Turnbull slithers toward challenge.

Last night I mentioned that the plan of Abbott and the Liberal Party on carbon dioxide was less than impressive. While it is not a carbon tax in its own right and is not the wealth redistribution Gillard and Brown are foisting on us, it will require high taxation and big spending.

Now, with the Liberals comfortably ahead in the polls with a fair chance of cruising to victory whenever an election is called, Malcolm Turnbull has raised his head with the idea of a leadership challenge in mind. In a move reminiscent of the Howard/Peacock backstabbing contest of the 80s, which kept the Liberals out of power until Peacock left parliament; Turnbull has made his move. In the process he has probably thrown away any chance of defeating Greens/Labor on the ruinous carbon tax.

The independents propping up Gillard have been showing signs of wavering, and this action will probably boost their confidence enough to support it.

Turnbull, who has a merchant banking background, and thus loves a scheme with the promise of high commissions, was the previous opposition leader or in his case, what passed for one. He was sufficiently hopeless, that the Liberals couldn’t gain any traction against Rudd who was the most sycophantic person ever to hold the post. It was rare for the Libs to even oppose anything the government put up while he was running the show.

Interestingly though, he made an interesting point which is a point in favor of the Abbott plan; that it is easy to stop. He added, “if you do not believe in climate change,” which while backing up the governments contention that Abbott is a closet “denier” makes it clear that there is a way out. The great thing is that it will be relatively to kill the policy when it is a proven failure. Gillard’s, is not so easy.

The Abbott plan, as bad as it is, is preferable to the Gillard/Brown plan because it is much easier to get rid of.