Tony Abbott insults the intelligence of the Australian people, is more interested in producing slogans than policy and will lead the Coalition to certain electoral defeat if he remains Prime Minister, according to Malcolm Turnbull.
The man who would be Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was scathing in his assessment of Abbott this afternoon as he confirmed he would challenge Abbott for the Prime Ministership of the country.
“We need a style of leadership,” Turnball said. “We need advocacy, not slogans. We need to respect the intelligence of the Australian people. There must be an end to policy on the run and captain’s calls.”
“If we continue with Mr Abbott as Prime Minister it is clear enough what will happen. He will cease to be PM and be succeeded by Mr Shorten. The one thing that is clear about our current situation is the trajectory. [The Coalition] have lost 30 Newspolls in a row. It is clear that the people have made up their mind about Mr Abbott’s leadership.”
Turnbull added insult to injury by citing the “consultative” Federal Cabinet that existed under former PM John Howard, adding: “Few would say that the Cabinet of Mr Abbott bears any similarity to that of Mr Howard.”
In a thinly veiled attack on the Prime Minister and his office, which has repeatedly come under fire for governing without consulting with ministers or backbenchers, Turnbull said: “We need an open government that recognises that there is an enormous sum of wisdom both within Coalition ranks and further afield.”
He conceded that timing of his challenge was “not ideal” with the Canning by-election this weekend, but added: “The alternative if we were to wait is we will get no clear air. We are maybe ten or eleven months away from the next election. Every month lost is a month of lost opportunities.”
