Malcolm Turnbull: A Democrat dressed in Tory togs? A conservative or a progressive? A moderate or high church?

posted by Kathryn Crosby on Sunday, October 4th 2009

Tim Blair’s opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph today http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/malcolm-seizes-muddle-ground/story-e6frezz0-1225782199044 had a line that made me see red:

Turnbull next restated his opposition to nothing. “To do nothing, to literally be a party with nothing to say, which is what some people are suggesting we should be, a party with no ideas is not the party I am prepared to lead,” he said, which at least rules out a third leadership role with the Australian Democrats.

What? The Australian Democrats a party with no ideas? You have got to be kidding me.

The sheer depth of now-mainstream policy first championed by the Australian Democrats hugely contradicts that claim, Tim.

We led on the environment before The Greens existed; our very solid climate change policy – balloted in 2001, while both Labor and the conservatives were still trying to figure out if it was real – which is so on-the-money it is scary; paid maternity leave long before anyone else; same sex marriage (Natasha Stott Despoja’s bill from 2006) and parliamentary oversight of war (Bartlett’s bill from 2002) – both of which The Greens have simply copied to reintroduce this year with next to no editing…

I could go on, but anyone familiar with the Democrats don’t need convincing: you already know we are the definitive party of ideas. And you also know we have member-based policy working groups toiling away right now, detailing the next round of new ideas to drive our country forward.

If Turnbull wants to be part of a party of ideas, then he should be an Australian Democrat.

Other Turnbull acts are classic Democrat moves – the shopping list of amendments for the ETS is a classic Australian Democrats approach to negotiation: see Kernot’s shopping list for workplace reform and Lees’ shopping list for Howard to get his GST. It’s an incredibly effective way to improve legislation for all Australians and Turnbull definitely lifted from the Democrat play book when he did it.

Turnbull is considerably more progressive than many of his conservative colleagues. I don’t think he’s a bad leader at all, but I guess he is pretty frustrated by the stick-in-the-muds that surround him, and struggling to get them to move. The Liberal/National coalition in its current form wants another Howard as leader – so they can sit back and just say no to anything that might take us forward, and support fear-inspired hateful measures that will only take us backwards. Dear Liberals: you may want that, Australia doesn’t.

There are many people on both sides that I think would be a lot happier in the Democrats. Peter Garrett and some of the other more progressive members of the Labor party, John Forrest from Mallee and Fiona Nash from NSW from the Nationals so they could better represent their constituency without getting whacked for voting against the party line, most of the wet Liberals (and no one from The Greens).

Would the Democrats want them? That’s another matter, and not for me to decide. I don’t see why not, as long as they respect the party’s core beliefs, objectives, constitution, and the membership.
Why are they in those parties and not the Democrats? Well, aside from that minor implosion we just won’t dwell on for the moment, the Democrats have failed to get the nation to see them as a true alternative in every level of Governance. We have allowed people like Tim Blair to label being centrist as being perched on the fence – as opposed to being a genuine alternative political position.

A centrist position is a perfectly valid position, and one that will suit most Australians.

The Australian Democrats also need to make it clear that we are actually not just here to make a few speeches and hang out in the Senate. Please read Objective 23 http://www.democrats.org.au/about/pages/objectives.php

I’d be happy with Turnbull as a Democrat.

Kathryn Crosby

Kathryn asserts this is a personal view aside from her role with the Democrats, is not advice to the party, nor is she about to pick up the phone to Malcolm with an invitation.