Malcolm Turnbull faces second leadership spill after night of drama

MALCOLM Turnbull could face a fresh challenge to his leadership with a small group of Liberal MPs pushing for Peter Dutton to have another go. 

MALCOLM Turnbull could face a fresh challenge to his leadership on Thursday with a small group of Liberal MPs pushing for Peter Dutton to have another go. 

The rogue  former minister on Wednesday night launched a second assault on the embattled Prime Minister.

As Dutton backers worked to drum up enough support to force another leadership ballot, sources close to the former home affairs minister said: “All will become clear in the morning.”

But amid chaotic scenes, Mr Turnbull’s supporters said they were increasingly confident he would survive the week.

On Wednesday afternoon Mr Dutton’s supporters began circulating a petition among MPs asking the Liberal Party whips to convene a second party room meeting in four days in a bid to bring down the Prime Minister.

Early claims that the plotters were close to having a majority of signatures indicating the PM had lost support since Monday’s 48 to 35 vote, were last night being denied by Mr Turnbull’s supporters.

The Dutton camp claimed early evening that key Turnbull backer Mathias Cormann had withdrawn his support from Mr Turnbull — a claim that was later denied by the Finance Minister.

And in a sign that the Turnbull camp is preparing to play hardball against Mr Dutton, the source said he was likely to be referred to the High Court.

Labor on Wednesday night circulated legal advice that Mr Dutton was probably not eligible to sit in Parliament because his family has a pecuniary interest in a childcare centre that receives payments from the Commonwealth.But a leading Dutton backer denied he faced any legal issues, saying: “This a desperate tactic from a Prime Minister who has lost the support of the party room and is now putting his vanity ahead of the interests of the party.”

The crisis atmosphere in Parliament which had hung over the building all day continued late into the night with campaigners making phone calls to shore up support for both men.

Read our earlier coverage from the night's dramatic events in the blog below. 

Originally published as Malcolm Turnbull faces second leadership spill after night of drama

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