Essential director urges Labor to heed Turnbull’s centrist failures
A decade after analysing Malcolm Turnbull’s governance, strategic communications consultant warns that being right on policy is insufficient without execution.
Peter Lewis, executive director of Essential, has published an analysis in Guardian Australia drawing parallels between the current Albanese government and Malcolm Turnbull’s tenure, arguing that Labor must learn from the former prime minister’s inability to govern from the centre.
Writing ten years after his first column for the publication, Lewis contends that while Turnbull was correct on the nation’s direction regarding energy transition, social cohesion, and the need for media scepticism, he ultimately failed to execute his agenda. Lewis attributes this failure to internal party divisions and the rising tide of nativist populism.
The article notes that the political landscape has returned to a state of flux similar to 2016, with a centrist government confronting global challenges and a resurgence of populist forces. Lewis observes that Turnbull was constantly stymied by the coal club and fossil fuel interests, who pivoted from denial to weaponising hostility against renewable technology even as evidence of climate change mounted.
Lewis asserts that the Albanese government possesses distinct advantages over Turnbull’s administration, including a unified base galvanised around a governing plan and a strong parliamentary majority. He suggests that while the public may view the nihilism of Pauline Hanson with scrutiny, they have not yet signed up to her agenda.
However, the piece warns that the primary challenge for the current government is to navigate a political landscape that privileges extremes. Lewis argues that Turnbull’s error was assuming that being right on policy was sufficient, failing to account for the corrosive power of those who resist change by turning people against each other.
The analysis concludes that the highway ahead remains uncertain, requiring a government that can keep its hands on the wheel while resisting the pull of divisive rhetoric. Lewis, whose company conducted qualitative research for Labor in the last federal election, frames the lesson as one of execution and maintaining focus amidst noise.
