Fed: Turnbull refuses to discuss polls, OzCar as parly to resume
By Kate Hannon, National Political EditorMon Aug 10 19:15:47 EST 2009
CANBERRA, Aug 10 AAP - Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull tried to put the OzCar fake email affair behind him on Monday by refusing to discuss the matter publicly.
Mr Turnbull refused to answer questions about his leadership as he moved to reassert his authority with the launch of an alternative emissions trading scheme based on research commissioned by the opposition and independent senator Nick Xenophon.
He also would not say whether the opposition planned to pick up where it left off when parliament broke up for winter in June and continue its pursuit of the government, particularly Treasurer Wayne Swan, over the OzCar affair.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Turnbull pointed to his 47-minute news conference last Tuesday and his lengthy media release that he said fully explained his position on OzCar and his dealings with Treasury official Godwin Grech.
"I've got nothing more to say on that matter," Mr Turnbull said on Monday, more than once, during a news conference on emissions trading.
"I'm not commenting on polls. Are there any other questions on emissions trading schemes and the jobs of thousands of Australians, if that remains of interest?"
As expected, another bad Newspoll has set the agenda for the return of parliament on Tuesday when Mr Turnbull will face his party room in its first meeting since late June.
He will be immediately faced with anger over his decision to propose amendments to the government's carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS), which will be defeated in the Senate on Thursday.
The veteran West Australian backbencher and former Howard government junior minister Wilson Tuckey has already made it clear he will be critical over a lack of party consultation.
The poll shows voter unhappiness has been directed at Mr Turnbull personally rather than the coalition parties.
There was a slight improvement of one point in Mr Turnbull's preferred leader rating to 17 per cent but he remains 48 points behind Mr Rudd.
Opposition frontbencher Greg Hunt described the two party-preferred poll result, which remained steady with Labor on 57 per cent and the coalition on 43 per cent, as positive.
"I actually think under the circumstances it is a very strong result," Mr Hunt said on Monday.
But dissatisfaction with Mr Turnbull's performance jumped seven points to a concerning 57 per cent while satisfaction with his performance fell seven points to 26 per cent.
Another poll released on Monday added to the pain by confirming voters are going out of their way to mark Mr Turnbull down rather than the coalition.
The Essential Research online poll of more than 1,000 people tracked Mr Turnbull's approval rating since he became leader in September last year.
It found his total approval had fallen from 36 per cent in September when he took the opposition leadership from Brendan Nelson to a low of 22 per cent in the past week.
Mr Turnbull's approval had peaked at 41 per cent in January but has been in steady decline since it was at 30 per cent in May.
Another opposition frontbencher, Senator George Brandis, moved to explain the bad Newspoll saying it was no secret Mr Turnbull had had a "terrible" six or seven weeks since the OzCar affair blew up.
"I think the Australian public don't finally make up their mind about a leader until they've seen ... what it's like when the blowtorch is upon him," Senator Brandis said.
