The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, says communication minister ‘hasn’t been doing his day job properly’ as negative polls hint at Coalition leadership change

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Labor has fired up the negative rhetoric about the communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, after yet another poor Newspoll for Tony Abbott and confirmation on Monday of a blowout in the cost of the national broadband network that may amount to as much as $15bn.



Given the sustained negative poll trend, continuing nervousness in Coalition ranks and open brawling by cabinet ministers on key issues, Labor is positioning for any leadership change by going after the Liberal party’s most popular alternative candidate, Turnbull.

Turnbull confirmed on Monday the cost of building Australia’s largest infrastructure project, the national broadband network, could rise by as much as $15bn.

NBN costs balloon as Malcolm Turnbull says further $15bn may be needed Read more

The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, grabbed at that on Tuesday morning, arguing the communications minister was spending too much time preening and not enough time working.

“Malcolm Turnbull, quite bluntly, has been spending too much time doing interviews offering himself up for Tony Abbott’s job,” Shorten said. “Malcolm Turnbull hasn’t been doing his own day job properly.”

Shorten said a $15bn cost blowout on a major infrastructure project was “a black mark against that minister”, and Labor’s communications spokesman, Jason Clare, took aim at Turnbull’s competence.

“This is no one else’s fault but Malcolm Turnbull,” Clare told reporters. “This is Malcolm Turnbull’s mess. No wonder support for this government is falling.”

Turnbull is a divisive figure within the Coalition, and is not the first choice of the party’s base, but is nonetheless consistently popular with the public. A number of public opinion polls record Turnbull as the people’s choice for Liberal leader.

The social services minister, Scott Morrison, who asserted influence internally during the last sitting fortnight over the election of the new Speaker, Tony Smith, and in the government’s same-sex marriage fight, had lunch with Rupert Murdoch during the media mogul’s recent visit to Australia.

On breakfast television the treasurer, Joe Hockey, attempted to shrug off the government’s poor standing in the polls by arguing the Coalition had been marked down by voters before and gone on to win elections.

“You know, Karl, I saw this in 2004, I saw it in 1998,” Hockey said on Tuesday.

John Howard prevailed in the GST election of 1998 against Kim Beazley, and again against Mark Latham in 2004.

“I have seen it previously, where we have gone on to win an election, even weeks and months just after those sort of polls,” Hockey said. “You can always come back but what you have got to focus on is jobs, growth, economic growth, and obviously national security.”