Passenger Rail, Safety, Standards & Regulation

Turnbull credits transport shift as polls swing his way

Malcolm Turnbull in 2014. Photo: I. Wood / Creative Commons

With polling data swinging significantly in his favour this week, Malcolm Turnbull has highlighted public transport funding as a major difference between his policies and those of his predecessor.

Turnbull was asked by Opposition leader Bill Shorten in Monday’s question time whether there were identifiable differences between his policies and those outlined in the 2014 Budget.

“A very obvious example is that the Federal Government is more than ready to finance urban infrastructure, road and rail, and does not discriminate between the two,” Turnbull said pointedly.

The prime minister, who took over from Tony Abbott last month, said it would be “wrong” to suggest his predecessor neglected passenger rail, “but broadly speaking it was fair to say that the position of my distinguished predecessor’s administration was not to support urban rail in the same manner as roads were”.

“That is a very significant shift.”

Indeed, after spending much of the Abbott administration in the shadows, public transport has been very much thrust into the limelight since Turnbull took charge.

Funding for light rail and other public transport was among the top priorities outlined by several state and territory leaders upon Turnbull’s ascension to the nation’s top job in September.

One project – the Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 2 – has already received a funding commitment from Turnbull’s Ministry, after Abbott’s Ministry expressly ruled out such a commitment.

Turnbull fielded the question from Shorten on a tough day for the Opposition leader’s Labor Party.

A Fairfax-Ipsos poll on Monday revealed Malcolm Turnbull’s approval rating as leader was 68%, compared with Shorten’s 32%, and Abbott’s 35% approval rating recorded by the same poll in August.

The Coalition is also getting the better of the two-party preferred vote since Turnbull took charge, with 53% of those surveyed supporting the Coalition over Labor, compared to just 46% supporting the Coalition in August.

According to the research, Turnbull is polling more highly than both Abbott and Shorten in terms of competency, strength of leadership, confidence in his party, openness to ideas, trustworthiness, clear vision for Australia, and several other categories.