Welcome to the July edition of our e-newsletter.
Last weekend's Gippsland by-election delivered a rude wake-up call to the Rudd Government. A 6.5% swing against the Government after only seven months is quite a setback and yesterday's Newspoll shows the Rudd Government's lead cut back dramatically too.
So what's happened? Is it just tougher economic times making people unhappy with the Government? In my view, its much more than that.
Right at the very heart of the Rudd Government is a great emptiness - a void between the rhetoric and the reality, the empathy and the action.
All of Kevin07's softsoap and soaring rhetoric have come back to haunt Kevin08.
Kevin07 was going to stop petrol prices going up. Kevin08 says there's nothing he can do, except a flawed FuelWatch scheme his own senior Ministers and Departments have warned will reduce competition and put prices up.
Kevin07 was going to usher in a new era of co-operation with the States and end the blame game. Kevin08 is caught out planning to do an under the table deal with NSW (behind the backs of the other States) to make up for the unprovided cost of installing the "Education Revolution" computers.
Kevin07 was outraged by rising grocery prices and childcare costs. Kevin08 is going to "watch" them.
Kevin07 was action man. Kevin08 is like Peter Sellers' Chauncey Gardner in "Being There". He just likes to watch.
Seven months into its term, the focus is now squarely on the faltering economic credibility of this new Labor government. Mr Rudd is being speared on his own spin.
In this edition read on about
Consumer confidence collapses
Australian consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since 1992.
Ever since they were elected Mr Rudd and Mr Swan have been talking down the economy. They claimed inflation was out of control. Inflation is too high and it is a major challenge. But rather than speak soberly about it, our Prime Minister and Treasurer chose to say, again and again, "the inflation genie is out of the bottle."
Now they did this in order to fix a great economic crime on the Howard Government, but as I warned repeatedly, when Governments talk down the economy their predictions often tend to be self fulfilling.
But just as Kevin07 claimed John Howard was responsible for every economic challenge, every price rise last year, this year Kevin08 isn't responsible for anything. The decline in consumer and business confidence is due to "international factors."
Well, there is gloom aplenty around the world, that's true. But it's not the first time. And in 2001 when the World Trade Centre was destroyed consumer confidence took a dip, but quickly recovered. The decline in consumer confidence since November 2007 is much deeper and more sustained than it was after 9/11.
Click here for my speech in the House on 19 June about the decline in consumer confidence
Emissions Trading Scheme - should fuel be included?
As motorists battle with rising petrol prices, the question of whether fuel should be included in the national Emissions Trading Scheme becomes more acute. In my fortnightly column for the Sydney Morning Herald, I considered the politics of petrol in a world where demand for oil appears to be outstripping supply and the onset of emissions trading looms. Each litre of petrol emits 2.34 kgs of CO2 when it is burned in our cars, so every $10 of carbon price per tonne of C02 would add 2.34 cents to the price of petrol. Should it be included in an emissions trading scheme? If it is, should the carbon cost be offset by reductions in the fuel excise?
Read more here:
Senior Students Economic Forum
On June 11 I was delighted to participate in an economics forum with students from across Wentworth at St Catherine’s in Waverley. I was remorselessly grilled by year 11 and 12 economics students on the finer details of the 2008/09 Federal Budget. Lateline is much less exhausting, I can assure you.
The students asked a variety of questions including the different effects of fiscal policy and monetary policy could have on an economy and whether the resources boom would last, and the recently introduced Same Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws Superannuation) Bill.
It was great pleasure to see the high quality of questions from the students. Their keen understanding of economic fundamentals is a great credit to their teachers. They are also on top of the news, both political and economic.
I presented St Catherine’s with a new Australian National flag for hosting the Forum, the flag was flown in the House of Representatives Chamber on the 15th May 2008.
Schools that attended the Forum were;
- St Catherine’s Waverley
- St Clare’s College
- Kincoppal Rose Bay
- St Vincent’s College
- The Scots College
- Brigidine College Randwick
- Rose Bay Secondary College
- Waverley College
To see photos from the day click here.
