Scott Morrison is Australia’s new Prime Minister after defeating Peter Dutton in a leadership ballot in the Liberal partyroom this afternoon.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull commenced the meeting by moving a spill, which was only narrowly carried (45-40), illustrating that there was little enthusiasm for change despite the relentless destabilisation of Turnbull by the right-wing forces backing Peter Dutton throughout the week. In the three-way contest that followed, Julie Bishop was knocked out in the first ballot, enabling Morrison to take the backing of her moderate supporters and overwhelm Dutton.
Josh Frydenberg is the new deputy Liberal leader, with Julie Bishop refusing to run for the position yet again.
[Samosas, self-awareness and the ascendant Scott Morrison]
There were early signs that the Dutton forces might be struggling after they were unable to produce the necessary 43 signatures for a partyroom meeting until after 11 this morning. Malcolm Turnbull then demanded the signatures be verified before bringing on the meeting at 12.20pm, 20 minutes after its planned commencement. The lack of strong support for Turnbull’s spill motion — after he had made clear he would walk away from politics if it was supported — also signalled that what was portrayed as massive support for change in Liberal ranks was as much in the minds of Dutton backers as reality.
The defeat of Dutton marks this as the single most disastrous leadership challenge in recent history. Despite ripping the Liberal Party and the government apart to tear down Turnbull, the hard right of the Liberals and their media backers have failed to install their own man and instead seen a man reviled as a turncoat on the right replace Turnbull — a result that may well have News Corp, 2GB and the late-night extremists at Sky News girding their loins for a new battle to destroy another prime minister.
It’s also clear that, despite facing the end of his political career, Turnbull cleverly strung out the whole process, giving Morrison time to put together his support and allow dismay at Dutton’s tactics to spread. It also enabled an extraordinarily ill Arthur Sinodinos to travel to Canberra for the meeting. Turnbull entered the meeting flanked by a frail-looking Sinodinos and Sydney MP Craig Laundy.
The right has succeeded in driving Turnbull out of public life, but he has inflicted on them a bitter defeat on the way out.
Read more on the incoming PM and the chaos of the last few days here.
Something tells me that SCO-MO shouldn’t get too comfortable at the Lodge….take my advice….just unroll a swag mate.
Maybe he would be well advised to take up a bunk at the police academy?
Leave the engine in the car idling more like it!
Even had he the capacity to produce and deliver popular and effective policy, there seems no time to deliver it before the next election.
The practical yet stonewall responses he gave to ‘on water matters’ that won him grudging respect from the electorate haven’t served him through as Treasurer. It’s hard to see who in the electorate still likes or trusts him, and there’s opinion in the commentariat that the far right of the Liberal party won’t tolerate him any more than they did Mr Turnbull.
Whatever his prospects as leader should he win (which might or might not be significant), it seems to me that winning depends on being able to discredit Labor worse than the Liberal party has already managed to discredit itself.
None of which surely, would be opaque to Mr Morrison, who seems no fool. Which leads me to wonder why he’d want the job in the first place? Is there a workable plan? A career benefit to taking on a job you don’t think you can fulfill? Is this idealism? Or just political egotism?
You seem to have overlooked altruism Ruv. SoMo is anything but ideal; just, from the perspectives of the “senior – institutional – Libs” the best that there is by now. There was an also ABB (anyone but Bishop) element; one faux pas after another. The Libs have been banging on about “new blood” for quite some time. Perhaps, for the Libs, the matter is becoming serious. On the other hand, note the all too obvious lurch to the Right within the Party (and associated splinter parties). Ditto
for the likes of Latham etc.
Because the Liberals’ leadership spill process uses ‘elimination’ rounds, it’s important to vote in early rounds against candidates who can’t make it later, and for candidates whom you think will make it to the end, so the early vote isn’t split. I understand that Sn Bishop was slighted by moderates because the far right hates her, which would put the Hn Mr Morrison as the ‘least worst’ centre-right candidate. (Which might help party unity for now, but may damage campaigning and election chances later.)
That much makes a brutal kind of sense to me.
Meanwhile, I can see why the Hn Mr Dutton wanted the job: the hard right is owns a moral obligation to try and lead right now, regardless of whether it can. I still can’t see why Scott Morrison wants this job. If it came to saving the furniture and having a chance at governing after a term out of office, Julie Bishop might be a better candidate. So is Mr Morrison looking to rebuild the party from opposition? Does he think he can? Does anyone think he can?
I don’t think Morisson’s got too much to worry about from Dutton’s clowns. Nobody will risk more destabilisation 😉
And there will be lots and lots of really ugly detail about the putsch and the bullying for numbers to come.
And more reflection on the polling …there is no one left with any significant personal popularity, and Dutton’s on the record a few times blowing smoke up his own bum. He will be seen as increasingly gauche, going into a weird and needless frenzy for his own crusade.
Can’t wait for first ScoMo speech. Talking in tongues will have nothing on this.
A huge win for the Happy Clappers though – there will be much feasting and merriment at Hillsong tonight..!!
Then, as you say Harold, we can all enjoy the hideous “talking in tongues” you warn of.
Booowahahahahah!
This is the same Scott Morrison who:
• Locked in massive cuts to hospitals;
• Will keep fighting to give $17 billion to the big banks;
• Cut $17 billion from schools;
• Cut penalty rates;
• Raised the pension age to 70;
• Cut the Aged Pension; and
• Voted 26 times against the banking royal commission.
If this is Scott Morrison’s record as Treasurer, imagine the damage he can do as Prime Minister?
Yes, and let’s not forget his hardheartedness on immigration, he was the first ‘Dutton’
when it comes to that. Do we have a wolf in sheep’s clothing here? Was Dutton’s push
a distraction so we would all heave a sigh of relief when Morrison came out on top? There is not much ideological daylight between those two.
More like a sheep in wolf’s clothing – he has never actually done anything well, going back to TA’s embarrassing “where the bloody hell are you” which he thought a winner, his total reliance on the military and onwater matters to escape scrutiny.
There is no suggestion that he can focus on more than one thing at a time, apart from his speshal relationship with his imaginary sky fairy friend to whom he blathers in Tongues and he would be crazy to delegate too much to eager, grasping underlings with a rep. to build and time a’wasting down the plughole of the remaining term of government.
I suppose that he does have one achievement” – increasing our national debt faster than any known predecessor since Weimar
Scomo a no go, lets all have a go go, don’t worry, the pain will be short lived.
The way things have panned out it seems the former PM may have been played by his closest confidant once the numbers were crunched.
Exactly