PM's approach vindicated by Trump's madness
Canberra is on tenterhooks, keenly aware that Donald Trump is volatile, vainglorious, and potentially unreliable.
Mark Kenny is Fairfax Media's chief political correspondent. A director of the National Press Club, he regularly appears on the ABC's Insiders, Sky News Agenda, and Ten's Meet the Press. He has reported from Canberra under three prime ministers and several opposition leaders.
Canberra is on tenterhooks, keenly aware that Donald Trump is volatile, vainglorious, and potentially unreliable.
Now that we know how much, a reasoned debate can ensue. But don't hold your breath.
Malcolm Turnbull has opened the possibility of using subsidies earmarked for green energy projects to help build new high-tech clean coal fired power stations as he branded Labor's "mindless rush into renewables", a recipe for more expensive and less reliable electricity.
Hiding behind arcane reporting rules for years after the fact is not merely untenable, it is next-level hamfisted.
Soaring electricity prices under Labor's green energy target, a re-commitment to "job creating" company tax cuts, and new savings to fund more affordable childcare are shaping as key battlelines in the political contest this year as Malcolm Turnbull outlines his government's strategy on Wednesday.
Prime ministerial rhetoric may have reached 'peak grandiose' under Kevin Rudd, been oddly suburban under Julia Gillard, and bluntly combative under Tony Abbott. ut under Malcolm Turnbull, it is drifting towards the vapid.
Australians are probably wondering what it would take? What level of betrayal or irresponsible strategic posturing by Washington would be serious enough to get a rise out of Canberra?
Call it a blinding moment of clarity – if that's not too grandiose. Malcolm Turnbull was addressing a pre-Australia Day function at The Lodge in Canberra.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's vaunted US 'solution' to resettle hundreds of refugees from Manus Island and Nauru faces collapse as the freshly minted US President Donald Trump eyes new bans on immigration.
Malcolm Turnbull has unleashed a ferocious attack on Bill Shorten, branding him "the greatest example of opposition gutlessness in generations".
Search pagination
Save articles for later.
Subscribe for unlimited access to news. Login to save articles.
Return to the homepage by clicking on the site logo.