Turnbull braces for second challenge
Malcolm Turnbull will have a minireshuffle of his ministry after a wave of resignations from challenger Peter Dutton’s loyalists in the wake of Tuesday’s damaging leadership spill.
The Prime Minister won the overwhelming support of his party room with a vote of 48 to 35, but is now bracing for a second challenge from an emboldened Dutton within weeks – and as early as today.
can reveal Cabinet ministers Michael Keenan, Steve Ciobo and Greg Hunt have offered to resign for voting against the Prime Minister, but Turnbull asked them to stay on.
And on Tuesday night junior ministers in the Turnbull government were falling like flies: Michael Sukkar, James McGrath, Zed Seselja along with ministers Angus Taylor and Concetta Fieravanti-Wells have resigned to join Dutton on the backbench, after voting against Turnbull in the spill. Turnbull may not accept all of their resignations.
When the Prime Minister declared the Liberal leadership vacant on Tuesday morning in a move that shocked the party room, he bought himself time, rather than sitting and waiting for Dutton.
He was confident he commanded the majority of support from his Cabinet and Liberal colleagues and emerged victorious – but just seven votes away from losing his grip on power.
‘‘The Liberal Party Room has confirmed my leadership,’’ Turnbull said at a press conference with Deputy Julie Bishop by his side.
‘‘We know that disunity undermines the ability of any government to get its job done. We cannot allow . . . internal issues to undermine our work, to create a risk, a real risk, that Bill Shorten will be the Prime Minister.’’
The leadership rivals had a face-toface meeting, lasting over 30 minutes, following the party room, where Turnbull implored Dutton to remain in Cabinet and in the role of Home Affairs Minister, to restore unity to his government.
But Dutton declined, choosing to move to the backbench where he is free to speak out against the Prime Minister. He will also be more free to plot his next leadership challenge, which he has not ruled out, after declaring he believes he is the best leader to defeat Bill Shorten at the next election.
‘‘I made a decision to contest this ballot because I want to make sure we can keep Bill Shorten from ever being prime minister of this country,’’ Dutton said. ‘‘I believe that I had the best prospect of leading the Liberal Party to success at the next election.’’
In doing so, he set in train a rolling period of instability for the Turnbull government, as he prepares to mount a second challenge as early as Parliament’s first week back on September 10.
The 35 Liberal MPs who voted against Turnbull are understood to have included Cabinet ministers Human Services Minister Keenan, Trade Minister Ciobo and Health Minister Hunt, and junior ministers Sukkar, Seselja, Karen Andrews, McGrath, Alan Tudge and Karen Andrews.
Dutton’s best mate, Finance Minister and Leader of the Senate, Mathias Cormann, has vowed that he backed the Prime Minister.
Hunt had been preparing to run as Dutton’s deputy leader against Bishop, but pulled out when his conservative colleague did not have the numbers. The understands Hunt had been playing both sides of the fence, and had actually met the Turnbull camp on Tuesday to pledge his loyalty to the Prime Minister.
Support from Treasurer Scott Morrison and centre-right faction leader Alex Hawke helped deliver Turnbull the victory.
Turnbull, who is due to go overseas on a trip to the Pacific next week, will become the longest-serving Prime Minister since John Howard if he lasts in the top job to the first week of September.
Labor seized on the leadership drama in Question Time, with Shorten, Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke delivering lengthy tirades, ripping into Turnbull. –