There is a very nice article in today’s Oz by Maurice Newman with the fairly accurate title, Coup takes credibility of politicians to a new low. It’s not so much politicians in general who are being dealt with but Malcolm Turnbull in particular. So it was with great interest that we find this at the end of the article:

Maurice Newman is a company director and former chair of the Australian Stock Exchange. He is the former chairman of the prime minister’s Business Advisory Council. The views expressed here are his own.

That they are the columnist’s own views was something I had always assumed up until now, but apparently wrongly. Clearly, they are not their own views unless we are told so, which with The Oz is something I now take for granted (with the honourable exceptions, other than Maurice, of Nick Cater and Henry Ergas). But to be so blatant about it does truly eat into the credibility of the paper. We are, at least in theory, supposed to assume that these are journalists who will say what they believe, come what may. You know, all that truth to power stuff.

And you know what else, given the editorial line of the paper nowadays, you can see why the column irritated them. He explains what a disaster the change has been, but then goes on to make a much more important point:

The Liberal Party coup has wider ramifications than a simple transaction swapping one leader for another. It is one more blow to the credibility of leaders and the moral compact between the ­government and the people.

It makes voters less likely to listen to pleas from government for noble sacrifices in the common good.

It suggests, absent a significant turnaround in our terms of trade, the tough decisions and long lead times needed for economic and fiscal recovery are likely to be defeated by the electoral cycle.

They will also be defeated because our new PM doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing. But he is very articulate in saying nothing much at all and taking credit for the things Tony had already put in place. As for the other things he has done, you should read the column to see why The Australian wants to wash its hands of what Maurice Newman has said.