Malcolm Turnbull entered this morning’s Liberal partyroom meeting with a Gillard-like strategy — proactively call on a spill and demand his opponent come out and face him. As with Julia Gillard in 2012, it worked — but won’t save him.
Peter Dutton took on his prime minister’s challenge and, while unsuccessful, dealt a devastating blow, attracting 35 votes, or 42% of Liberals. That Dutton could accumulate that many votes in the week since Turnbull was deemed to have achieved a major success in convincing his colleagues to back the now-abandoned National Energy Guarantee illustrates how deep the disillusionment with the PM now runs. With some preparation, it’s not hard to see Dutton shifting the 7 votes he needs.
So it won’t be the end of it. It can’t be the end of it. A PM with the support of less than 60% of his colleagues is a dead leader walking. Gillard managed 70% of caucus in 2012 and lasted another 16 months. Don’t expect Dutton to take anywhere near as long to finish off his target.
Dutton has now resigned, as he should have. What other ministers will follow him, if any, and how quickly, will be the guide to how fast the denouement plays out. A bunch of departures — particularly Scott Morrison and Mathias Cormann — and it could be all over this week. If not, the torture for Turnbull, and for voters, will continue, with Dutton perhaps forced to start attacking from the backbench to settle the matter.
So now we’re into the leadership twilight, like the period after Tony Abbott’s “empty chair” spill early in 2015, a liminal period in which nothing occurs without the issue of the leadership always in the background, the challenger expected to attack at any moment, while ministers go through the motions and maintain the pretence that it’s political business as usual. Voters, however, are likely to reflect not just on the Coalition but on the entire political class and regard it with greater contempt than ever for its self-obsession and apparent disregard for governing in the national interest.
So the prime minister survives, but governing has gone out the window. Turnbull deserves credit for trying to resolve the issue — it’s the kind of aggressive political act with which he used to be synonymous — but, like Gillard before him, there’s no victory here.
The best news for Australia is that Dutton has resigned from the cabinet. But wait! Trumbull has offered him the job again…..
The most breathtaking display of the Prime Minister’s weakness in all this was his request to Dutton that he stay on in cabinet after the vote. I mean, seriously? If you challenge the PM it means you have no confidence in him. If Turnbull was prepared to have a traitor in the cabinet room then he has lost all moral authority over the party.
He never had any authority over the party. He did deals with the RW devil to get the figurehead position. He’s always been a hollow man as PM. The real story is just how far to the right the Liberal party have gone. They are making no pretence at governing for the centrist majority and are actively (and stupidly) trying to chase the minimal Hanson vote, the bulk of which would hand preferences—and seats—to the Liberal/Nats anyway.
“So the prime minister survives, but governing has gone out the window. Turnbull deserves credit for trying to resolve the issue” Bollocks
…..a decent PM would have stared the backbench down on the actual policy issue the day before the spill. It should have gone something like this: Turnbull to the party room “this NEG is the fucking policy we’ll be taking to the election and if you don’t support it right now…unanimously, I’ll take a little drive down to see the GG and we’ll have an election ASAP and those of you on slim majorities can kiss their taxpayer funded lurk goodbye……or you can support the NEG, swing in behind me and we stand at least some chance of competing with the ALP at the election I’ll call in May 2019”
Exactly, Hamster. He was weak for not demanding support for the NEG from his party, he was weak for not putting it to the House for a vote, and he was weak in offering Dutton his job back. Now he’s weak for not having the courage of his policy conviction and putting the NEG to the Parliament anyway, and getting it passed with Labor support. What exactly does he think he has to lose now?
It’s over for Turnbull now DF…. In the space of a month we’ve gone from the media salivating at the prospect of Kill Bill in the by-elections all the way to Turnbull pulling a devastating defeat out of the jaws of the mediocre NEG policy “win”. Has there ever been a more incompetent Government, lead by a less able person than Turnbull?
Not yet. There will be if Mutton takes over.
the same mob headed by Tones ..
Agreed Hamster. Perhaps Labour should now move the NEG, with target by regulation, in the House. That would be cynical, but fun. It might attract Libs who have had enough of their party and/or don’t stand a chance of reelection. Go to the election with the energy policy framework a settled issue.
Agreed. Poor Bernard was hard put to find anything to say Turnbull deserves credit for, but he managed to find a shoehorn at last.
Touché! Turnbull is as weak as water. He’d have nothing to lose and everything to gain by adopting this approach. He’s going down anyway and has just lost the opportunity to go down fighting and showing some integrity and moral fortitude. He at least would have left a positive legacy instead of being remembered as the most disappointing PM in our modern history!
That attitude would have worked three years ago. Not today, they have his number alright…
Agree, except that he should have told the nutters the day after his stunning/stunned election victory that they back him or sack him on the understanding that he would resign his seat and guarantee that the ensuing by-election would be lost and thus the majority in the People’s (remember them?) House.
The turd is still bobbing around the backbench toiletbowl after 3 years, are the Libs so bereft of ideas as to allow the skid mark the top job?
All partyroom fun and games should be entirely at the political party’s expense, if politicans are not going to govern the country then they should get the fuck out of all commonwealth property and be excluded all perks of elected office until they are prepared to return to work. At least pay the tax payers back for wasting work resources and time on bullshit party games.
I doubt these self centered arseholes could maintain employment under the conditions they expect the population to conform.
We don’t reflect on the way people look…it’s just not done. HOWEVER, the above photo…that crew, those things out of a horror film, are senior Liberals members of Parliament…scroll up and take a close look. I mean, how the actual did we get to this?
Bastards changed the photo!
As a finale Turnbull should head on out to Yarralumla now.