Sometimes it’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

Malcolm Turnbull is now living on his knees. He is a man afraid – fearful of his backbench, fearful of the polls, fearful of losing his so-called “refugee deal” with the United States.

Australia has no need for a fearful prime minister. Right now, we desperately need a conviction leader.

The world stands at a dangerous crossroads. Mikhail Gorbachev is warning of global war. A despotic and dangerous toddler named Donald Trump occupies the White House. Trump’s refugee and immigration bans have created global chaos and protest, and handed Islamic State its best-ever recruiting tool. If Trump continues as he has begun – by simply implementing the promises he made during the campaign – watch the global economy completely upend because of tariffs on Mexico and China. Meanwhile, Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin are both talking up the need to increase their stockpiles of nuclear weapons.

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This is not the time for the Australian government to offer mealy-mouthed platitudes about not commenting on the policies of other countries. Anyway, such platitudes are ridiculous. Just two weeks ago the Turnbull government criticised the government of Japan for whaling in Antarctica. Last September Turnbull urged China to respect the ruling of an arbitration tribunal in The Hague regarding the South China Sea. Turnbull also criticised Russia for blocking the UN security council from taking criminal proceedings over the downing of MH17 and promised to continue to pressure Russia.

Trump’s policies on refugees, immigration, trade, foreign aid and defence all impact directly – and in most cases, negatively – on Australia. Some go against international conventions, and certainly violate the basic tenets of western democracy.

It’s a time to state what we as Australians believe and make clear for which values and principles we stand – and which ones we condemn.

Australians are feeling nervous, jumpy and scared. I am overwhelmed by the people who stop me in the gym, the shops, or at my kids’ weekend sports matches to talk about Trump – how he got there, what might happen, and what it means for us. I am also struck by how many say they are afraid.

The job of a leader includes understanding people’s fears, acknowledging and interpreting those concerns, and then responding to them in an assuring manner, with clarity of conviction, purpose and values.

That’s not what Australians are getting from Turnbull. Instead, we see the fear in his eyes. Turnbull isn’t reassuring his constituents: he’s reflecting their fear like a mirror.

It is no longer “the best time to be alive”. It would be foolish for Turnbull to repeat that mantra ad nauseam. Instead he must acknowledge that the world has changed in the past few months, and he must explain how he is going to lead Australia through these changes.

Some will argue that Turnbull needed to avoid megaphone diplomacy – that is, direct public criticism of Trump’s refugee bans – to preserve the US deal to take refugees off Nauru and Manus Island. Two points: one, Trump’s assurances that the deal will be honoured are meaningless. The US can still honour the commitment and not take a single person from these offshore facilities. This puts Australia in the worst possible position: selling our silence and getting nothing in return.

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Two, there is a solution to Turnbull’s Nauru and Manus Island problem that doesn’t depend on the whims of an idiotic and unpredictable US president: bring the refugees to Australia. If the boats have stopped because of turnbacks and other efforts, why does Australia need to keep detaining refugees in offshore detention facilities? Don’t say it’s “pull factors”. There is no difference between sending Nauruan and Manus refugees in a “one-off deal” to the US, or bringing them in a “one-off” deal to Australia.

Some will say Turnbull is hemmed in by One Nation and elements of his rightwing backbench. If he speaks out against Trump, or otherwise stands for his convictions, he will face moves against him at home. He might lose his job. If that is true, it is more reason Turnbull needs to stand for his core beliefs.

Acting out of fear isn’t leading, it is following. Stay silent, Malcolm, and George Christensen, Cory Bernardi and Pauline Hanson will be running the country.

Stand up, Malcolm Turnbull. Australia needs you to lead.