Malcolm Turnbull continues to cop plenty of friendly fire. He has both a leadership and a Coalition problem. He is blamed for the ills of the Coalition government whether or not he can be reasonably held responsible for them.
The government is behind in the public opinion polls so he must be the problem. Same sex marriage passes without enough religious protections so he must be to blame. The Coalition loses a state election so he must be at fault.
Leadership is not easy. As Barnaby Joyce, standing beside the Prime Minister at the Southgate Inn in Tamworth last Saturday night after his by-election win, proclaimed: 'Running a country is a little harder than running sheep through a gate, I can tell you that.' Compared with running a country Turnbull must find running a party, much less a Coalition of parties, like herding cats.
After the same sex marriage legislation passed the Senate he was blamed by Nationals' MP for Mallee in Victoria, Andrew Broad, for not doing enough to protect the interests of conservatives on his own side.
According to Broad he showed a 'complete lack of leadership' by not consulting with conservatives enough and for allowing a bill drafted by Senator Dean Smith to go ahead rather than a compromise bill which incorporated the views of 'No' campaigners. Yet Turnbull was reflecting the clear majority of parliamentary and community opinion in favour of same sex marriage.
After the re-election of the Queensland Labor government, in an election where One Nation polled 14 per cent to damage the chances of the Liberal National Party, he was criticised by the Nationals' New South Wales Deputy Premier, John Barilaro, for claiming that the election was fought on state issues.
Speaking to radio shock jock Alan Jones, Barilaro called on Turnbull to resign before Christmas because he was the problem. 'You've got a party in disarray, a Coalition government in disarray and a community not unified, and that is all at the feet of the Prime Minister of Australia.' Yet Turnbull said little more than the standard mantra by federal leaders that they should not be blamed for state losses.
"Turnbull's problems are not his alone and should be seen in the light of a much bigger context in which leaders are damned if they are decisive and equally damned if they are cautious."
Queensland Nationals undermined Turnbull's opposition to a banking royal commission forcing him to backflip. George Christianson,