Malcolm Turnbull billed his National Press Club address on Wednesday as setting out the government's priorities for 2017 – a laundry list predicated on his "determination to help [Australians'] lives be better, safe and more prosperous". Its real import, however, was to demonstrate to an increasingly sceptical electorate (and Coalition party room) that the Prime Minister is capable of actual deeds and accomplishments. Mr Turnbull's verve and enthusiasm did suggest resolve and determination, but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.
On budget repair – where his government has been widely judged to have been ineffectual – Mr Turnbull was positively enthusiastic: "balancing the budget can sound a bit prosaic – something to satisfy the tidy instincts of the bean counters – but it is a profound moral issue".
His approach to tax reform, headlined by a cut in the corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent, was similarly evangelical. This reform was vital to keeping Australia internationally competitive, Mr Turnbull suggested, and it would deliver as much as $750 a year extra to the hip pockets of average wage earners. He promised continued record spending on health and education (with an emphasis on lifting the quality and expertise of school teachers), and an overhaul of childcare fee subsidies to be paid for by welfare cuts.
Mr Turnbull was characteristically combative on energy reliability and costs, arguing that while renewables were increasingly prominent aspects of the national electricity market, coal-fired electricity remained essential to ensuring cost-effective baseload power. Indeed, Mr Turnbull talked up the new generation of coal-fired power stations as cementing the place of hydrocarbons in Australia's energy future. He was less convincing, however, on housing affordability, suggesting that while it remained a priority "there are no quick fixes or silver bullets". And on political donations and MPs' travel expenses and entitlements, Mr Turnbull could offer little more than that reform was "important".
No prime minister who wants to reform Australia's unwieldy tax system can ignore the requirement to engage with and win over the electorate. Mr Turnbull's talk of more jobs and fatter pay cheques should the Coalition's mooted corporate tax cuts come to pass indicate he's well aware of that fact. But, equally, reform-minded PMs need to have the Senate on-side too. The Coalition succeeded in getting some important bills through the Senate last year with cross-bench support. Persuading the independents and Greens to back contentious corporate tax cuts will test all of Mr Turnbull's negotiating skills.
However, preceding that issue both in importance and timeliness is budget repair. Mr Turnbull is to be commended for investing it with a sense of urgency. However, his room for manoeuvre is limited, largely as a result of having ruled out tax and welfare changes that might affect Liberal party constituencies. Unless Mr Turnbull starts governing for the broader national interest, his 2017 priorities are likely remain unmet.