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澳大利亚新总理是微笑的刺客

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澳大利亚新总理是微笑的刺客

阅读提示:本文对照中文翻译在上,英文原文在下。

政治上的蜜月期也许永远不会持续很久,但它们在澳大利亚根本不存在。上周,在罢免托尼阿博特(Tony Abbott)仅仅一天后,马尔科姆礠楲布尔(Malcolm Turnbull)宣誓就任澳大利亚第29任总理。那天的街头小报将他称为“马尔科姆变节者”(Malcolm Turncoat)和“微笑的刺客”(Smiling Assassin)。

Australia’s premier is a former lawyer who has grabbed his chance to shine, writes Jamie Smyth Political honeymoons may never last long, but they don’t exist in Australia. When Malcolm Turnbull was sworn in as the 29th prime minister of Australia this week, just a day after ousting Tony Abbott, the tabloids labelled him “Malcolm Turncoat” and the “Smiling Assassin”.

在特恩布尔成功问鼎自由党(Liberal Party)党首以来的几天里,这位60岁的前高盛(Goldman Sachs)银行家已被媒体和党内批评者贴上了“小气鬼百万富翁”、“精英势利眼”和不择手段的王子等标签。

In the days since Mr Turnbull’s successful challenge for the Liberal party leadership, political opponents, the media and internal critics within his party have labelled the 60-year-old former Goldman Sachs banker a “penny pinching millionaire”, an “elitist snob”, and a Machiavellian prince.

“派珀角王子和自由毫不沾边。”曾在工党政府担任财长的韦恩斯旺(Wayne Swan)表示;派珀角(Point Piper)是特恩布尔居住的富裕的悉尼城郊住宅区。“特恩布尔的温和派名声并不属实。不过,他将实施阿博特的政策。”

“There is nothing liberal about the Prince of Point Piper,” says Wayne Swan, a former Labor treasurer, referring to the affluent Sydney suburb where Mr Turnbull lives. “Turnbull has an undeserved reputation as a moderate but he will implement Abbott’s policies.”

澳大利亚政治的残酷无情意味着,该国在5年里见证了5名总理的起落。如今特恩布尔面对的现实是,他必须应对一个某些人声称已功能失调的议会制度。但他的最大挑战将是他提振澳大利亚经济的能力——这一点将左右着对他的政府的评价。由于澳大利亚关键的出口商品——铁矿石和煤炭——价格暴跌,以及该国最大贸易伙伴中国经济放缓,澳大利亚的经济正在不断走弱。

The brutal nature of Australian politics, which has seen five prime ministers come and go in as many years, is the reality Mr Turnbull must manage in a parliamentary system that some claim is dysfunctional. But his greatest challenge, and the one that will define his government, will be his ability to grow an economy that is weakening in the face of a collapse in the price of key exports — iron ore and coal — and a slowdown in the economy of its biggest trading partner, China.

澳大利亚曾出现连续24年的增长。然而,在截至6月底的3个月内,国内生产总值(GDP)增幅已放缓至0.2%。这一局面令高盛警告称,该国在2016年年中以前有三分之一的几率陷入衰退。

Australia has had 24 consecutive years of growth. But gross domestic product growth slowed to 0.2 per cent in the three months to the end of June, leading Goldman Sachs to warn of a one in three chance of a recession by mid-2016.

阿博特曾承诺要通过改革刺激增长。然而,他对紧缩政策的支持、生硬的领导风格、以及议会中的僵局,使他与习惯了经济繁荣的公众及渴望变革的商界不合拍。

Mr Abbott promised reforms to stimulate growth but his embrace of austerity, abrasive leadership style and deadlock in parliament made him unpopular with a public used to prosperity and a business sector hungry for change.

麦格理银行(Macquarie Bank)共同创始人马克约翰逊(Mark Johnson)表示:“商界失去了对阿博特的信任。他们认为,在所有政客中,特恩布尔重振澳大利亚经济的可能性最大。他非常聪明,是一位天才的沟通者和更好的谈判专家,还和实施政策离不开的独立参议员具有良好的关系。”

“Business lost faith with Abbott,” says Mark Johnson, co-founder of Macquarie Bank. “They see Turnbull has the best chance of any politician in revitalising the economy. He’s intelligent, a talented communicator, a better negotiator and has good relationships with independent senators, who are needed to implement policy.”

在厌倦了堪培拉政坛“旋转门”特性的选民中,特恩布尔拥有很高的支持率。不过,自由党右翼阿博特支持者的憎恨,以及保守派盟友国家党(National Party)党内的不安,依然是他面临的潜在威胁,并将限制他的政策选择空间。澳大利亚国立大学(Australian National University)的伊恩麦卡利斯特(Ian McAllister)表示:“他与工党前领导人陆克文(Kevin Rudd)面临的局面类似。他在选民中很受欢迎,但党内某些势力憎恨他。”

Mr Turnbull has strong approval ratings from voters weary of the revolving door nature of Canberra politics. But resentment from Mr Abbott’s supporters on the rightwing of the Liberal party and unease among the conservative coalition partners, the National party, remain a potential threat and will restrict his policy options. “He is in a similar situation to former Labor leader Kevin Rudd. He is popular with voters but elements within his own party hate him,” says Ian McAllister, politics professor at Australian National University.

