Honeymoon never happened for Australia's new Liberal leader

Dec 3, 2007, 22:51 GMT

Sydney - Australians overwhelmingly agree with beaten leadership rival Malcolm Turnbull that the Liberal Party picked a loser in Brendan Nelson, an opinion poll showed Tuesday.

The Liberals, thrashed by Kevin Rudd's Labor in November 24 parliamentary elections, last week elected the former defence minister to succeed John Howard, the prime minister who lost government and his seat in the Labor landslide.

Nelson beat former environment minister Turnbull 45 votes to 42. The margin was so close that analysts predicted Turnbull could challenge within months the leadership of a party that Howard kept in power for nearly 12 years.

In an opinion poll in The Australian, 61 per cent named Rudd as their preferred prime minister, with Nelson rating only 14 per cent. A third of respondents named Turnbull as best placed to lead the Liberals, with newly elected Nelson scoring a humiliating 18 per cent.

Nelson, 49, admitted that 53-year-old Turnbull had told him to shape up less than an hour after his win.

'Malcolm gave me a bit of a pep talk,' the former doctor said.

Nelson has yet to name all of his front bench, but immediately gave the plum job of opposition treasury (finance) spokesman to Turnbull, a millionaire former merchant banker.

'It's obvious, in fact, it's a no-brainer,' Nelson said of his decision to give Turnbull the treasury portfolio.

Australians apparently disagree: they think it's a no-brainer that Turnbull should be leader.