuesday.
You would hope he’s smart enough to realise he’s on a hiding to nothing if he takes the leadership under these circumstances, BLL. But from what I’ve seen of him on the news today it looks like the right-wingers have got to him and stroked his ego into thinking he’s “the man” to lead the Libs out of the wilderness.
The only reason the right-wingers would want Joe to challenge is because they know that Abbott is “mad” and a complete liability.
Honestly, I think Joe has been sucked in and is about to sell his soul and bring a premature end to his own career. I hope he changes his mind at the last minute because Turnbull, for all his faults, is a better person to lead them at the moment.
I agree with you Ray.
Hockey may take on the leadership because he knows if the Libs go to the polls with Abbott as leader, they will be so far behind after 2010 they won’t win until 2019 or 2022.
I think Hockey would rather be chief engineer on a train wreck rather than being a passenger on the Abbott express as he crashes the Libs into a dynamite factory.
["Mr Howard will support whoever is leader." What a crock; if that were true Howard would be backing Turnbull publicly, not playing king maker behind the scenes. But oh, no, the Libs still can't cope unless they get advice from their suburban solicitor.]
That’s my husband’s take on the consultation with Howard. I understand Hockey is reported to be angry that he’s been put in an “untenable position”. I think he has. If he takes over now, they’ll lose anyway. He’d do better to put his weight behind Turnbull.
Joe’s letting himself be used by the hard-liners like Minchin. If he takes the job now all he’ll do is lead the party to a rout at the next election, and then he’ll be replaced by his own deputy (or some new emerging dark force). But if he backs Turnbull and waits until after the next election he’d have a much better chance of having some longevity in the job. Who’d want to lead the Libs right now?
Well, he’s reneged. And now if he wins, he’ll always be wondering where the next knife is coming from.
There could still be a final twist in this tale, Rox, and it seems that Tony ‘big ears’ Abbott has just provided it.
Abbott has just announced that he’s unhappy with the deal struck between the Minchin faction (which includes him) and Hockey. He’s indicated that he will now stand regardless, and that means it will be either (a) a 3-way contest, which anyone can win, or (b) a two-way contest between Abbott & Turnbull, which I think Turnbull would win.
The thing is, that Abbott has always coveted the leadership and is really pissed off that Minchin has tried to woo the moderate Hockey because Minchin doesn’t believe Abbott is a viable option as leader (which he isn’t).
Tomorrow could be very interesting. Here’s hoping Turnbull survives.
We are indeed living in interesting times. Lucky old Liberal Party, eh?