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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/04/turnbull-says-no-citizenship-audit-but-rolling-audit-there-will-be
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| Turnbull says no audit, but rolling eligibility audit there will be | |
| (2 days later) | |
| To describe things in Canberra as deeply mad at the present time doesn’t quite do the unhinging justice. | To describe things in Canberra as deeply mad at the present time doesn’t quite do the unhinging justice. |
| The government, which is now only one forced byelection in a lower house marginal seat away from genuine oblivion, has dug in for now, with the prime minister declaring there will be no formal audit of MPs, that the old gentleman’s rules must prevail, with individuals responsible for ensuring they are eligible to sit in the parliament. | The government, which is now only one forced byelection in a lower house marginal seat away from genuine oblivion, has dug in for now, with the prime minister declaring there will be no formal audit of MPs, that the old gentleman’s rules must prevail, with individuals responsible for ensuring they are eligible to sit in the parliament. |
| Ever thus, and thus it must be. | Ever thus, and thus it must be. |
| Late on Friday, Malcolm Turnbull decreed Australia, or at least the political class, needed to return to being a land of common sense and the rule of law. “We must not allow ourselves to be dragged into a sort of lynch mob, witch-hunt, trial by innuendo and denunciation,” the prime minister thundered in Perth, looking rather wild eyed himself. | Late on Friday, Malcolm Turnbull decreed Australia, or at least the political class, needed to return to being a land of common sense and the rule of law. “We must not allow ourselves to be dragged into a sort of lynch mob, witch-hunt, trial by innuendo and denunciation,” the prime minister thundered in Perth, looking rather wild eyed himself. |
| But Turnbull’s plea for the political world to bend to his command, and not careen into full-tilt crazy is about as effective as King Canute believing he could hold back the tide. | But Turnbull’s plea for the political world to bend to his command, and not careen into full-tilt crazy is about as effective as King Canute believing he could hold back the tide. |
| The fact of the matter is we are currently in the middle of a rolling eligibility audit, and have been since the middle of this year. With talk around the government that another three lower house MPs could have eligibility problems, that informal audit seems likely to persist, whether a process is established to try and make that audit more orderly, or whether it isn’t. | The fact of the matter is we are currently in the middle of a rolling eligibility audit, and have been since the middle of this year. With talk around the government that another three lower house MPs could have eligibility problems, that informal audit seems likely to persist, whether a process is established to try and make that audit more orderly, or whether it isn’t. |
| For months, we’ve had citizens leading this audit, and journalists also on the case, looking at records, asking questions of parliamentarians likely to have issues, taking steps to flush people out. | For months, we’ve had citizens leading this audit, and journalists also on the case, looking at records, asking questions of parliamentarians likely to have issues, taking steps to flush people out. |
| So we are already there. | So we are already there. |
| The pent-up momentum in this process can’t be halted by random decree of a prime minister, returning from a quick trip to Israel, only to find his government has managed to create an even bigger shambles this week than it did last week, when the Michaelia Cash police tip-off debacle seemed like it would be impossible to eclipse. | The pent-up momentum in this process can’t be halted by random decree of a prime minister, returning from a quick trip to Israel, only to find his government has managed to create an even bigger shambles this week than it did last week, when the Michaelia Cash police tip-off debacle seemed like it would be impossible to eclipse. |
| Friday’s performance looked a whole lot a prime minister like thundering at the moon. | Friday’s performance looked a whole lot a prime minister like thundering at the moon. |
| The stress in the system is understandable. This week we had the Stephen Parry shambles, followed by the aftershocks of who knew what, when. | The stress in the system is understandable. This week we had the Stephen Parry shambles, followed by the aftershocks of who knew what, when. |
| Playing out around that event were separate eddies of activity, which could just be chaos, because sometimes chaos is dressed up by plotters and malcontents as the inspired acts by great men of history, when it’s really just wild twitching and lurching and self indulgence. | Playing out around that event were separate eddies of activity, which could just be chaos, because sometimes chaos is dressed up by plotters and malcontents as the inspired acts by great men of history, when it’s really just wild twitching and lurching and self indulgence. |
| But the various breadcrumb trails look a lot like deliberate efforts to heighten a sense of crisis around the government as this tortuous political year builds to a close – behaviour which one Liberal characterised to me this week as “a controlled tsunami against Turnbull”. | But the various breadcrumb trails look a lot like deliberate efforts to heighten a sense of crisis around the government as this tortuous political year builds to a close – behaviour which one Liberal characterised to me this week as “a controlled tsunami against Turnbull”. |
