Australia Leadership Crisis: Scott Morrison is the PM
Scott Morrison is the new leader of the Liberal Party and the 13th prime minister of Australia.
He won in the second round of voting, 45-40, against Peter Dutton. Julie Bishop was knocked out in the first round of voting. Party whip Nola Marino told reporters gathered in Canberra there was an “overwhelming” vote in favour of Josh Frydenberg as deputy leader.
Malcolm Turnbull was given a spill petition by Mr Dutton yesterday and commenced a party meeting to decided new leadership at midday (2pm NZT).
The Liberal decision ends Malcolm Turnbull’s three years as PM. Long-serving deputy leader Julie Bishop has also lost her position to Victorian Josh Frydenberg who defeated Greg Hunt and Steve Ciobo with an absolute majority. Mr Morrison will emerge from a chaotic and crisis-filled week in Federal Parliament as the nation’s 30th PM.
The 50-year-old has served as Mr Turnbull’s Treasurer since the last leadership change in September 2015. He will now need to reshape the ministry which has been rocked by resignations this week as frontbenchers agitated to dump Mr Turnbull.
Mr Morrison is also a former Tourism Australia managing director who has held ministerial portfolios including immigration and social services.
He’d been involved in the highly acclaimed “100% Pure New Zealand” campaign after being recruited to set up that country’s Office of Tourism and Sport.
With a year remaining on his contract he returned to Sydney in early 2000 to take up the job of state director of the NSW Liberal Party. Having overseen the Liberal Party’s campaign in the 2001 federal and 2003 state campaigns, the ambitious political operative made his first tilt for Parliament at the 2007 federal election.
His sights were set on the safe Liberal seat of Cook in southern Sydney, but he suffered a crushing defeat in the first preselection vote to young Lebanese Catholic, Michael Towke.
As treasurer, Scott Morrison delivered three budgets, but the leadership ambitions of the number one ticket holder for the Cronulla Sharks were always obvious to his colleagues.