Federal election 2016: Malcolm Turnbull opts not to use arsenal of negative attack ads, by Daniel Meers.
Malcolm Turnbull had an arsenal of negative attack advertisements and scare campaigns at his disposal but chose not to use them because the party’s federal base believed it could win without them.
Furious Queensland Liberals say the federal officials relied too heavily on the Prime Minister’s personality cult and didn’t do enough to promote its brand or local candidates.
Same theme again — see our story on Malcolm Turnbull’s New Logo. Bad judgement, possibly due to arrogance or a touch of not being comfortable with the Liberal Party. Maybe subconsciously he didn’t want his party to win, because he is too politically correct? Who knows.
The party didn’t activate scare campaigns over a potential new carbon tax, Bill Shorten’s involvement at the royal commission into union corruption, the prospect of house prices plunging under Labor’s negative gearing policy, or border protection.
Instead, Mr Turnbull preferred to stick to his futuristic vision of Australia as a science and innovation hub focused on increasing opportunities for students.
Incredible.
The Courier-Mail understands Mr Shorten had braced himself for an “onslaught” from the Liberal Party over his trade union background. Labor strategists have indicated they were surprised the Government “didn’t go harder” on the issue.
Queensland LNP figures reacted with horror in the first week of the campaign when they saw a national mail out of postal vote application forms with a “presidential crest” that only mentioned Mr Turnbull.
“Once we saw that … there was no candidate name and no (party) logo on it, we went into meltdown,” a senior LNP source told The Courier-Mail.
It’s as if Turnbull was secretly helping Labor, a real cuckservative. Or perhaps he is just inept.
Another LNP source said Mr Turnbull found campaigning on national security or border protection “distasteful”, but added Mr Abbott would have ruthlessly used these issues if he were still PM.
