Malcolm Turnbull = the Bon Jovi of Australian Politics?

Six months into their respective roles of Federal Leader of the Opposition and the leader of one of the most successful artists of the hair metal music period, both had limited audiences. Bon Jovi had the small listener base of WAPP-FM, a small FM radio station out of Manhattan, Turnbull, a growing group of small L Liberals, most of whom who saw him as a necessary evil, as a means of regaining power at the next Federal election. With the respective demises of Peter Costello and Styx, saw these small power bases only grow further.

Having ridden the wave of their honeymoon periods, Bon Jovi's 1984 debut self titled album reaching the dizzy heights of 18 on the New Zealand charts, Malcolm Turnbull having defeated Brendan Nelson in a leadership spill, it was only a matter of time before the public wondered what we'd get next from these two complete opposites.

Then it all began to fall apart. Bon Jovi's 1985 release 7800°Fahrenheit was panned by British metal album as being ""a pale imitation of the Bon Jovi we have got to know and learned to love.".....and yeah, there's the quote I was after....

The Turnbull response to the Rudd Government stimulus package could also be accused of being a pale imitation of the Malcolm Turnbull we have got to know and learned to love. This isn't fiscal discipline, this is an example of an inability to display to the public what the Turnbull Opposition truly stand for. Members of Bon Jovi all agreed that 7800°Fahrenheit could have and should have been a much better finished product, and are now so embarassed by it, they no longer play any of the songs from that album live, which on a personal sidenote, is quite a pity, I like "Secret Dreams". How long before the Opposition are so embarassed by this stance, which could have and should have been so much better, that they now refuse to refer to this part of the song book in Question Time? If a recent Fran Bailey interview is anything to go by, not far at all.

My initial reaction to the stimulus package was, at least from an opposition perspective intent on making ground on the Government, to ensure that they bring down the overall total figure of 42 billion, to at least be able to point to a populist argument that gets Turnbull some positive media attention, whilst being able to point to a degree of fiscal discipline in saying they've at least saved the average tax payer, x billion dollars. Where possible, to also demand that each item of stimulus was passed as a seperate bill through the senate, to ensure that the minor parties in the Senate at least have a chance of being able to have their say, without thinking of the bigger picture of whether or not they stay next time their half of the senate is up for grabs.

It wasn't until one reads the relevant Hansard that you will find that the Opposition support exactly such a move, preferring a stimulus package of between 15-20 billion instead. But those who need it most, are more than likely not to have bothered with such documents. Should the need for advertising plasma screen TVs on the bottom of the daily Hansard ever arise, this may change, but for the time being, news grabs of Turnbull preaching fiscal discipline instead were the order of the day. To Barry Battler, the only way to interpret this was "Who is this rich prick, and why can't I have my money?".

What could have been Turnbull's "Slippery When Wet" moment, when the majority of the nation, perhaps even the world, take notice of them for the first time, and realise they have a serious contender to the crown on their hands, quickly became a 7800°Fahrenheit one instead. The damage is certainly now done, with the Government preferring to negotiate with messrs Fielding, Xenothon and the Greens instead, to almost certainly pass this through the senate by tomorrow's close of business, with their own amendments attached. Leaving the Turnbull Opposition appearing Grinch-like by it's lonesome. Furthermore, the damage is done, with plausibly the door being shut on the prospect of having an election heavily dominated by who has the best economic management credentials. The effect of the Rudd stimulus package on future budgets sees the nation having multi-billion dollar deficits for the foreseeable future. No matter how good the Opposition treasury benches become, or how incompetent Swan becomes by contrast, good luck managing those sets of figures in a hurry.

So for the time being, whilst the Opposition struggle to present an alternative that sees them within the public spotlight for all the right reasons, and subsequently find themselves, *cough*, Living On A Prayer, This Left, at least on it's stimulus package, Feels Right.