It's obvious from many of the posts on this forum
that many people are dissatisfied with both Julia Gillard
and Tony Abbott as the only choices we have currently
for Australia's Prime Minister.
I thought it may be interesting to see what people
thought of Malcolm Turnbull as a possible alternative.

I would be interested to hear the pros and cons.

Thank You.

lexi,
Am sure Gillard will resign after the election, so that will be an opportunity for Turnbull to take over. Seems that many Labor supporters want him. But i cannot see him being any better than Gillard as party leader. Of course he would have to change camps, but has always been defacto Labor anyway and am sure the Libs will have the numbers to spare him. Labor is welcome to him.

Abbott may not have much, what we call chrisma, but while ever he leads in the polls the Libs will not change him. Although i am a little disappointed he has compromised a bit on human induced glabal warming. His original alalysis was spot on.

Yes Lexi, I am a fan of Malcolm Turnbull taking over from Tony Abbott as leader of the Liberal Party.
Unfortunately however, while the Liberals seem to be on a roll because of the discontent with the Labour Party, I doubt they would consider a change of leadership any time soon.

Turnbull is a much less conservative politician than Abbott, to say the least, and I like that in a politician.

He speaks very well, and would not cause many people to cringe at times as with the strong Australian accent of the Prime Minister, or the bumbling, hesitant speech of Abbott.
This may seem nit-picking, but these people are supposed to represent our country in many other countries, and in very formal state occasions, and their manner of speech and the way they present themselves is important.

Apart from that, I don't like Tony Abbott's history with his very religious background and the way he has discussed women's issues in the past.
I don't believe religion and politics should mix too closely, as some decisions may be made that are not as secular as they should be in a secular country like Australia.

I will remain concerned about any women's and religious issues such as abortion and euthanasia, should he ever become Prime Minister.....shudder...!

Dear Banjo,

Turnbull is a Liberal through and through. He will
not be switching parties. As for Tony Abbott -
he's not popular enough as the possible PM. Don't
forget Mr Abbott lost the last election due to his
lack of negotiating skills with the Independents.
Turnbull would have won that election. He's a better
negotiator.

Dear Suse,

Malcolm Turnbull is a great communicator. You may not
agree with everything he says - but what he says makes
sense because he explains it so well and he knows what
he's talking about. He's also willing to compromise
to achieve results that he feels will be for the good
of the country and what's impresive is that he's
willing to accept ideas that he feels make sense - even
though they don't come from within his own party ranks.
He is a leader - that more people would accept. One
that would do us all proud.

Lexi, when describing Turnbull, if you substitute con man for communicator, I could agree with you.

Perhaps the reason so many Labor folk like him is that he is a Rudd clone. Both of them are too stupid to know which way is up, look how they fell fore the global warming scam, & didn't have enough sense to get off the train before the crash.

He has proved himself to be in the business for his benefit, definitely not ours, & will never lead the Libs again. They have woken up to him. The only libs who supported him were those who, like Labor with Rudd & Gillard, didn't give a damn about good government, just winning. Winning with Turnbull would be no better than having Rudd or Gillard.

Why are you lefties so attracted to shonks, with a good line of gab. Just look across the Pacific, & you see another con man who won the lefties hearts, & is destroying the economy of the country that feeds him. The payola under Obama has almost reached banana republic levels.

Millionaire socialists should be viewed with great suspicion, & avoided at all costs.

Turnbull would be a better choice than Abbott. With his 20 or so pledges in blood, it's not going to be a good argument at election time.
Being a religious fanatic, and not a good track record when it comes to women's issues, makes Abbott look bad.
Abbott being in favor of the 1% can only turn people off.
I definitely think the opposition can do better in their choice of leader.
The Abbott opposition will not debate economy, and this alone will turn people away when the chips are down.
The govern for the rich and let the rest tag along, mentality makes abbott a dangerous man, possibly the worst in the liberal history.