The Turnbull Gamble

The Liberal Party took a risk replacing Tony Abbott with Malcolm Turnbull. They had seen how voters could turn when the ALP tore down a first-term prime minister. But MPs were desperate, having witnessed the collapse in polling during Abbott's prime ministership. By the time Turnbull called the election it was still unclear what he wanted to achieve. He seemed strangely underprepared for a job that he had fought so long to win.

Turnbull leads a party whose culture he doesn't share. While the narrow election victory may have justified the gamble to place him in office, does Turnbull have the leadership qualities needed to break the cycle of division and instability of the last decade?

Wayne Errington is Associate Professor in Politics and Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) in the Faculty of Arts at Adelaide University.

Peter van Onselen is Contributing Editor at The Australian and a presenter at Sky News. He is a professor in politics at the University of Western Australia.

Together they wrote the bestsellers John Winston Howard: The Definitive Biography and Battleground: Why the Liberal Party Shirtfronted Tony Abbott.