If you thought US politics was a den of intrigue …


… check out what is happening in Australia which now has its fifth prime minister in five years, most of the changes coming not from general elections but from intra-party leadership struggles within both major parties. The most recent one yesterday resulted in prime minister Malcolm Turnbull being replaced by Scott Morrison as leader of the governing Liberal party. The Liberals have a slim one-seat majority in parliament and is thus already in a precarious position.

This first BBC report summarizes that recent history.

The second one explains why Turnbull lost out to Morrison.

This article gives a more detailed description of the four factors that make Australian politics so crazy and unstable.

The Australian sketch comedy show Tonightly captures the sense of frustration felt by many Australians that their political parties seem to spend so much time and energy on palace coups and intrigues rather than, you know, governing. (Language advisory)

Comments

  1. DavidinOz says

    Only 3 more Prime Ministers until Xmas.

    When even the Murdoch Media runs articles like this it is time for change.  Much of the coup against Turnbull was fomented by Murdoch Media including The Australian and Sky “News”.

    But, when all is said and done, one rich white male has been replaced by another rich white male.

  2. says

    Yes, a weak right wing prime minister has been replaced by a happy clapper. Fortunately, elections are looming and the opinion polls have been against this lot for ages.

  3. DavidinOz says

    Lofty, sadly elections won’t solve the problem. The process has left so many people disenchanted with “the system” that they have given up. All week in my Newsagency I have been hearing people bemoan the process and declare that they will never vote again. And this in a semi-rural high catholic population area.

    We may be slightly better off than US, UK, Italy, etc, but the strain is showing and politics is killing good governance. That way lies dictatorship.

  4. says

    David, but personally I think the next federal election will throw out the happy clappers. The recent by-election in Mayo suggests that the Anyone But A Liberal vote will suffice to unseat them. The industrious and devout horticulturalists of Ange Vale are hardly a good stand-in for the reasonably educated swinging voter.

  5. Holms says

    Yes, people are fed up with politicians in general, but especially so for the Liberals. Bad news for them, what with the wafer thin margin they won by. And hearing of a semi-rural high catholic population region losing heart brings joy to mine, given who rabble they vote for.

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