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Good leadership involves change, change doesn't guarantee self preservation.

It could have been one of his defining moments as prime minister but Malcolm Turnbull is yet to change Australia's laws on gay marriage.

Instead he implemented a plebiSHITE plebiscite which in effect does not change the laws merely got the opinion of the Australians, which had already been done by previous researchers. It was previously shown that the majority of Australians were in support of gay marriage well before the plebiscite. It was a costly procrastination of the Australian Government.

I thought about it from the Prime Minister's perspective. Usually you only get one shot at the top job. So if you were in Malcolm Turnbull's shoes, wouldn't you want to start making the changes and right away? I then started to think about other various leaders globally or not who have implemented or threatened to change something.

Lets look at some of them and how that worked out.

Pope John Paul I 

The previous pope, Paul VI (before Pope John Paul I) was ultra conservative and did not approve of contraception. John Paul I, by contrast, wanted to change the church's perspective on allowing contraception via the birth control pill. He noted that the world's population was growing at a fast pace which meant that there were several children who were malnourished. Hence he wanted to change the conservative views on contraception. He was an advocate for change within the Catholic church.

33 days into his role as Pope, he was found dead.

Coincidence?

Maybe. It is possible to speculate that perhaps some other conservative church members didn't approve of the pace of change.

John F Kennedy

The first irish catholic president of the United States.

He was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement. He advocated for Equal Opportunity, allowing for African Americans to attend college and attempted to stop the exclusion and discrimination of them from housing.

Before reaching his full term of presidency he was assassinated on 22 November 1963.

Perhaps his ideology was too progressive for some individuals to accept.

Bobby Kennedy

A promising candidate for president.

Like his brother, Bobby also supported the Civil Rights movement. He was quoted as saying:

'Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies.'

He was then assassinated on 5 June 1968 before he got his chance.

Martin Luther King

In the same year as Bobby, Martin Luther King got assassinated on 4 April 1968. A strong leader for change and civil rights. He seemed to know that he may not see his goals transformed into reality while he was alive.

He was quoted as saying:

"I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I am not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Gough Whitlam

The only prime minister in Australia to be sacked. He was considered a 'radical' by some. He implemented many changes that we still benefit from to this day, including a national health system called Medicare, changes to the Family law act and various other achievements in his short time as prime minister.

In conclusion...

It is not hard to see why Malcolm Turnbull is playing it safe with the issue of gay marriage. He is also an advocate for Australia becoming a republic but do not hold your breath on that one either.

He has a party full of ancient conservatives who he has to appease. However, isn't it better to burn out than to fade away? It depends how much you value self preservation. Turnbull may be playing it safe but it is more likely due to his preference for self preservation.





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