MALCOLM Turnbull has just used the one ace that a Prime Minister has up his sleeve — knowing the date of the next election.
With no prospect of the Senate crossbenchers having an epiphany in the face of existential annihilation, the poll is now assured as July 2.
We can now strap ourselves in for the second-longest campaign in history.
So now the games start. And Turnbull is no slouch at playing games.
If Labor, the Greens and the micro-party numpties haven’t worked it out yet, their bravado about not being bullied into passing laws that would end union corruption plays right into Turnbull’s hands.
If the case hadn’t already been made after two and half years of Senate vandalism, then it will certainly be by May.
Turnbull will have not only the technical issue of “failure to pass” as a trigger for double dissolution but will have a public case to end the Senate farce.
As for the outcome of the election, that has now virtually been assured.
It took Turnbull six months to make a decision but when he finally made one, he delivered it with conviction
Yesterday he looked Prime Ministerial.
Bill Shorten on the other hand looked like a rabbit caught in headlights.
While everyone has talked and theorised about the timing of the election, few people thought that Turnbull had the cajones to actually pull the trigger. Now we know he does.
As for what the election will be about, this is now narrowing.
Labor lost its election campaign when Turnbull killed the GST. Labor then gave Turnbull a campaign by deciding to hack into negative gearing.
And then there is union corruption in the construction industry which is also adding to the cost of housing.
If Turnbull executes this well, it will be devastating for Labor. If he doesn’t, it will get very messy.
Either way, we are all in for a long three months.
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