Australian PM survives leadership challenge
Turnbull clings on to power after narrow victory against Liberal party’s least popular candidate
MALCOLM TURNBULL, the Australian prime minister, was left clinging to power yesterday after narrowly winning a leadership challenge by a former policeman who is his party’s least popular candidate. In a tight result that suggested the nation’s eight-year leadership roundabout may not be stopping anytime soon, Mr Turnbull defeated Peter Dutton, the home affairs minister and a staunch conservative, by 48-35 in a secret ballot at a meeting of Liberal party MPS.
The slim margin is unlikely to secure Mr Turnbull’s future or prevent a further challenge by Mr Dutton, who resigned as a minister and refused to rule out a further contest.
Urging the party to stay united, Mr Turnbull, a former investment banker and self-made millionaire, said he had reduced taxes and delivered jobs growth despite holding a narrow oneseat majority in Parliament. “We know that disunity undermines the ability of any government to get its job done,” he said. “Unity is absolutely critical.”
But the ruling conservative Liberalnational Coalition has long trailed Labor in the polls and is heading to a likely defeat at elections next May. Several of Mr Turnbull’s ministers offered to resign last night and his political future appears to be hanging by a thread.
No Australian prime minister has completed their term since John Howard after the 2004 election – and most commentators believe the circus will continue.
In recent years, both the Liberal and Labor parties have shown a willingness to dump leaders if they think it will improve their prospects. Kevin Rudd was toppled by Julia Gillard in 2010, who was toppled by Mr Rudd in 2013. Mr Rudd then lost an election to Tony Abbott, who was toppled by Mr Turnbull in 2015.
Analysts have blamed the instability on growing debate over issues such as immigration, economic inequality and climate change which, coupled with the fractured media landscape, has led to greater political divisiveness.
Mr Turnbull, who pushed for a republic in the Nineties, has faced persistent leadership questions since his narrow victory in the 2016 election.
To try to maintain control of the party’s Right wing, he abandoned many of his progressive positions on issues such as climate change and same-sex marriage. This damaged his standing in the electorate but failed to win him the support of the party’s conservatives.
In addition, he faced constant criticism from Mr Abbott, a conservative and devout monarchist, who has helped to push a Right-wing bloc within the Liberal party.
Mr Dutton, who has called for immigration curbs and led a crackdown against asylum seekers, has long been seen as the potential leader of this bloc despite his lack of public popularity. A poll in April found just three per cent of voters preferred him as Liberal leader, behind Mr Turnbull on 24 per cent, foreign minister Julie Bishop on 17 per cent, Mr Abbott on 11 per cent and “someone else” on 14 per cent.