Malcolm Turnbull’s secret weapon

On September 15, 2015

‘We need a style of leadership that explains the challenges and opportunities. A style of leadership that respects people’s intelligence and explains the issues. We need advocacy, not slogans’, said Malcolm Turnbull as he announced his leadership challenge.

And so the gauntlet has been laid down. Will the communication skills of Malcolm Turnbull be able to influence the Australian public‘s perception of the Coalition Government and turn the tide in the polls? Malcolm Turnbull thinks he can communicate more effectively than Tony Abbott.

If successful, this will be a great case study for many people in public life, both elected representatives and bureaucrats. There is an emerging need for the public sector, in fact all sectors, to be more transparent and considerate in the way decisions are made, and in the way governments consult before making those decisions.

With Mr Turnbull promising a full term of government, the coming months will be peppered with learnings as we evaluate if he has been successful in this attempts to connect with Australia.

So how has he been going after almost 24 hours in the job? Admittedly he has been busy, but if we look at two common social media platforms, Malcolm’s last Facebook post was 16 hours ago. His last tweet, almost 24 hours ago. By contrast, Tony Abbott has clocked one tweet since the change in leadership and has one Facebook post.

So substance hasn’t supported the claim to date. Let’s review this again in a week.

By David Hawkins