| One reads in the Australian that Turnbull’s supporters, in this case, Scott Ryan and James McGrath, are “crab walking” away from the prime minister. Another Turnbull loyalist, Christopher Pyne, is also an apparent target. | One reads in the Australian that Turnbull’s supporters, in this case, Scott Ryan and James McGrath, are “crab walking” away from the prime minister. Another Turnbull loyalist, Christopher Pyne, is also an apparent target. |
| Relations inside the Coalition are bent out of shape. Local factors in the New England byelection – mainly the need to put some distance between himself and the roiling Liberals which the good folks of greater Tamworth now perceive as children trapped in the bodies of adults – make it desirable that Barnaby Joyce hurl off some right-left combinations. | Relations inside the Coalition are bent out of shape. Local factors in the New England byelection – mainly the need to put some distance between himself and the roiling Liberals which the good folks of greater Tamworth now perceive as children trapped in the bodies of adults – make it desirable that Barnaby Joyce hurl off some right-left combinations. |
| Meanwhile, the Victorian Liberal Kevin Andrews notes archly that the prime minister is the prime minister “at the moment”, and various MPs share their deep feelings about the desirability of the audit the prime minister has attempted to shut down because the government has already lost its working majority and is just two steps and a gust of wind away from the cliff face. | Meanwhile, the Victorian Liberal Kevin Andrews notes archly that the prime minister is the prime minister “at the moment”, and various MPs share their deep feelings about the desirability of the audit the prime minister has attempted to shut down because the government has already lost its working majority and is just two steps and a gust of wind away from the cliff face. |
| God almighty, what a mess. | God almighty, what a mess. |
| Assuming the current pot-stirring at the margins of the latest government cock up isn’t just random acts of chaos, chaos being the new #auspol normal – one really does have to ask what the game plan is here? | Assuming the current pot-stirring at the margins of the latest government cock up isn’t just random acts of chaos, chaos being the new #auspol normal – one really does have to ask what the game plan is here? |
| As ragged as Turnbull currently looks, do people in the government seriously think another change of leadership will make the Coalition’s fate any different at the next federal election, that a change of figure head can deliver anything much at all? | As ragged as Turnbull currently looks, do people in the government seriously think another change of leadership will make the Coalition’s fate any different at the next federal election, that a change of figure head can deliver anything much at all? |
| Are we really going to ride this mad cycle again, with the media made hostage to grand plans of delusional people? | Are we really going to ride this mad cycle again, with the media made hostage to grand plans of delusional people? |
| Before we all stride off together once again into bat country, tell me, who is the new centre-right political genius, just hovering in the wings, waiting to be unleashed? | Before we all stride off together once again into bat country, tell me, who is the new centre-right political genius, just hovering in the wings, waiting to be unleashed? |
| Who is the hidden King Canute of Australians politics, who can subdue the waves, tame the shrieking, ride the raging media cycle with the elegance of a Melbourne Cup jockey, make colleagues want to work together to achieve something for the country, and not dissolve into panic and acrimony in the face of adversity? | Who is the hidden King Canute of Australians politics, who can subdue the waves, tame the shrieking, ride the raging media cycle with the elegance of a Melbourne Cup jockey, make colleagues want to work together to achieve something for the country, and not dissolve into panic and acrimony in the face of adversity? |
| After we identify the miracle worker, can we then identify the magic formula that makes a political party rebuild and cohere constructively when they tear down a leader? | After we identify the miracle worker, can we then identify the magic formula that makes a political party rebuild and cohere constructively when they tear down a leader? |
| Does anyone have this magic formula? Because it’s been in seriously short supply over the past 10 years. | Does anyone have this magic formula? Because it’s been in seriously short supply over the past 10 years. |
| Looking at the situation dispassionately, you do have to wonder whether any of the professional malcontents have a plan for government, or whether the various low-level plots and schemes is actually a plan to drive the Coalition into opposition, where scores can better be settled. | Looking at the situation dispassionately, you do have to wonder whether any of the professional malcontents have a plan for government, or whether the various low-level plots and schemes is actually a plan to drive the Coalition into opposition, where scores can better be settled. |
| Could politics really be that nihilistic and pointless? | Could politics really be that nihilistic and pointless? |
| Sadly, we all sense it actually could. | Sadly, we all sense it actually could. |
| Australian politics | Australian politics |
| Katharine Murphy on politics | Katharine Murphy on politics |
| Malcolm Turnbull | Malcolm Turnbull |
| Coalition | Coalition |
| Liberal party | Liberal party |
| National party | National party |
| Australian citizenship | Australian citizenship |
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