The Australian Liberal Party are rapidly going into melt down – a fairly typical scenario in Australian politics after the party in power loses at a general election. The role of leader really is a poisonous chalice especially when the defeat was as heavy as it was. In most cases, the losing party goes through a number of leaders, and often a number of losing elections, before finally finding some stability and really making a difference.
I am not sure what drives politicians to take on the leadership role in this situations. Perhaps it’s an over-inflated opinion of their own leadership skills, sometimes they are the last man standing when no one else wants the role.
The problem with the Liberal party at present is that they don’t want to be led. The only person strong enough to really bring some order to the party has left. Malcolm Turnbull has the strength of character but not the interpersonal skills. He seems to tend to rile people rather than unite them. Tony Abbot has no credibility and Kevin Andrews even less. That leaves Joe Hockey.
It would be interesting to see Hockey as Liberal leader. Australian’s may remember Joe Hockey and Kevin Rudd playing off against one another several years ago with regular appearances on a popular morning TV show. They also took part in one of our most arduous and meaningful walks – the Kokoda Trail. I am sure they build a little mate-ship in that exercise.
Becoming leader of the Liberals in this current environment is a recipe for political suicide. If the party doesn’t stand 100% behind whomever they appoint leader – the party will continue to slide. There is a real risk that, come the next election, the Liberal party are no longer the number two party in Australia – they could be at best number three – perhaps even worse.
The problem for the Liberal party is very simple – if Joe Hockey doesn’t want the top job – and I don’t blame him one bit if he refused it right now, then who is going to lead them?
