MP SAYS HE WILL QUIT TURNBULL GOVERNMENT

A COALITION MP says he will quit the Turnbull Government next month, plunging it into minority government.

The MP said he will stay only if Malcolm Turnbull is replaced as Prime Minister. Picture: AAP

A COALITION MP says he will quit the Turnbull Government next month, plunging it into minority government.

The MP said he will stay only if Malcolm Turnbull is replaced as Prime Minister by a leader who can appeal to conservative voters.

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“This government has left the party and the values of the party,” said the lower house MP, who does not want to be identified yet.

“It is miles away from what our rank and file say.

“People tell me Malcolm Turnbull can’t make decisions, he dithers ...

“The final thing they say is that he’s a million miles from our values.”

The MP says he hopes to stay in the party but sit as a crossbench MP, outside the government.

But he knows he will almost certainly be expelled.

The MP said only a change of leader would persuade him to stay, but not if Turnbull was replaced by Liberal deputy leader Julie Bishop, as is increasingly rumoured.

“I don’t know if that would fix the problem.

“It’s about the values and the direction (of the party) and if we will do anything to appeal to the conservative base.”

A defection will cripple the Turnbull Government. It now holds just 74 of the 148 seats in the House of Representatives, with Barnaby Joyce and John Alexander fighting by-elections after having to quit and renounce their dual citizenship.

If Joyce wins, as expected, but Alexander loses his seat of Bennelong to former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, the Government will hold exactly half the 150 seats, and the defection of the Coalition MP will put it into minority government, needing the support of crossbenchers to stay in power.

The MP said he will announce his move when Parliament resumes for a week next month.