Malcolm Turnbull reaches capacity

A problem of capacity. It somehow seemed appropriate to be getting this message when I went to Malcolm Turnbull’s website to read why he is retiring as the Member for Wentworth:

I had rather hoped that the man deposed as Opposition Leader in the run up to Christmas would have stuck it out and come again if and when his successor Tony Abbott fails. It would have been interesting to have such an intelligent fellow one day as Australia’s Prime Minister but it is not to be. The best we can do is remember him as one of that rare breed of politicians who thought a principle more important than his own survival. When the world is a substantially hotter place future generations studying history will be able to wonder whether things might have been different had his Coalition colleagues in 2009 followed his advice and adopted a bipartisan policy with Labor on climate change.

That his Coalition colleagues rejected him along with emissions trading was clearly too big a setback for a man who has spent his life being a “doer” rather than a passive observer. In the end Malcolm Turnbull just did not have the capacity necessary to suffer political fools long enough to get the top job. We can but wish him well.

An interesting sceptical review. The German news magazine Der Spiegel seems to continue thriving when elsewhere around the world its peers seem to be shrinking in circulation and influence. The quality of the journalism surely has something to do with it. I think it is one of those “must read” publications for those interested in world affairs with a current review of the climate change debate a perfect example.

Differing concerns. In the United States they are still worrying about inflation falling. Here the expectation is that the Reserve Bank will use the fear of inflation rising to push official interest rates higher this afternoon. In Bloomberg’s survey of business economists, 14 of 23 expect a 0.25% rise and the Crikey Indicator points in the same direction.

A difference in style. The public relations tussle between the National Australia Bank and Westpac has to be the most interesting aspect of rising interest rates. Westpac is making its appeal to the sharemarket by talking up the need for mortgage rates to go up by more than any movement in official rates while the NAB, desperate for an improvement in market share, is playing the good cop by telling the mums and dads that it will not be doing any such thing.

The polls move closer. With the campaign proper about to being the latest British opinion poll shows the Labour Government narrowing the gap on its Conservative opponent. The Guardian this morning has Labor up four points to 33% with the Conservatives down one. If those figures are repeated on election day Labor would probably end up as the party with the most seats in the House of Commons:

The market has not yet followed the pollsters with the Crikey UK Election Indicator still having a Conservative Government as the most likely outcome.

Getting around internet restrictions. The actual mechanics of the internet are beyond me but I was intrigued by the piece in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning about people my age being taught how to circumvent a proposed law restricting access to some internet sites, expected to include some on euthanasia. If those things called proxy servers are as easy to use as the article suggests then the whole business of banning access to sites becomes somewhat farcical.

Brumby can’t be that silly. The stories keep getting written that Victorian Premier John Brumby is intent on holding out against Kevin Rudd’s plans to change the way the nation’s hospitals are run. Surely it is really nothing more than pre-COAG bluff and bluster and the judicious promise of a few more federal hundreds of millions will see Victoria eventually come into line. The alternative would see the Brumby Government risking punishment by the voters at his state election later in the year.