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Monday, February 05, 2024

Nemesis episode 2: We relive the thrills and spills of the Malcolm Turnbull years

Mathias Cormann Rocks Up To OECD With Dyed Blue Hair To Match His New Views On Climate Change


Nemesis episode 2 live updates: We relive the thrills and spills of the Malcolm Turnbull years — with political analysis from Annabel Crabb


Malcolm Turnbull's stint as Prime Minister was not without controversy - having caused fractures within the Liberal party when he ousted Tony Abbott, only to find himself on the recieving end of that same betrayal just four years later.

The Turnbull-era government of 2015-2018 is being scrutinised tonight in the second installment of ABC's three-part docuseries 'Nemesis', tracking the Coalition years in Australia.

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Former Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann — now the boss of the OECD — went to work for the former CEO of PwC Australia almost immediately after leaving parliament.

Luke Sayers, who was PwC Australia CEO from 2012 to 2020, and so for the entire tax leaks affair, has made the explosive admission in response to questioning from a Senate inquiry.

It follows startling revelations Sayers gave Cormann secretive “equity” — via a bare trust and so hidden from the public — in the “consultancy” Sayers created immediately after leaving PwC in March 2020.

Mathias Cormann - OECD boss in PwC scandal


X Mathias Cormann


Nemesis: a user’s guide to Liberal coups, plots and conspiracies

Lost track of who stabbed whom, when and why? Here it is, straight from the people who made history.

Malcolm Turnbull: Tony Abbott was useless. He wanted to start World War III in Ukraine. On top of which he ate an onion, winked at a gag about a prostitute and knighted Prince Philip. I mean, what an appalling human being!
Christopher Pyne: It’s great to be back in front of the camera again with the ABC hanging on every word I say! Just like old times!
Scott Morrison (shifting uneasily in his chair): Sorry, what’s this all about again?
Some MP no one’s ever heard of again: Bitter and twisted? Me?? Pull the other one! Tony Abbott stitched me up and made me look a total goose in front of the entire party room! I’ll never forgive the bastard! He got what he deserved! You want one word to describe him? I’ll give you one word… it begins with a C.
Blonde woman no one’s ever heard of again: It was incredibly offensive to all the talented women of Australia that there weren’t more women in Abbott’s cabinet! Especially to me!
Some other blonde woman no one’s ever heard of again: And me!!
Another blonde woman no one’s ever heard of again: Me as well!!!
Man with glasses no one’s ever heard of again: What a disgrace! Abbott’s entire government was run by that tall brunette who’s now on Sky TV every night!
Turnbull: My wife Lucy wholeheartedly agrees with me that no man has ever been so dominated by a woman as Tony Abbott was by Peta Credlin.(Cut to shot of Abbott holding open the door for Credlin going into a meeting.)
Bloke no one’s ever heard of again: The 2014 budget was an absolute disgrace! Hockey and Abbott wanted to cut spending and balance the books as if we were some kind of conservative party!
Turnbull: Everyone I talked to desperately wanted me to be PM instead of Abbott, except of course Scott Morrison who was feverishly plotting to stab me in the back after I’d rolled Tony. I mean, what an appalling human being!
Some MP no one’s ever heard of again: I had no idea what I was doing in parliament and suddenly I was a major player in a world-shattering political event!

‘No way to run a government’

The 12-year-old MP no one’s ever heard of again: Even though I was only 12 at the time, I knew from my long years of experience in parliament that this was no way to run a government in a modern progressive democracy. So I knew it was up to me to dump Abbott.
Turnbull: Morrison insisted on being made treasurer in my government in exchange for his vote! I mean, what an appalling human being!
Morrison (shifting uneasily in his chair): Me?? Do a deal to betray my dear friend and leader Tony and support my dear friend Malcolm in exchange for the treasurer’s job??? That’s just fanciful nonsense.
Bloke from Queanbeyan no one’s ever heard of again: My wife cooked a Tuna Mornay and we all sat around working out our extremely clever and complicated strategy to get rid of Abbott before he ate another onion.
Bloke from the Outback that no one’s ever heard of again: Me and another bloke from the Outback that no one’s ever heard of again decided this was our one and only chance to get rid of Abbott before he knighted any more members of the royal family.
Morrison (shifting uneasily in his chair): Me?? Do a deal to betray my dear friend Julie and support my dear friend Tony in exchange for the deputy leader’s job??? That’s just fanciful nonsense.
Barnaby: When’s the pub open?
And coming up (no doubt) in Part Two:
Morrison: (shifting uneasily in his chair): Me?? Do a deal with my dear friend Josh to betray my dear friend Malcolm in exchange for the deputy leader and treasurer’s job??? That’s just fanciful nonsense.
Rowan Dean writes on Media & Marketing specialising in Advertising, TV, Publishing. Rowan is a columnist for the Financial Review. Connect with Rowan on Twitter.