Turnbull clocks up a lengthy innings

MALCOLM Turnbull has passed Kevin Rudd’s record for time in office in a sign that almost a decade of chaos in Australian politics is ending.

The Prime Minister is also on track to beat Julia Gillard’s three years and three days in office on September 17 — if he does not call an election first.

Political analysts and MPs have predicted Australian politics is returning to stability after a tumultuous decade, sparked by parties knifing a string of prime ministers, as speculation heats up that Mr Turnbull will call an election before the year is out.

The Prime Minister has spent 1032 days in office, surpassing Tony Abbott’s 727 days and Mr Rudd’s 1020 earlier this month.

That’s still a far cry from John Howard’s 11 years and 267 days in office.

But Griffith University political scientist Paul Williams said surviving this long was a sign that stability was returning to politics after having five prime ministers in eight years.

“Both parties are fearful of changing leaders, so Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten are keeping their jobs,” he said.

Dr Williams said there was a “better than even” chance of a federal election this year, probably between September and November, if Labor loses or does poorly in upcoming byelections on July 28.

Mr Turnbull’s time in office has been rocked by several issues, including the citizenship saga, the Barnaby Joyce lovechild scandal, the divisive same-sex marriage campaign and constant criticism from Mr Abbott and a handful of backbenchers.

Mr Turnbull has the support of 46 per cent of voters as preferred prime minister compared to 31 per cent for Mr Shorten in the latest Newspoll.

The Coalition is also back in election contention, trailing Labor 49-51 on a two partypreferred basis.