Turnbull was always the ABC's pick to lead the Libs and remains the best Labor leader the Libs have ever had. Little wonder that Sales gave him a fawning interview.

He twice knifed sitting Liberal leaders using the very tactics he complains of and now whines that the same things were done to him.
As a politician he was a disaster. He utterly botched the Republic Referendum because he didn't trust the Australian people's good judgement. He had no idea how to combat Rudd and instead wanted to cave into Rudd's climate change policies against the wishes of most Liberal members.

As a PM he was a mess. He blew the majority that Abbott had created and had only one vision for Australia - that being Mal as leader. I think he was and remains astounded that everyone doesn't hold him in the same high esteem he holds himself.

One can only shudder at the thought of him as PM in the current crisis.

Turnbull has acknowledged how well the Australian
governments, state and federal, have worked
in fighting the current global pandemic. He also
went on to say he always regarded Morrison as his most
likely successor and that Morrison was a much safer pair
of hands than Peter Dutton by far.

Terry Barnes writing for The Drum in 2016 - tells us
that John Howard read the mood of the Australian people
better than anyone. That not one of his successors came
remotely near him in terms of his grasp of people,
politics and policy and his rapport with mainstream
Australia.

Barnes tells us that Rudd was too arrogant and obsessed by
elite opinion and his own brilliance. Julia Gillard was
fatally diminished by how she became PM and the political
disaster that was her 2010 election. That Tony Abbott
never adapted to positive government instead of negative
opposition and finally that Malcolm Turnbull brought a
sense of entitlement to the top job but was not given the
chance to produce much of any substance beside.

Barnes says that each of them had elements of Howard PM,
but none match the whole package.

Interesting insights.

Andrew Clark, Senior Writer for the Australian
Financial Review pointed out in 2018 - the five political
successes of the Coalition Government under
Malcolm Turnbull's leadership were:

1) Securing an exemption from tariff increases for
Australian finished steel exports to the US.

2) Steering the passage of same sex marriage postal
survey and enabling legislation through Parliament.

3) Kick-starting a high profile Australian program
of hi-tech innovation.

4) Presiding over a highly successful skills-based
immigration program against mounting opposition.

5) Maintaining good relations with a volatile,
unpredictable US President, Donald Trump.

Turnbull's political failures Clark lists as:

1) Not politically burying Tony Abbott.

2) Failure to deliver a comprehensive reform of
Australia's tax system.

3) The Coalition's almost continuous flat-lining
in the polls.

4) Failure to communicate and set a clear narrative
for his government.

5) The policy collapse around the National Energy
Guarantee.

To be fair, Clark says that Malcolm Turnbull was
also operating in a political party where a large
group were opposed to considering policies which
acknowledged the reality of man-made climate change
and so Australia gragged its feet in attempting to
mitigate and navigate global effects.

Turnbull explained that:

"" ...this is something that Morrison has to confront,
by the way, because they would do exactly the same to him,
if they thought they could. The way they operate is to
basically bully and intimidate people... you create mayhem,
enough damage, that people in the middle say, "It has
got to come to an end, how can I stop this terrible
horror?"

Not sure what the answer to that is.

Turnbull's major failing was that he considered himself to be smarter than anyone else in the room and failed to realise that he was supposed to be a leader among peers and not subordinates. Both times after becoming leader of the party he made the fatal mistake of attempting to push through policies that he strongly believed in but which were strongly opposed by the majority of the party.

The first time he tried to pass Rudd's carbon cap and tax and was booted out, the second time he tried to craft the NEG into a de facto cap and trade policy and got booted out.

Both were supremely predictable and a surprise to no one. He had no one to blame but himself.

P.S. he is kidding if he thought he could win the up coming election after he stuffed up the previous one.

Turnbull is a perjurer, 'nuff said.

I find it interesting how we can look at the
same phenomenon in life and see it with
totally different eyes. But listening to each
other and hearing a variety of opinions hopefully
we can learn and grow.

Joshua Black writing in The Conversation,
April 22, 2020 says that:

"Ultimately, "A Bigger Picture"is not the compendium
of revelation that some may perceive. Instead, it is
another picture of politics in which "character"and
"leadership"reigns supreme at the expense of all
other political forces."

In Black's opinion "Turnbull's book is another addition
to the history of incendiary political memoir publishing
in Australia."

"Political parties and their media associates have
confirmed once again that a successful parliamentary
memoir requires is deft political management."

And that is something in which Malcolm Turnbull should be
undoubtedly a pro. So far his book has sold out at least
at the Dymocks stores here in Melbourne as of Tuesday.

The book has generated so much political controversy.
Turnbull's been accused of hypocrisy and championing
socialism. All old chestnuts. He's even been threatened
with expulsion from the Liberal Party.

All in all this was expected - but of course none of it
would please the current government or the Party.

But is the book really more inflammatory than previous
prime ministerial memoirs?

Looking back into the past it would appear that
political controversy is a trade mark of political
memoir publishing in Australia.

Is Joshua Black correct when he says that Malcolm Turnbull's
"A Bigger Picture" is just another page in that story?

You can read his comments here:

http://www.theconversation.com/secrets-and-scandals-where-malcolm-turnbulls-memoir-fits-in-the-rich-history-of-prime-ministerial-books-136730

Could someone tell me who their favourite PM was/is - and
why?