作为一名社会改革派和经济保守派人士,这不是特恩布尔第一次担任自由党党首。他曾在2008到2009年间担任此职,后来因支持碳排放交易机制而被党内右翼的气候变化怀疑论者赶下台。在那之前,特恩布尔在党内的领导地位已经因一个失误而削弱:他依据一名财政部官员提供的虚假电子邮件,声称当时的工党政府寻求为一名政治捐赠者安排特殊待遇。

It is not the first time Mr Turnbull, a social progressive and economic conservative, has been Liberal party leader. He held the position in 2008-09 before climate sceptics on the rightwing of the party ousted him over his support for an emissions trading scheme. His leadership had already been weakened following a gaffe when he relied on fake emails provided by a treasury official to allege the then Labor government sought special treatment for a political donor.

失去党首之位是一次少有的挫败。当时特恩布尔宣布将退出政坛,但在与上一位给澳大利亚政坛带来稳定的总理约翰霍华德(John Howard)谈话后改变了主意。“他非常聪明,对经济有深刻见解,而且口才很好,”霍华德说。批评者称,特恩布尔有时缺乏耐心,为人傲慢。“他无法容忍愚蠢的人。他会击碎他们的膝盖骨,”一名官员称。

The loss of the leadership was a rare setback. At the time he said he would quit politics, but changed his mind after talking to John Howard, the last prime minister to bring stability to Australian politics. “He is highly intelligent, has a good understanding of economics and is quite articulate,” says Mr Howard. Critics say he can be impatient and arrogant. “He doesn’t suffer fools gladly. He kneecaps them,” says one official.

特恩布尔第一次受到世界瞩目是在1985年,当时身为悉尼律师的他在著名的《抓间谍者》(Spycatcher)一案中领导辩护团队,成功地为英国军情五处前特工彼得嘠禍(Peter Wright)进行辩护,推翻了英国政府封杀赖特回忆录的禁令。

Mr Turnbull first came to global attention in 1985 as a lawyer in Sydney, when he led the successful defence team in the notorious Spycatcher case, acting for Peter Wright, a former MI5 agent being blocked by the British government from publishing his memoirs.

特恩布尔的妻子露西礠楲布尔(Lucy Turnbull)是一名著名律师和商人。她是原澳大利亚总检察长的女儿,也曾参与《抓间谍者》一案。

Mr Turnbull’s wife Lucy is a well-known lawyer and businesswoman — the daughter of a former attorney-general, she also worked on the Spycatcher case.

特恩布尔曾为商人克里派克(Kerry Packer)担任顾问,同僚称这段关系促使特恩布尔寻求自己的致富机会。1987年,他和前总理高夫惠特拉姆(Gough Whitlam)之子尼古拉斯惠特拉姆(Nicholas Whitlam)、已故的工党政治人士和前新南威尔士州州长内维尔 楠(Neville Wran)创立了一家投资银行,之后又在1997年到2001年间担任高盛澳大利亚的董事总经理。

Mr Turnbull acted as counsel for businessman Kerry Packer, a relationship that colleagues say inspired him to seek his fortune. Accordingly, in 1987, he set up an investment bank with Nicholas Whitlam, son of former prime minister Gough Whitlam, and Neville Wran, the late Labor politician and former premier of New South Wales, before becoming managing director of Goldman Sachs Australia in 1997-2001.

一些同僚将特恩布尔的抱负归因于他艰难的成长经历。他的双亲在他9岁时分居。特恩布尔的母亲移居美国,他被送往寄宿学校,此后他在悉尼攻读法律,后来又获得罗德奖学金到牛津大学(University of Oxford)进修。

Some associates attribute Mr Turnbull’s ambition to his difficult upbringing. His parents separated when he was nine. His mother moved to America, and Malcolm was sent to boarding school before studying law in Sydney and then as a Rhodes scholar in Oxford.

特恩布尔在2004年当选进入议会,但他在政治上活跃的时期更久:作为一名共和政体的拥护者,他在1999年就澳大利亚是否要走向共和的全民公投中发挥了重要作用,这场公投以支持共和一方的失败告终。

Mr Turnbull was elected to parliament in 2004 but had long been politically active: a republican, he played a prominent role in the unsuccessful 1999 referendum on whether to establish an Australian republic.

现在距离下一次选举还不到一年时间,这位新上任的总理并没有多少时间给人们留下深刻印象。特恩布尔将党内团结置于个人信念之前,承诺不改变联合政府保守的气候变化政策和就同性婚姻举行公民投票的计划,而不是推动议会加快立法。他承诺就如何提振经济展开国内讨论。“有关把事情做成的最佳途径,我认为特恩布尔在过去几年学到了很多,”麦格理的约翰逊说,“我认为他能够成功。”

With less than a year to go before the next election, the new prime minister has little time to impress. Placing party unity over personal conviction, he has committed to keep the coalition’s conservative climate change policies and its plan for a plebiscite on same-sex marriage, rather than speeding legislation through parliament. He promises to start a national conversation on how to boost the economy. “I think Turnbull’s learnt a lot about how best to get things done over the past few years,” says Mr Johnson. “I think he can succeed.”