VOTERS may finally know the make-up of the new federal cabinet on Monday – and many will be watching closely for hints on the direction Malcolm Turnbull will take.
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After a cliffhanger election and a sobering shock from voters, it will be interesting to see if the Prime Minister, his party and their Coaltion colleagues from the Nationals have taken lessons from the result.
Statements by Mr Turnbull and colleagues so far have not been promising.
General consensus says the government was out of touch with a large number of voters, who went to the ballot boxes and savagely chopped its majority.
Scraping back into power has seen some survivors, including the PM, saying the re-elected government now has a mandate to pursue some of the policies which lost it so many votes in the first place.
So, will the government proceed with tax cuts, which voters saw as benefiting big businesses that didn’t deserve them?
The cuts made to Gonski school funding by the Abbott government and included in the Turnbull government’s May budget were also unpopular in voter land.
They are only two of the issues that saw Mr Turnbull’s support – and that of his government – plummet before the election.
The Turnbull government’s determined effort to create a Senate that would enable easier passage of its legislation failed. The voters have, true to form, seen through that one and ensured minor parties will hold the balance of power and provide a brake.
The cabinet choices may indicate the level of Mr Turnbull’s strength in his party. The poll result saw some Liberals calling for his head.
What will he do with the former PM he deposed? There have been calls for Tony Abbott to be made a minister. It is unlikely, but does that put the Turnbull government II at risk of factional war?
Against that backdrop the Nationals seem like happy campers. Their proportional numbers in the Coalition have gone up – they held on to their seats. They can demand more seats in cabinet and even have their eyes on a finance portfolio.
That may be good for the regions. Maybe, just maybe, they will be able to get a greater focus on dire regional needs.
But all will rest on the thing most voters want: stability. Will Mr Turnbull and his party be able to provide it?
To find out, voters may have to wait … again.