![Opinion polls may force an already timid Malcolm Turnbull further into his shell.](/web/20160819144922im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/3/d/4/h/image.related.landscape.120x80.gn3b13.png/1456701054969.jpg)
Captain Turnbull needs to switch off the auto-pilot
A double dissolution election could solve the Prime Minister’s problems in one go.
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.
A double dissolution election could solve the Prime Minister’s problems in one go.
While the country debates every detail of changes to property taxes 44,000 young people and children have no home to go to at all.
By definition, the biggest question posed by Malcolm Turnbull's emergency election-year reshuffle cannot be answered yet.
The PM's backdown on the GST at the first whiff of grapeshot has punctured overblown expectations.
An unpopular policy could deal a blow to the goodwill that Malcolm Turnbull's government has so far enjoyed.
Contenders for Bill Shorten's job as Opposition Leader may be dissuaded by the air of looming defeat.
An early election would carry the risk of being perceived by voters as opportunistic and a breach of faith.
The secret to success is sincerity - once you can fake that, you've got it made, quipped the French diplomat and writer, Jean Giraudoux . For politicians, the daily quest to convey conviction is hardly aided by their tendency to shift ground when it suits without even acknowledging they've done so.
Tony Abbott is causing waves and Turnbull will have to work out whether to ignore him, embrace him, or perhaps even induce him to leave.
The proxy wars being fought by regional and global powers have a domestic component.
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