Andrew Bolt: Leadership spill leaves political dunce dead in the water

MALCOLM Turnbull just did it again. This political dunce called a needless leadership ballot that simply proved he’s dead meat — and only has weeks to go as leader, writes Andrew Bolt.

PM Malcolm Turnbull in Question Time. Picture: Kym Smith

MALCOLM Turnbull just did it again. This political dunce called a needless leadership ballot that simply proved he’s dead meat.

How appalling is the judgement of this Prime Minister, now with just weeks to go as leader?

Thinking he was smart, Turnbull decided to ambush his looming rival, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, by putting his leadership to a surprise vote of ­Liberal MPs.

Turnbull thought this would stop Dutton in his tracks. And it should have, if Turnbull was half as popular as he thinks he is.

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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during Question Time. Picture: Kym Smith

After all, Dutton had not yet even declared he was after Turnbull’s job. He’d had no time to ring Liberal MPs, ­explain his concerns, outline an agenda or cut all the deals he needed for the numbers to ­topple Turnbull. He had not campaigned publicly, either.

What’s more, many MPs were still in denial about this week’s Ipsos poll, showing the Coalition vote at a catastrophic 45 per cent to Labor’s 55 after preferences. Many wanted to wait until next week’s Newspoll confirmed the Liberal trainwreck before surrendering to panic.

Yet even then Turnbull won only narrowly on Tuesday — 48 votes to Dutton’s 35, which included lots of support from Queensland MPs who think Dutton could save their seats.

What an own goal. Turnbull had called a vote that proved only that he is now badly wounded and leading a deeply divided government.

Labor leader Bill Shorten did not miss in Parliament. In a blistering speech, he declared: “The Prime Minister has no authority, no power, and no policies …

“If nearly half of his own government do not want him to be the Prime Minister, why should the rest of Australia have to put up with him?”

Peter Dutton faces the media at a press conference in Canberra. Picture: Sean Davey/AFP

Only a few Turnbull supporters had the heart or energy to try to defend the result of the ballot.

One was Turnbull’s “loyal deputy”, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, who burbled it was a “resounding vote of support” for Turnbull.

What utter bull. No MP ­believes that.

If Turnbull’s victory was truly overwhelming, enough to end Dutton’s challenge, ­Dutton would then have ­accepted Turnbull’s offer to stay on as Home Affairs Minister and shut up. Instead, he resigned, and refused repeatedly to rule out challenging Turnbull again — and as soon as mid-September, when the Liberals return to Canberra for the next session of Parliament.

His resignation now frees Dutton, as a backbench MP, to speak out in those two and a half weeks before again challenging Turnbull — and this time winning.

By then, there will be two more Newspolls showing Turnbull really is a loser.

Dutton will meanwhile spend the next couple of weeks introducing himself to voters, softening his hard image and winning over the seven extra MPs he needs to become Prime Minister.

Dutton started that work in his press conference after the leadership ballot. First, he introduced himself to voters by outlining his CV — not just the 10 years he spent as a policeman, but his time as an assistant under his “mentor” John Howard, his time as Health Minister and now as Home Affairs Minister.

He also started to soften his image as the hard man who’d just stopped the boats, by pointing out he was also “very proud” to have emptied our ­detention centres of the children put there by Labor.

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PM Malcolm Turnbull with Julie Bishop during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

Peter Dutton speaks to the press. Picture Kym Smith

Australia's leader of the opposition Bill Shorten speaks in The House of Representatives. Picture: Sean Davey/AFP

Dutton also explained why he, not Turnbull, should lead the Liberals after 38 losing Newspolls in a row: he, not Turnbull, had the best chance of beating Labor.

And, finally, Dutton sketched out an outline of his policy priorities as a future PM — including hot-button issues that Turnbull has bungled.

He said the Liberals could still win by pledging to cut power prices and ease the immigration crush, while doing more on health, education, aged care and drought relief.

This was Dutton introducing himself and his election platform to voters, and starting a campaign that can only end with Turnbull toppled.

So this is not over at all.

The death throes of the Turnbull Government will last a few weeks yet, and if Turnbull cared as much about the Liberal Party as he did about himself, he would now resign.

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