With five from five of the super Saturday elections going against the LNP, I suggest this is a protest vote against the PM rather than a win for anyone else.

So, given he is what I consider our worst ever, should he do the honourable thing and resign. Also, how long will it take for someone within the LNP to chuck this useless guy out. In my view it should go without question.

He is in a commanding position to surpass the disasters of Rudd and Gillard.

He is very close now to taking the Crown of the worst PM in Australian history.

I am flabbergast the Liberal party have not woken up to his incompetence at election time they will pay the price, backbench for all.

He lost me totally when he gave the 30 staffers a $28,000 pay increase which made it crystal clear how out of touch the ignoramus is. What a reflection though on those who put him there.
LNP is now level with ALP in the race for incompetence.

Why would Turbull do anything honourable. He has never done it since he stabbed Abbott in the back. 'Honourable' is not in Turnbull's lexicon.

individual,

You might be interested to know that their is a 21 year old 'adviser' in the shrew Micaela Cash's office who is on $130,000 p.a.

“The longer Turnbull lasts as leader, the more likely it is that the Liberal party will split or that it will face a serious competitor on the conservative side of politics. Hence a Turnbull victory at the next election could be more dangerous to the Liberal party long term than a defeat that would enable them to rethink and regroup in opposition under centre-right leaders like Peter Dutton or Tony Abbott.” (Prof. Ross Fitzgerald)

Why does every new PM become 'our worst ever'?

Hey individual

"He lost me totally when he gave the 30 staffers a $28,000 pay increase which made it crystal clear how out of touch the ignoramus is. What a reflection though on those who put him there.
LNP is now level with ALP in the race for incompetence."

Democracy is a mere illusion.
If they make the rules for us we should make the rules for them.
Its not democracy if they get to make up their own rules at our expense as they go.

Real Democracy?
Do we have Democracy A, Democracy B, Democracy C, Democracy Lite, Democracy Extra or Democracy Deluxe?

None, because we have 'Liberal Democracy' - Thats the one with the subversive back-doors built in, that allow the country to be sold off and its people manipulated and subverted against their own interests.

THATS NOT BLOODY DEMOCRACY!
It's a PSY-OP.

Nice job with the inference of 'incompetence' btw, it's my favourite.

Democracy is dominated by private interests (including your own),, as such it's a failure.

I'd make a better PM than both of these combined ! Without trying.

Well yes! bring back Tony Abbott, that is it had my laugh but lets highlight the unhappy Torys here are nipping at the heals of a true, yes true, Liberal, who has not been able to act like one because his party will not let him, its the party and its policies that are the problem, turfing Turnbull can not on its own improve much, BUT if you pick a new face, not hard right, that removes some of the harder policy, you can win back many you, by the right of right nature of this government, have become refugees

//Why does every new PM become 'our worst ever'?//

Short memories, AC.

Speaking of which, the Libs should definitely give Tony Abbott another go. The voters loved it when Labor kept playing musical chairs with their leadership, it's a real vote winner. [sarcasm]

Should Malcolm Turnbull do the honourable thing
and resign?

Why?

Why should he resign?

And what would be so "honourable" about it?

What would be "honourable" is for Tony Abbott to shut the
hell up and stop undermining his own party!

The man's a total loser - and would sell his arse to be
PM. It's time Malcom Turnbull kicked him out of the Party.

As for the PM - there's enough time to make adjustments to
the current policies and garner party support to present a
united front to the public. Members of the Liberal Party
need to stand firmly behind their leader. The game is not
lost by any means. But it will be if they bring the loser
Tony Abbott back in.

I agree with just about everyone else's summation of Mr TURNBULL. For me at least, it's his treachery, and rank incompetence as a Member of Parliament that strikes me? How can we ordinary members of the public support a Prime Minister who uses treachery to get his way? Moreover he has an ego that's almost immeasurable - the man is totally unsuited, even as a Member of Parliament let alone PM.

the abc gave Turnbull the knife in order to stab the one they detested. Thankfully people have woken up to the fake news as shown by the American public voting for Trump. Hopefully whoever gets elected will ditch the climate fraud and stop Islamic immigration. The people of Australia has had their future destroyed by regressives. We need someone who cares more about Australia than their self interest. That rules out Turnbull, Shorten and Julie Bishop. Great news today that Tommy Robinson has been released from gaol in England.

Bring on Pauline Hanson right runner?

A cardboard cut-out will do.

Unfortuatrely Foxy, Hanson is not the brightest although her policies make the regressives look very stupid.

The only people who like Turnbull are are never going to vote for him because they are Green Labor. Turnbull is also Green Labor, and he should be challenging Shorten for leadership of the ALP; he would be a shoo in, because Labor was his first preference when he wanted to get into politics. He was rejected because he had too much money. After the Coalition is thrashed at the next election, he could have another try at getting into the ALP, because they are much more comfortable with wealth now that they have dumped the working classes.

