Peter Dutton’s supporters failed to stage a fresh challenge against Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
PETER Dutton failed to stage a second desperate attempt to wrest power from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull late last night. We take you inside the tumultuous events that in the end amounted to nothing.
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PETER Dutton failed to stage a desperate late-night coup to wrest power from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The PM will remain cooped up in crisis meetings as he braces for rival Mr Dutton to launch a fresh bid today to overthrow his leadership.
A few minutes ago I spoke with Malcolm Turnbull to advise him I believed the majority of the party room no longer supported his leadership. Accordingly, I asked him to convene a party room meeting at which I would challenge for the leadership of the Parliamentary Liberal Party.
— Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) August 22, 2018
But the swirling speculation that his rival had secured the numbers to bring on a new challenge ultimately amounted to nothing last night.
A senior Turnbull backer said Mr Dutton’s supporters were deliberately trying to create a frenzy and panic to encourage MPs to vote against Mr Turnbull, before the momentum for change ebbed and Mr Dutton was further exposed for incompetence on policy matters.
The former home affairs minister was humiliated by the Treasurer today after suggesting in a radio interview that the GST should be removed from electricity bills — a move that would cause a $7.8 billion budget blowout and likely be unconstitutional.
While Mr Dutton and his backers were pressuring colleagues to sign a petition for an unscheduled party room meeting, Mr Turnbull met with his praetorian guard Julie Bishop, Christopher Pyne, Scott Morrison, Craig Laundy, Christian Porter, Mathias Cormann and government whip Nola Merino.
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The senior leadership team had been fighting to ward off a new challenge from Mr Dutton while calming the sense of rising panic that had spread among MPs who believed the rumours that Mr Dutton had the numbers to seize the leadership.
Another senior Turnbull government figure accused Mr Dutton’s supporters of using aggressive tactics while trying to get the numbers to call a party room meeting, which had led to complaints from female MPs who felt intimidated.
“They’ve been running the halls and bursting into offices and attempting to intimidate people to sign their letter of support,” one senior Turnbull government figure said.
The battle between the Turnbull and Dutton forces finally turned nasty, with the source also accusing Mr Dutton’s supporters of “lying propaganda” for spreading inaccurate rumours that senior ministers like Mathias Cormann and Dan Tehan had resigned.
“We’ve got to see this off. They are just hell bent on blowing the joint up and we can’t bow to that. We have to fight it,” he said. “We’re trying to get a sensible outcome so that MPs do not make decisions in a panic.”
Mr Cormann is understood to be furious that factional leaders were trying to create the impression he had defected from Mr Turnbull to Mr Dutton’s camp.
The entire week has been incredibly difficult for him, as he struggled with his loyalty to the Prime Minister, and his closest friend in Parliament.
Since Tuesday, there have been high-level discussions in the Turnbull government about contingency plans in the event that a successful spill motion is called, but no petition arrived.
Moderate and Centre-Right MPs were hopeful they could command the majority of the party room to see off a challenge from Mr Dutton.
In the event Mr Turnbull either had to step aside voluntarily or lost a spill motion, highly-placed sources said both Ms Bishop and Mr Morrison would consider running for the top job that would see them lead the Liberal Party to the next federal election.
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Mr Morrison and Ms Bishop were asked on Wednesday by their colleagues and factional backers to consider their leadership options if Mr Turnbull did not run in a leadership ballot.
Neither would stand against Mr Turnbull, who they support and whose leadership they have been working to try to shore up.
Should there be a successful spill for the prime ministership, Mr Morrison has been described as a “consensus candidate” to build a bridge between the warring moderate and conservative factions within the Liberals.
If Mr Morrison stood for the leadership, it would split the Right vote, detracting from Mr Dutton’s numbers.
However the Treasurer would also rely on numbers from the moderate faction, along with Mr Turnbull’s backing, to succeed.
But if both Ms Bishop and Mr Morrison ran, splitting the moderate vote, Mr Dutton would be likely to emerge as the winner.
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