TURNBULL TURNING?

In the context of LGBTI law reform, Malcolm Turnbull’s ascendancy to the Liberal Party leadership should be received with cautious optimism.

On the plus side, this is the first time a potential prime minister resides in a seat that not only has the highest number of queer voters in the nation, but is sufficiently marginal that our vote actually counts. If nothing else, dragging his feet or being obstructionist will only harm his chances of personal re-election.

Furthermore, Turnbull’s history of internal lobbying for equality is well known, as is his support for HIV charities. It could even be argued he is more socially progressive than Kevin Rudd; it was Turnbull, after all, who defended Bill Henson earlier this year while Rudd resorted to knee-jerk, populist Howard-esque condemnation.

Finally, Turnbull, unlike his hapless predecessor Brendan Nelson, won’t allow himself to become anybody’s puppet easily, let alone the hard right’s. The man has an ego the size of Albania and doesn’t like to be told what to do by anyone.

Unfortunately, however, nobody gets to be leader of the major parties without creating a few IOUs along the way to others who’ve helped them get there. Among some of the former Nelson supporters whom Turnbull persuaded to switch allegiance were Alex Hawke and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, members of the NSW uber-right Liberal mafia headed by godfather David Clarke. When the time comes that they oppose the current equality bill before parliament – and they will, most likely based on the smokescreen of not including interdependent relationships – Turnbull’s response to this argument will be the truest indicator of just how indebted he feels towards his new hard-right friends.

Turnbull himself has already publicly dismissed interdependency reforms as too complex, too expensive and too irrelevant to include in any omnibus bill designed to provide equality for same-sex couples. However, it is understood that Nelson, in his final party room speech, compelled even the strongest opponents to support reforms by suggesting an opt-in clause for both same-sex and interdependent couples. Turnbull has apparently endorsed this compromise.

The test now will be to see who blinks first: Labor, which is understandably reluctant to modify its bill to include interdependent couples even with an opt-in provision, or Turnbull, who can command his party to block the bill’s passage in the Senate. Shadow Attorney-General George Brandis has already claimed that even if his party’s amendments are not included, they will not stand in the way of the bill becoming law by the end of the year.

Ultimately, though, the test of true leadership lies with Malcolm Turnbull. The choices he makes now will set the mould for months to come.

Sam Butler: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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