No one who has made the difficult ascent to claim the highest elected public office in the land forfeits that prize easily, and Tony Abbott's stubborn defence of his prime ministership (and government) at the National Press Club on Monday was entirely characteristic. Mr Abbott admitted that several of his "captain's picks" had been inadvisable, that his governing style had been insufficiently consultative and collegial, and that the Coalition had failed to explain and justify its more contentious policies to voters – much less win their support for implementation. He claimed, however, that Australia's debt and deficit challenge demanded unpopular decisions and that "we can't wait for a crisis – like Europe – to address this problem".
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Mr Abbott's appearance at the Press Club had been envisaged as a way of setting a fresh agenda and mood for the coming political year, with the announcement of a few policy adjustments to demonstrate to voters a readiness to listen more closely to their concerns, and avoid the mistakes of 2014. But the awarding of an ill-judged knighthood to Prince Philip on Australia Day and an unexpectedly bad result for the Liberal National Party in Queensland's state election on Saturday succeeded in turning the event into a political moment of truth for Mr Abbott. It cannot have been an easy speech to craft: needing only to be a public admission of culpability over the knighthood decision and other assorted faux pas (such as the Medicare co-payment plan) but also a demonstration to an alarmed and increasingly critical caucus that he, Mr Abbott, would henceforth be more attentive to their views and opinions. The Prime Minister would have been mindful, too, of the necessity of demonstrating to business and corporate Australia (the Coalition's key constituency) that a reversion to kneejerk populism to restore sagging poll numbers was not being contemplated.
Mr Abbott has never demonstrated oratorical flourish in his speeches and the language he employed on Monday was plain and unadorned. Nor was his delivery noticeably animated. He did not seek to explore new territory or lay out new political possibilities. There was a reiteration of achievements in scrapping the carbon and mining taxes and completing three new free trade agreements, plus the usual boiler plate of sound economic management "being in the Coalition's DNA". Even the ever-reliable "tough on terror" card was played. The question of whether voters are still impressed by such talk is debatable.
The speech's meat and veg was the dumping of Mr Abbott's signature paid parental leave scheme (another captain's pick never broached with caucus) and the promise that from this day on voters would be witness to "the most consultative and the most collegial government this country has ever seen". The parental leave scheme was regarded almost universally as unfairly benefiting high wage earners and too extravagant a policy at a time of enforced fiscal restraint. Its demise will clear the way for a revamped childcare and families package, though whether businesses will be levied to help fund it – as was envisaged under the PPL scheme – remains to be seen. Corporate Australia will want a quick answer, especially as Mr Abbott kyboshed an increase in the GST in this or the next term of his government, for which the big end of town has been lobbying intensively.
Monday's speech will be cited as evidence of Mr Abbott's new-found preparedness to listen to voices other than those in his immediate retinue and to be flexible on key policy issues when the occasion demands it. His promise to deal the ministry and the backbench into more of the executive's decision-making processes will buy him time to shore up his depleted political stocks. Whether voters are likely to be moved as well is far harder to divine. Mr Abbott's enthusiasm for retaining his job is not in doubt – indeed, he invoked Kevin Rudd by suggesting that the prime ministership was the gift of voters, not parties, which it is clearly not. That enthusiasm for retaining the top job, ahead of any ambition to put the position to best use, may yet turn out to be a key factor in Mr Abbott's future.