I would love a party lead by Hanson or Abbott, but my interests are firmly with a Labor government, it can not go unanswered however that right of reality policies, not the leadership, is the Liberals problem

"As for Malcolm Turnbull and his consistent polling as preferred Prime Minister, look at the alternative: polls only offer a choice between him and Bill Shorten. That’s like a choice between a cooked s--t sandwich and an uncooked one". (Andrew L Urban commenting in The Spectator on the state of political leadership in Australia).

God you lot need to pull your heads out of the sand. Turnbull is nearly 20 points ahead of Shorten as preferred PM, it's the rest of his coalition who are letting the show down. Abbott's sniping, Cash's incompetence, Dutton's arrogance, Pyne's smarminess, Bishop's fawning, the list goes on.

Turnbull could have taken strong leadership on things like climate change but Abbott's latent toxicity and the far right still holds his party back.

Shorten will have to go a long way to win me over but the Labour party as a whole have some good values and policies that they are able to articulate without having to look to the back bench every second. Even then Shorten still missteps regularly and I would certainly love a different leader but the coalition are just a train wreak and have been for a while.

Abbott simply can't be put back, it'd be sheer idiocy. He failed & would fail again. If he had what it takes he'd still be there. I admit he had me fooled too when he first got to be PM.
Shorten is Turnbull's guarantee but there's nothing in it for us.
We need politicians who care & do what they got voted in for. Turnbull doesn't appear to have a grasp of normal life & the others are still further back in the comprehension department.
They'd all be better suited for a circus as clowns.

Oh! the moans and groans coming from the forums rabid right posters on this thread. As the Usual Suspects are agonizing over their pathetic leadership, It makes me think they, and their fearless leader, are all locked in a darkened broom closet after an over indulgent feed of baked beans by the Big Kahuna. Who dropped his guts? The pain, the shame, the smell is too much for even our Usual Suspects.

I love it

It's heart-warming to see such concern for this Nation by some.

My thought that bringing back Abbott was shear sarcasm he is now of more value to my party than his, however the thought Turnbulls lead over Shorten in any way points to victory for this government is madness, fully aware of the implications of what I am about to say past winners on both sides presented as the clear leader the country wanted, these two are not seen that way, but policy often hurting the very base of this government,will see this election lost unless a new broom replaces Turnbull, blames him, and drops much of the policy voters are rejecting

Belly,
The problem is that bot ALP & LNP have already imploded so far as competence is concerned.
To vote for either of them has now become sheer madness. Labor has some decent policies as has conservatism. The problem is that our major parties have been infiltrated 7 saturated by academic background people who's mentality is just that, academic Loaded with ignorance on pragmatism. This explains the sad state of australian politics at this stage.

individual,

You are right; neither Liberal nor Labor deserve our votes so, write ‘none of these” on the ballot paper, and vote Australian Conservatives or One Nation in the senate

individual still,, in the end, only those two can ever rule us,I as you would expect, think differently than you BUT can understand and to some extent share, your view the wrong people are getting in to parliament via both our parties, a conga line of upwardly mobile quite up themselves,, is in line to get a seat not near enough just ordinary people who may have been hungry who may have some understanding of what the average person wants and expects, even that being the truth, if you and I sit waiting for that perfect party that will never ever come we ignore surely one of the existing ones ,in our opinion, is better than the other

Sorry for late reply...Arm Chair, its because modern day politics has become a race to the bottom. No election has been won since Ruds victory in 07 and look how he turned out. More to follow just too busy

"By choosing to mimic left-wing and progressive policies and values, the Turnbull Coalition deprives itself of any serious weapons with which to clobber Labor". (From Spectator editorial 4/8).

Ah, the good old Spectator.

With Rowan Dean at the helm what can we expect?

He used to be a standard conservative commentator.
Who sometimes came up with a reasonable analysis.
Now he's morphed into a maniacal right-wing
Mark Latham. What a pity.

The frightening part of all this is while Turnbul has a commanding lead over Shorten for the top job, the recent results pretty much guarantee a change if Trunbul stays, further confirming we are still on the path of a race to the bottom.

Personally, I would like to see Dutton in the top job, simply because he has balls, or Abbott as he would have learned and would be unlikely to kick any more own goals, But either way, nothing short of a balls out approach will save us as a nation as I have little doubt we are heading for a hiding to nothing if nothing changes.

Welfare out of control, immigration out of control and putting huge strain on welfare. Let's face it, when gay marriage and the number of women in parliament are the lead topics up for discussion, we have a major problem.
Does anyone remember when we had a car industry? Seems our polloies don't.

Hi there REHCTUB...

Butch you sure paint a rosy picture for our political future, if Labour gain government. And sadly I cannot find a single thing you've said, that I could possibly take issue with?

My loathing for Malcolm TURNBULL knows no limits, I believe he has taken on the PM's role purely to feed his own hubris, and bugger the Australian people. The only good thing - a ridiculous thing to say I know - TURNBULL will get the biggest kicking of his life come the election. In the mean time he will've utterly destroy the LNP, single handed.