Mother and Daughter team climb Everest
I recently spoke in the House about Cheryl and Nikki Bart, lifelong residents of Wentworth, who were the first mother and daughter team in the world to climb to the top of Mount Everest—and not just Everest. Since 2001 they have together scaled the highest peaks on each of the earth’s continents—all seven summits: Everest in Asia, Elbrus in Europe, McKinley in North America, Aconcagua in South America, Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Kilimanjaro in Africa and, of course, beginning with Kosciusko in Australia. They are both graduates of Moriah College and their addiction to altitude was forged two decades ago when they visited Israel and climbed to the top of Masada.
The Barts are active members of our Wentworth community, involved in a range of charities and community service. Mazal Tov, Cheryl and Nikki.
To see the full speech click here
Paddington Public School's Pathway of History
Recently I was delighted to be the guest of honour at Paddington Public School's Pathway of History Opening.
The Pathway of History is embedded with engraved pavers bearing the names of former students, teachers and school families - the earliest dating back to the 1860s-1880s, when children from the Victoria Barracks were schooled at the 'Paddington Model School', est'd 5 May 1856.
Congratulations to the Principal Sue Mootz, P&C President Paul Owen and all the members of the Paddington Public School community for such wonderful initiative.
Facebook Party
We recently held a discussion on the Budget at the Golden Sheaf in Double Bay for over 150 of my cyber friends on Facebook. It was a great evening with a lot of robust discussion on many of the Budget initiatives.
To see photos from the evening click here
To see my Facebook profile click here.
Dog Blogs
Very sad news to report. After seventeen magnificent years Rusty has passed away. He was a wonderful dog and he was part of our family during most of our childrens' childhood years. We have written more about Rusty in his page on my website.
On a brighter note, after a long break JoJo and Mellie (ably assisted by their editorial aide Ms Daisy Turnbull) have returned to the world of blogging. You can read their most recent blog about Embarkation Park and their recent excursion to Canberra here.
Opinion Piece in the SMH
Just last week I wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald about the emptiness of the Rudd government that I mentioned at the start of this email - the growing vacuum between the rhetoric and the reality; between the empathy and the action.
You can continue to read this piece here
Enid Lyons - Leading Lady to a Nation
On 20 June I had the great pleasure of launching Anne Henderson's new book Enid Lyons - Leading Lady to a Nation. Dame Enid Lyons was the first woman to serve in the House of Representatives and the first to serve in Cabinet - as part of Robert Menzies Liberal team in 1949. Prior to becoming an MP herself, she was the wife of Prime Minister Joe Lyons who was Prime Minister from 1932 until his death in office in 1939.
Anne Henderson’s biography of Enid Lyons is a revelation of a world that has passed into history and a woman whose place in history has been neglected. Enid Lyons was a profoundly practical politician. She spoke in the here and now, of the problems of the day and the policies they demanded.
I took the opportunity in my speech to discuss the philosophy of the Liberal Party and the importance of its commitment to a free society.
"Our goal must be as Liberals then to strive for an Australia of which people can say: there is no country in the world where a man or woman is more free to pursue their dreams, no country more receptive to new ideas, no country more welcoming to enterprise and initiative.
And it must also be to strive for an Australia of which people can say: there is no country in the world where a person who is set back by disability or illness or poverty has more support and encouragement to enjoy the opportunities of a free society.
Those values of freedom, of equal opportunity are profound and they are enduring because they are human."
To continue reading the speech click here
To purchase a copy of the book click here
Speeches in Parliament and Latest Media
With such a busy parliamentary sitting period it was a great opportunity to speak on a range of topics in the house. You can read my speeches about
You can also read all of my most recent media transcripts here including my appearance on Lateline on Monday night here. And, as always, you can see all the latest videos here.
Yours sincerely,
Malcolm Turnbull