WHEN Tamworth resident Matt Chessell looks at the political turmoil happening in Canberra, he’s filled with a bitter disappointment.
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Mr Chessell said he was “incredibly disappointed” with the way the nation’s federal politicians were behaving, and his frustration is shared by many people across rural NSW.
“It’s disconcerting and it's discouraging,” Mr Chessell said.
“I think people get confused as to how we elect our governments here in Australia. We don’t actually vote for the PM, so it’s the parties I'm disappointed in.
“It's disappointing too, because it seems that leaders that have a particular mandate or a passion for something get torn down, right when they're about to get something across the line.
“Malcolm Turnbull seemed to lose his way and lose his vision.”
Come election time, Mr Chessell said he couldn’t “see how people would forget this”, but wouldn’t be surprised if people “lose focus on what their vote is worth in an election”.
He also raised concerns about how it looked from an international perspective.
“If we're ever going to mean anything or contribute to a meaningful way on the world stage, we have to have a stable government that is working towards goals,” he said.
“To see Malcolm get knocked off the top job, that's one thing, but for that to mean the Liberal Party heads in a completely different direction in regards to Paris Agreement and all the rest of the treaties that might have taken place it means that why should anyone on the world stage take us seriously.”
Clare Wilson said the whole situation was “really, really damaging” to both the people of Australia and the Liberal Party.
“This close to an election, it makes the Liberal Party looks very weak,” she said.
“The election is going to happen in the next year, they're not going to forget, they're not that stupid.”
While previous leaders who have rolled their predecessors have been elected – Julia Gillard in 2010 and Malcolm Turnbull in 2016, Ms Wilson said “people are over it”.
“There's going to be a back lash. I can't see a way the Coalition wins the next election,” Ms Wilson said.
“The last person to serve a full term was John Howard, and that was more than 10 years ago. People are sick of it.”