Perhaps in his own narcissistic way, that was his intention all along? I agree, absolutely with you; MR DUTTON or perhaps a 'reined in' Tony ABBOTT as the next leader, who will inject some conservatism back into the Party and who has the guts to fight for what's right.

Why do you want conservatism? And why do you think it would be attractive to voters?

Dear Butch,

Are you for real?

It was Abbott and Hockey who put paid to the car industry, it was Abbott who sunk a mining tax that might have saved some of the wealth and energy we have so willingly handed over to overseas corporations, it was Howard who drove vast increases in migration rates and 457s to appease big business donors.

Gina Rinehart employs over 1700 of them at one site alone.

It wasn't just 'some pollies' at all.

Perth has a youth unemployment rate of over 15%. Dutton had said he would curtail 457s in such areas but since then Perth has seen nearly 2000 more take up work in the city. It has to stop.

Why do you want the same crew who oversaw all this to get another go doing more of the same?

ALP started incompetence & the LNP is hell-bent on trying to perfect it.

It's not just the reef deal, there's also the $300million he gave to Murdoch (FoxTel) to "promote womens sport" without any indication of how and when they would achieve this.

When he was the Environment Minister under Howard, Turnbull gave $11million to a company part-owned by Murdoch's nephew to come up with a way to "make it rain" during a drought. Strangely, that nephew was a member of the Wentworth Forum - Turnbull's relection fundraiser - and Turnbull's next door neighbour.

Then there was the $12million grant gave to The US Studies Centre Think Tank. Their patron is Turnbull's wife and the Research Director was his son-in-law.

Turnbull has always been a financial schemer, only this time he's using our money. His allegation (personally leaked by him by the way) that he donates "every cent" of his PM salary was misleading in the extreme and what he was really doing was tax evasion.

These are just a few examples of why we need a Federal ICAC.

Hi Reche,

Turnbull is well known as a schemer, millions of dollars of handouts from the taxpayer to mates as rewards. "Make it Rain" where are they now, farmers could use some rain.

Unfortunately our right wing brethren done want to know about these kinds of rip-offs, more interested to hear about some dude getting a $50 over payment at Çentrelink'. That's what shocks them!

Bring on a Federal ICAC to weed out the scum bags. Always been in favor.

ICAC a Federal one, we can only dream,it is needed so very much fear however stops us getting it, a true powerful fear, fear that politicians would be the first brought to heel and the self interest that some politicians work for, Labor has promised something like it, may it be not toothless, may it be the fence that keep every one in the paddock named honesty

Hi BELLY...

Can you possibly imagine these bastards that occupy the seats of power in Canberra, would ever vote to introduce a Federal ICAC authority? Never ever!

o sung wo agree! on both side such a entity free to act and go any place frightens them, in the end that is so very sad our country needs such a group

Steel, it has been suggested that the car man industry was subsidized to the tune of $50,000 per worker per year.
Given the amount of waste between 07 and 13, do you honestly think this was sustainable?

As for the mining tax, sorry, but I fear all Abbott managed to do was shut the gate after the horse had bolted, the very horse he fought tooth and nail to save.
You see mining has a smell about in this country now, and while the geniuses out there say the sky didn't actually cave in, the very foundations of mining, the exploration, has no doubt taken a dive. You see no one in their right mind is going to invest tens of billions to find a resource that they have doubts about being able to be extracted in ten, twenty who knows how many years, or face the prospect of a mining tax take two should labor get back in.

Do you know anyone who is planning the open a new aluminium smelter in Oz? Of cause not, power is now too expensive due to the renewable policy which is all linked.

Dear rehctub,

There are still 4 aluminium smelters in operation in
Australia however, as the following link explains -
Rio Tinto has plans to develop a new carbon-free
aluminium smelting process :

http://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/rio-tinto-to-develop-new-carbon-free-aluminium-smelting-process-20180510-p4zek7.html

Foxy, what is here now in mining has no relevance to the discussion, as its new mines that are of interest. Furthermore, you may of may not be aware that Australia has a R&D tax write off rate of 125%, provided that's still in. This simply means that for every dollar invested in R&D, $1.25 is tax deductable. Now i'm uncertain as to whether or not this new mine fits that criteria so can't really comment any further.

This is one of the anomalies conveniently omitted by those who pay out on big companies who they claim don't pay/enough tax.
Sadly, sometimes the truth is just not juicy enough.

Bring on Flat Tax !

//Rio Tinto has plans to develop a new carbon-free
aluminium smelting process//

With a complete lack of detail about how they hope to achieve this. Not that's impossible, mind you. But even if they can cut the direct emissions from aluminium smelting by getting rid of the carbon electrodes that produce those emissions, aluminium smelting will still require huge amounts of electricity: the Tomago aluminium smelter near Newcastle is the singles largest energy consumer in NSW - a massive 12% of total capacity.

Call me a skeptic, but I don't think solar panels and windfarms are going to cut it when it comes to aluminium smelting. If you want it carbon free, you need hydro or nuclear as well as non-carbon electrodes.