Fed: Turnbull scheme distracts from internal turmoil
By Kate Hannon, National Political EditorMon Aug 10 19:38:13 EST 2009
CANBERRA, Aug 10 AAP - One way of looking at Malcolm Turnbull's launch on Monday of an alternative "hybrid" emissions trading scheme is that it served partly as a distraction in the week from hell.
It's not clear why the plan was released ahead of Thursday's Senate vote on the government's 11 carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS) bills.
Only last month Turnbull released a series of proposed amendments to the CPRS scheme, initially without the approval of his colleagues.
It is also not clear whether Turnbull's new "cleaner, greener and smarter" emissions trading scheme will be adopted as coalition policy.
The result of modelling by consultants Frontier Economics, commissioned and funded by the opposition and independent senator Nick Xenophon, it had not been put to shadow cabinet or the coalition party room before its release.
With parliament returning on Tuesday after the six-week winter recess, Turnbull is facing friction within his own party and continuing attack from the government in the wake of the OzCar affair.
Added to that are reported rumblings in the past week over his leadership and his penchant to go it alone on policy announcements.
While a number of coalition MPs will no doubt give voice to their unhappiness on Tuesday morning in the first party room meeting since June, the leadership concerns are unlikely to get past first base.
Senior Liberals have rallied around Turnbull since his humiliation last Tuesday over his admission at having been duped by troubled Treasury official Godwin Grech over the OzCar affair.
With around 16 months until the next federal election is due, there is no real stomach for a change of leader, which would be a sign of panic before the election.
There is also no sign there's anyone foolish enough to put their hand up for the job anyway.
To make matters even worse, Turnbull has been hit with another poor personal showing in the fortnightly Newspoll, contrasting sharply with virtually no movement in party voting intentions.
Dissatisfaction with Turnbull's performance has climbed seven points to a scary 57 per cent, while satisfaction has gone south by seven points to 26 per cent.
OzCar will also not go away, with the government to move in the Senate on Tuesday for a privileges committee investigation into whether Grech and the coalition colluded to stage manage the OzCar Senate inquiry.
It all leaves coalition MPs returning to Canberra for the spring session of parliament with a sense of despair and no immediate solution to the current malaise.
