PM fast-tracks leadership challenge
Abbott pushes forward party confidence vote
SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday he would bring forward by 24 hours a party vote on whether to oust him, as Australia faced a possible leadership change for the fourth time in five years.
Mr Abbott has been fighting for his job after low poll ratings and a series of policy backflips spurred some MPs from his conservative Liberal Party to attack him, calling for a leadership “spill” tomorrow.
The motion aims to declare the positions of party leader and deputy leader — currently occupied by Mr Abbott and Deputy Prime Minister Julie Bishop — vacant so the party room, or members of both houses of parliament, can vote for new candidates. But a defiant Mr Abbott declared he wanted the vote over and done with as soon as possible.
“The last thing Australia needs right now is instability and uncertainty,” he told reporters.
“On reflection, and after talking to my colleagues, I’ve decided that the best thing we can do is deal with the spill motion as quickly as possible and put it behind us.”
The meeting of the governing Liberal Party is due to be held this morning, 24 hours earlier than scheduled, the Australian leader said.
“The only question for our party is do we want to reduce ourselves to the level of the Labor Party in dragging down a firstterm prime minister?” he asked.
Mr Abbott was highly critical of Labor when the party switched leaders twice during its time in power from 2007 to 2013.
Prime minister Kevin Rudd was ousted by his deputy Julia Gillard in 2010. He later returned the favour and stormed back to power in 2013 shortly before losing the election to Mr Abbott’s coalition.
Mr Abbott’s comments came just hours after Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, seen as one of the main contenders for the leadership, broke his silence early yesterday.
“I’m in the cabinet. I support the prime minister,” Mr Turnbull, who once lost a leadership tussle with Mr Abbott by one vote when the Liberals were in opposition, told a Channel Ten reporter.
“You don’t have to keep on saying that all the time,” the minister said.
But Mr Turnbull did not say whether he would stand as a candidate if the spill motion was successful and the leader’s position declared vacant.
Another potential candidate — Mr Abbott’s deputy Ms Bishop, who is also the foreign minister — said last week she opposed a spill but did not elaborate on what she would do if the motion was successful. “I’m talking to my colleagues today,” Ms Bishop would only say yesterday when questioned by reporters about her plans.
Treasurer Joe Hockey said cabinet members who did not support Mr Abbott should resign, noting to Sky News: “Under the Westminster system, if you do not support the prime minister, you cannot serve in his or her cabinet.”
Backbencher Arthur Sinodinos said he was unhappy with Mr Abbott’s decision to bring forward the vote. “I will vote for a spill as that will help precipitate a discussion,” Sinodinos told The Sydney Morning Herald.