SHORTLY AFTER SEIZING the prime ministership in September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull told reporters covering their third leadership coup against a sitting Australian prime minister in five years that the culture of his administration would be ‘consultative’. He promised his Cabinet would ‘make decisions in a collaborative manner’. Drawing an unmistakable contrast with the governing style of his predecessor, Turnbull noted, ‘The Prime Minister of Australia is not a president; the Prime Minister is the first among equals.’[i]

Hours earlier, Turnbull had outlined his rationale for challenging Tony Abbott’s leadership – it was a damning indictment of his shortcomings. But most devastating was his assessment of the changes needed at the heart of government: