What is the point of the Turnbull government? It is a serious question. How is it superior in rhetoric and policy outcomes to its predecessor?

By his own admission, Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott in 2015 for a reason. As challenger, he cited Abbott's disastrous run in Newspoll, in which the Coalition had lost 30 surveys. Turnbull positioned Abbott as the problem: incapable of recovery, unwilling to change.

Now, the same poll conditions exist – albeit at an earlier stage.

Outwardly, many Australians harboured richer ambitions for the Turnbull ascendancy than a mere poll bounce for his party. They hoped that as a social moderate and enthusiastic modernist, Turnbull would champion unity and stability and that he would drag his party back from its Tea Party flirtations, its divisive culture wars, its pointless negativity.