Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison: Paul Kelly on the Liberals’ identity crisis

Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison: Paul Kelly on the Liberals’ identity crisis

July 18, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

Tom McIlroy interviews Paul Kelly about the identity crisis of the Liberal party during the leadership of Abbott, Turnbull, and Morrison.

Guardian Australia political editor Tom McIlroy talks to Paul Kelly about his new book on the turbulent era of the Liberal party under prime ministers Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison. In The Twilight of Exceptionalism, Kelly writes about how the Liberal leadership changed hands from a conservative to a progressive and then a transactional centrist. The Australian newpaper’s editor-at-large argues that this period demonstrated the party was fractured over its values and confused about its identity in a changing world

People in this episode

Host: Tom McIlroy

Guest: Paul Kelly

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Australian, Liberal party

Books & works: The Twilight of Exceptionalism

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