PM admits he doesn’t have enough support from his own party
MALCOLM Turnbull has backed down on plans to reduce emissions as part of his major energy policy in a desperate bid to save his leadership. The Prime Minister admitted he did not have enough support within his own party. VOTE IN THE POLL: Does Australia need a new leader?
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MALCOLM Turnbull has backed down on plans to reduce emissions as part of his major energy policy in a desperate bid to save his leadership.
As conservative MPs consider whether to call a leadership spill in tomorrow’s party room meeting, a visibly-exhausted and strained Prime Minister scrapped any move to introduce energy legislation into federal Parliament, admitting he did not have enough support within his own party.
It means that power retailers will no longer be forced to cut emissions under the National Energy Guarantee which will likely ensure Labor states walk away from the policy.
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“It is clear that in the absence of bipartisan support, the legislation to move forward with the emissions component of the national energy guarantee will not be able to pass the House of Representatives,” Mr Turnbull said.
“In politics you have to focus on what you can deliver and that’s what we’ve done and we’ll continue to do.”
But Mr Turnbull said he was “very” confident he still has the support of his colleagues remain as leader of the Liberal Party.
He confirmed the report in The Daily Telegraph that he had spoken to emerging leadership rival Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.
“Peter Dutton was at our leadership group meeting this morning and he was at Cabinet last night,” Mr Turnbull said.
“He is a member of our team. He has given me his absolute support.”
The Prime Minister attempted to rewrite history that his signature energy policy, which now appears in tatters, was primarily designed to prevent blackouts despite having argued for months that it was about bringing energy and environmental policy together.
Key Turnbull backers including Ministers Simon Birmingham and Christopher Pyne this morning engaged in a media blitz in a show of support for the Prime Minister.
Mr Pyne said he did not agree that any frontbencher was getting ready to challenge Mr Turnbull.
“I don’t believe that that is the case at all. But of course, everyone loves a leadership story in this building and in this town, and so, of course, the headlines are screaming those kinds of statements,” he told the ABC.
“ I support him (Mr Turnbull) 100 per cent and I believe that the Cabinet does as well.”
WA Liberal senator Linda Reynolds said Mr Turnbull’s leadership was “absolutely not” under threat.
“We’ve certainly had a lot of robust debate on a very important national policy issue, which I think is actually right,” Senator Reynolds told Sky News.
“I’ve got a bit of a different opinion on this issue. I think the discussion, the debate that we’ve had in the party room, and also more publicly, is actually a very good thing, because it is an important issue for Australians, and I don’t for a second think that there is a leadership challenge on.
