Canberra: Malcolm Turnbull has suggested political disillusionment in Australia is no more extreme now that it has ever been, and says he’s not sure if his government’s controversial policy to drug test welfare recipients will actually work.
After a horror-filled few weeks, with the political agenda consumed by the citizenship debacle, a jovial prime minister fronted The Project on the Ten Network on Sunday night, and during a brief, soft interview, traded banter with his hosts.
Turnbull was asked about the trust deficit in politics and the current level of disillusionment with mainstream politics.
Despite surveys such as the Australian National University’s post election snapshot finding that satisfaction with democracy, trust in government and loyalty to major parties are currently at record lows — Turnbull said on Australians had never been ecstatic about the political class.
“Let me tell you, I started off as a young journalist in the state parliamentary press gallery in the mid-70s, right, so more than 40 years ago. “I don’t think Australians have ever been wandering around ecstatically saying: ‘I can’t believe how fabulous our politicians are; why do we have such amazing politicians? They are practically perfect!’
“They don’t say that. We have to work really hard as politicians to win the support of the public and they are hard markers. And fair enough. That’s what democracy is about.”
Asked what he wanted his prime ministerial legacy to be, Turnbull said delivering big reforms. He cited several pieces of legislation the government had managed to pass since the last election, including “the biggest reforms to school funding in the history of the commonwealth”.
The prime minister was asked about the government’s controversial policy to test welfare recipients for drug use, and he said he was not sure whether it would work, hence the trial.
“Do you really want your taxes being spent on drugs? I don’t,” Turnbull said. “I don’t want welfare money being spent on drugs. “So I think this is a good exercise, it’s worthwhile. Australians support it, and we’ll see how it goes. It is a trial.”
The prime minister was given a breathalyser by his hosts, as a reference to the revival last week of an old story about Tony Abbott being too drunk to attend votes on the economic stimulus package the Rudd government legislated during the global financial crisis.
Asked whether the parliament needed lock out laws, Turnbull joked that probably wasn’t helpful when the government had a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives. “With a majority of one, we don’t want to lock anyone out”.
There was also a veiled dig at Abbott, with a reference to the massive cost blow out in long-running renovations at The Lodge in Canberra, which commenced under Julia Gillard, but spanned the time when Abbott was prime minister.
Turnbull noted the $12-million (Dh44 million) price tag for the renovations could have funded two residences of the same size. “But anyway it won’t happen again. I’ve made sure we’ve got some adult oversight on any further works that are done on those residences.”
He also used the opportunity of his appearance on the programme to emphasise he was voting yes in the same sex marriage postal survey, and he encouraged Australians to turn out to vote. “We want a high participation in the vote. And I think we’ll get that”.
The appearance on The Project comes ahead of a visit to Cooma on Monday. Turnbull is expected to unveil funding for the feasibility study for the Snowy 2.0 development. The government in March revealed plans for a $2-billion expansion of the Snowy Hydro scheme that could add up to 50 per cent to its capacity. Officials have told Senate estimates hearings the costs of the project could blow out to more than $3 billion.
Turnbull for the past week has pushed out into regional areas with a focus on employment in an effort to push through the government’s political difficulties with the unresolved high court cases involving three government ministers. That imbroglio will linger for months.
