Malcolm Turnbull says the government will consider debate about the Racial Discrimination Act. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Malcolm Turnbull's ascension to the Prime Ministership was accompanied by high expectations – expectations that he would govern on principle and belief, on such matters as climate change, same-sex marriage, tax reform, and so on. However, these "principled" positions were so easily traded to gain the job. This begs the question whether indeed they were ever positions taken out of "principle"? Did Malcolm ever truly believe in these positions, or did he simply adopt them originally for personal gain, to differentiate himself from others, to establish his leadership credentials? Unfortunately, now even with his own electoral mandate, it is clear that he is more concerned to just be the PM, not to use the position to pursue a particular reform agenda. It is indeed "An exciting time to be an Australian", but add two more words, "Prime Minister"! Similarly, NSW Premier Mike Baird has moved from a position of it being "morally and politically right" to ban greyhound racing in NSW, in view of the appalling atrocities of that industry, and their innumerable chances to rectify the situation, to what, in the end, will amount to a complete capitulation, even when recent polls suggested some two thirds supported the ban.

Mike Baird changed direction on the greyhound racing ban. Credit:Wolter Peeters Globally, the mounting populist, nationalistic sentiment, that is anti-establishment, anti-globalisation, anti- freer trade, and anti-immigration – evident in the Brexit vote, the current US Presidential race, and in support for Hanson – runs counter to all evidence based growth and development that has characterised the global economy over the last 4-5 decades. It has also been most disturbing to see the likes of Angela Merkel and Narendra Modi, elected on "principled policies", soon buckle to adopt more populist and politically expedient positions. German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed away from her refugee policies. Credit:Michael Sohn Reagan and Thatcher are generally remembered as (mostly) "conviction politicians". I vividly recall my meetings with both, and their accounting of what they tried and achieved.Thatcher actually declared, "I am not a consensus politician. I am a conviction politician" in 1979, a few months before her election as prime minister.

Reagan told me that he operated with a very simplistic set of principles – big government was as much the source of the problem as the solution; government spending was too high; taxes were too high; budget surpluses were wrong – this was the people's money, it should be returned to them. How did he know this? He knew from when he travelled the country as head of Actors' Equity! When he achieved the Presidency it was his "mission" to "fix it"- and he tried, and is defined by it. Rudd came in with a flourish with some strong policy commitments, including promising a substantive response to climate change, against a clearly defined timetable – to ratify Kyoto, then a Green Paper, a White paper, the legislation and, failing parliamentary support, to take it to a double dissolution. He baulked at the last stage, in early 2010. That was the beginning of the end of his first term as prime minister. I believe that if he had gone to the double dissolution he would have won well, and may have (heaven forbid) still been PM. His second coming was not based on any "principle", but merely an attempt to save the furniture. The clear message of the last federal election, that saw an historically high level of support for minor parties and independents, is that the three major parties are on the nose, with genuine concern about what they stand for, and about how they are so self-absorbed, playing short-term, opportunistic, populist, mostly negative politics, rather than attempting to solve problems and deliver good government. I suggest that the electorate would applaud some principled leadership on key issues, and would undoubtedly cut a committed government considerable slack if they were prepared to so lead.

I still believe that good policy will be seen as good politics. However, just ignore all the above, as I lost an election trying to prove the point! John Hewson is a professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU, and a former Liberal opposition leader.