Malcolm in the Middle

Why it’s better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both

After the recent resignation of Malcolm Turnbull there has been much commentary surrounding his contributions or, more accurately, lack of contributions during his stint as Prime Minister.

Leading up to his original appointment as Prime Minister he came with much promise and ambition as a strong Coalition leader. He represented a palatable ‘centre-right’ leader with moderate political beliefs. On the one hand approved by conservatives for being pro business and those to the left found him to be their preferred coalition leader for his stance on the Republic. 

His political persona was a smooth negotiator and a successful wealthy business man in his own right. 

Finding the balance between being a leader with conviction and one who played it safe and survived was the question for Turnbull. He chose the latter. Self preservation.

Unfortunately in politics, it is cut throat, even choosing the safe path of self preservation is no guarantee. Especially in recent years, where prime minister leaders have failed to sustain a full term without someone challenging their leadership after a few bad polls.  Like a nervous trader on the stock exchange, politicians haven’t learnt to weather the storm and not jump ship on the first sign of trouble, that is, changing leaders when it is not necessary, or even potentially, to their party’s detriment.

Turnbull had to appease those in his party. He did this by playing it safe, but he also made a few fundamental errors. He could have taken a tip from Machiavelli;

It is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.

Turnbull tried to be loved by both sides. This lead to his demise as Prime Minister. 

The second fundamental error he made was to allow Tony Abbott to hang around in the background, causing ruckus by criticising the NEG. Once a politician has been axed as Prime Minister, it is better for the new leader, if they resign. Tony Abbott wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. You cannot have the full support of your party if an old leader is still lurking in the background. Even if you scrape just enough support to take over the reins.  

It was the same situation with Kevin Rudd still hanging around after being axed for Julia Gillard. It is a weak spot. If it’s not taken care of, the foundation will start to crumble. 

In Turnbull’s case it started to fester, and those on the far right such as Dutton started to protest louder.

The world is changing and becoming more bipartisan in politics, an example of this is Brexit and Donald Trump being elected. The divide between the right and left is getting even bigger, fuelled by social media and the era of fake news. It would, however, suggest that Australia too, may not have the appetite for a moderate political party leader. The desire may be for a leader with more conviction and one that has a clearer stance on the big issues. 

It would seem that there is no room for moderate anymore. 

Malcolm was always going to be stuck in the middle.