Stabbed in the front

THAT Australia now has its fourth prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in little more than two years should be a worry—especially when you consider the manner in which all his predecessors were turfed out. Tony Abbott came to power in a general election in 2013, ending six years of Labor Party dominance, in part by claiming that his (conservative) Liberal-National coalition was above the kind of fratricide that had seen Labor’s prime minister, Kevin Rudd, ousted by his rival, Julia Gillard, only for him to get his revenge by re-ousting Ms Gillard when opinion polls turned against Labor. Now Mr Turnbull has done to Mr Abbott what Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard did to each other—only with exceptional cold-bloodedness and guile (see ).The good news is that Mr Turnbull could prove the most competent leader since John Howard, who served 11 years before his coalition’s defeat in an election in 2007. Had Mr Turnbull led the Liberals into the latest general election (he lost the Liberal Party leadership to Mr Abbott by a single vote), would have endorsed him rather than Mr Rudd, a bright mind but a lousy operator. Having made his money in law and business, Mr Turnbull has solid pro-market credentials. Unlike Mr Abbott, who downplays the risks of climate change, he sets store by using market mechanisms to bring down carbon emissions (per person, Australians are among the world’s highest emitters). As a social liberal, he is closer to most Australians than was Mr Abbott, who is opposed to gay marriage. And in foreign policy, he will be less “Manichean”, as one expert put it: less inclined to see the world—including China’s rise—only through the prism of security.