Apropos of Darryl Mason’s piece last Friday, I can’t help but feel that the News Corp owner has issued editorial orders again.
Certainly, News Poll is a stand alone corporate entity, there are ties with Murdoch’s News Corporation which cannot be denied. It’s also notable that none of the Fairfax Press are carrying the story, inferring that there’s little of interest in the polling figures to those who don’t frequent the Murdoch papers. I tend to feel that the sample – 1125 of voters registered to vote last Saturday week – isn’t at all representative. That being the case, why bother?
I think it’s probably a lay down mazere that if asked in general terms who people would prefer as Liberal Party leader, a majority would say ‘Turnbull’ simply because Malcolm Turnbull is by far the more public figure and forthright character. The only reason he’s not the leader is due to his forthrightness and the party’s inability to realise a need for radical change. This much is borne out by Nelson’s retiscence to abandon many pillars of the Howardian era. Gay marriage, climate change, industrial relations, aboriginal reconciliation and so on.
These are all, in the main, symbolic issues, but issues which the greater public identify with and for better or worse, expect politicians to identify with. Jeff Kennett may be all fired up with enthusiasm for the Liberal phoenix which he expects to rise from the ashes of defeat, but I suspect the party federally is still suffering from the taste of those ashes in it’s collective mouth and will do for a long time to come.