Libs in turmoil, Govt shut
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he won’t stand for the Liberal leadership again if an expected party room meeting today agrees to spill the leadership.
But Liberal MPS need to first see the advice from the solicitorgeneral on the eligibility of challenger Peter Dutton to sit in the parliament, in the wake of reports he could be in breach of the constitution.
Turnbull also wants to see the letter purportedly signed by 43 Liberal MPS calling for the meeting.
He’s slated that meeting for midday today.
‘‘Australians will be rightly appalled by what they’re witnessing in their nation’s parliament today and in the course of this week,’’ Turnbull said in Canberra yesterday.
It was important Dutton’s eligibility to be in parliament was clarified, he said.
The former Home Affairs minister has his own legal advice that his interest in childcare centres – which receive a funding stream from the federal government – does not breach section 44 of the constitution.
This bans from parliament anyone who has ‘‘any direct or indirect pecuniary interest with the public service of the commonwealth’’.
Turnbull said the public would be ‘‘crying out for an election’’ once the dust settled.
He said a ‘‘form of madness’’ had taken over those agitating for a leadership change.
The House of Representatives has been adjourned by the government amid the leadership battle, with Labor leader Bill Shorten arguing the Coalition is ‘‘irreparably split’’ and should hang their heads in shame.
Malcolm Turnbull has been told he no longer has majority support in the Liberal party room, with Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison expected to put their hand up for the leadership once a meeting of MPS can be convened.
So far 13 ministers have resigned, stepping up pressure on the prime minister to quit.
Shorten said adjourning the lower house was a clear admission of failure and the Coalition should hang their heads in shame.
‘‘What I say today is not addressed to the government, because Australia no longer has a functioning government,’’ he told the chamber.
‘‘What I say today is not addressed to the Coalition or the Liberal Party, because they have no leader of the Liberal Party.’’
He said the Liberal Party was ‘‘irreparably split’’.
‘‘The government may adjourn the Parliament, but they cannot outrun the weight of failure of this government,’’ he said. ‘‘This is the ultimate admission of surrender, of a bankrupt government, of a failed government.
‘‘If anyone needs to depart from this place, it is not the Parliament, it is this government of Australia who has lost the confidence not just of its own backbench, not just of the opposition, you’ve lost the confidence of everyday Australians.’’
– AAP, Fairfax
‘‘This is the ultimate admission of surrender, of a bankrupt government, of a failed government.’’ Bill Shorten, Labor leader