Folks, I warned you all yesterday. I warned that Australia‘s conservatives were trying to steal Donald Trump‘s ‘elites’ narrative and extremely clumsily apply it to our country. Now Malcolm Turnbull is trying it. That’s right. Malcolm Turnbull, the man with hundreds of millions of dollars who lives in a plush Point Piper mansion is suddenly not a fan of elites.
Talking to Leigh Sales on 7.30 last night, Turnbull rejected criticism that his government was overly obsessed with repealing Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act instead of stuff that actually materially affects peoples’ lives, saying that it only looked like that because of the ‘elite media’ – a line which worked very well for Trump:
Leigh, this is a question you should address to your editors at the ABC – very seriously. 18C is talked about constantly on the ABC, talked about constantly in what’s often the elite media. I have focused overwhelmingly on the economy.
He said it again:
Well one of the greatest assets of a politician, indeed of any leader, is empathy and of course you have to break out of the bubble. Again, I often get – on the elite media like the ABC – I often get criticised or sent up, and I don’t object to that, by the way, for catching public transport a lot.
You can watch it below yourself if you like.
I’m willing to throw this one out to Turnbull, as a piece of free and unsolicited advice: you are not Trump, and there isn’t a single voter in Australia who believes you actually believe that shit about ‘elites’. Trump sells it because he lives a lavish, kingly life which was projected onto the screens of every American via The Apprentice.
You, on the other hand, are just a rich banker/lawyer rich person. Big difference. People don’t look at you and see a culture warrior, patriot and success story. They see every boss they’ve ever had.
It’s already increasingly clear that Turnbull will go down in history as one of the least effectual Prime Ministers in history, so it’s unsurprising he’s trying a different tack and giving a bit of rightwing populism a red hot go. But for the love of God – ‘elites’ isn’t your bag, brother.
Source: ABC 7.30.
Photo: Getty Images.
