Second challenge looms for Malcolm Turnbull as Peter Dutton reveals policy plans
A PETITION for a second ballot was reportedly circulating around Parliament House overnight.
A PARTY room meeting will not be held tonight.
Supporters of Peter Dutton began a second strike against Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, with a petition calling for a fresh party room meeting circulating Parliament House this evening.
But Dutton supporters have conceded there won’t be a meeting tonight, the ABC reported.
The Senate and the lower house have both adjourned and some Liberal members left Parliament House before Malcolm Turnbull departed at around 9.30pm.
Andrew Wilkie leaving Parliament tonight: “The country’s had a gutful of the antics in this place. I don’t think they really care who’s running it as long as it’s run competently.# #libspill
— Michael Koziol (@michaelkoziol) August 22, 2018
The intent of the petition was to ask the Prime Minister to call a second meeting and spill the leadership of the Liberal Party.
Influential shock jock Alan Jones kicked off talk of a late-night coup with a tweet urging political watchers to “get ready”.
Get ready. Party room meeting tonight. Goodbye Malcolm who doesn’t have the numbers. #auspol
— Alan Jones (@AlanJones) August 22, 2018
The petition would require 43 signatures to force the Coalition into the meeting, although when exactly the meeting would occur would be up to the PM.
Liberal frontbenchers Melissa Price and Alex Hawke claimed they hadn’t seen a petition at all.
“I’ve not seen a petition, there’s no partyroom. I think you’ve all been played beautifully,” Ms Price said, according to The Australian.
But other Liberal party members said otherwise.
On her way out of Parliament House, Liberal MP Jane Prentice said at about 7pm the petition had just nine signatures, but hers wasn’t among them.
“I haven’t signed it and I haven’t seen it,” she said. “I think people should stop thinking about themselves and think about the people of Australia.”
Jim Molan said he signed a petition calling for the meeting and that things were going “according to plan”.
“I signed it and I saw my name and that’s all I’m going to say about it. I’m trying furiously to deal in fact tonight. We’ve had so much information come through I just don’t know where we stand at the moment,” Senator Molan told Sky News.
“I don’t know who’s creating this pseudo crisis. It could be anyone, or it could be quite normal. I didn’t expect anything to happen this evening. As far as I’m concerned, things are going according to plan.
“My understanding is (the PM) decides when the party room convenes for this. It will only be pressure on him and a desire by him to do the right thing… so all that can be done is to put the petition to him and let’s see what the decision he makes. It’s certainly not going to be tonight.”
Barnaby Joyce also weighed in, calling for the Liberals to bring in former prime minister John Howard to sort out the leadership mess.
Speaking to Sky News, he suggested Mr Howard could “ring everyone up” and “find out what their position is”, and tell both sides their numbers.
“Malcolm Turnbull should never have got rid of Tony Abbott,” he added. “That’s what I think generally people want. And now what I think we have is a situation is that it’s patently bad, and not good for us ... so we’ve got to get through this as soon as possible and move on.”
Mr Howard was the last prime minister to serve a full term. He was beaten by Kevin Rudd in 2007.
JAMES MCGRATH’S RESIGNATION ACCEPTED
Meanwhile, Queensland senator James McGrath has met with the PM to insist his resignation be accepted, which it was.
“The people who have for all their lives counted on us to look after them and their families are now questioning our commitment to them. Our people feel forgotten, ignored and spoken down to. As a Liberal National Party Senator for Queensland, this is an intolerable situation,” Mr McGrath wrote in his letter of resignation. “Like Peter Dutton has said, we must do everything in our power to stop Bill Shorten ever becoming Prime Minister.”
He is now the third frontbencher — after Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and Mr Dutton himself — to quit.
JULIE BISHOP DENIES PARTY ROOM MEETING RUMOURS
Reports were circulating all evening of a petition to call another leadership spill making its way through MPs’ offices, but Julie Bishop was quick to deny any knowledge of an imminent party room meeting.
Appearing on The Project, the Deputy Prime Minister said she was “not aware of any such moves”, noting she’d be hosting the Deputy Leader of New Zealand at a working dinner tonight.
“I haven’t heard anything about this,” she said.
Asked if she could guarantee Mr Turnbull would be PM in the morning, Ms Bishop said: “It’s 6.30, the house rises shortly, everybody has events on this evening.
“I have been through a number of leadership challenges and I have observed them on the other side. Some of them are won by one vote. The Prime Minister was endorsed.”
Rumours continued all afternoon of an upcoming party room meeting with the agenda of replacing Mr Turnbull.
According to The Daily Telegraph political editor Sharri Markson, a “series of crisis meetings” was unfolding in Mr Turnbull’s office with senior party figures including Ms Bishop, Christopher Pyne, Scott Morrison and Mathias Cormann.
FURORE OVER BITTER DUTTON TEXT
A single word in a bitter text message read out on air yesterday morning sparked a storm over the deep divisions within the Liberal Party.
Radio host Ray Hadley was firing up about Scott Morrison on 2GB. He referred to a picture of the Treasurer encouragingly pointing to Mr Turnbull after the spill as “one of the most sickening images I’ve seen in the history of Australian politics”.
“I mean it’s childish stuff, but it’s there. What a piece of work,” Hadley said.
In the original audio broadcast, heard by news.com.au, Hadley proceeded to read out a text message he received from “a Liberal Party MP” yesterday.
“Ray, can you believe what you’re seeing?” the radio host read. “Scott Morrison is now running around trying to put a ticket between himself and Peter Dutton together to challenge Malcolm Turnbull.
“He’s told those lobbying he won’t serve as my — er — as the deputy to Peter Dutton. He won’t serve as his deputy. He wants to be the leader.’”
The word “my” gave some listeners the impression the bitter text had come from Mr Dutton himself.
If indeed the text did come from Mr Dutton, it’s significant because it exposes the deep divisions with the Liberal Party, and his rivalry with Mr Morrison.
It’s a known fact Hadley is no fan of Mr Morrison. Last year he banned the Treasurer from his regular Monday spot on his program, declaring “the bromance is over” and accusing Mr Morrison of lying about his availability for the program, the ABC reported.
Hadley today told Sky News that the text had “definitely not” come from Mr Dutton and that the comment was a “genuine stumble”.
But interestingly, 2GB has since edited the original audio to remove the word “my” on its website.
Social media users were not convinced:
— Bevan Shields (@BevanShields) August 22, 2018
This morning Hadley was reading an email from a "Liberal MP". He made a slip-up that revealed the email was from Dutton. This was edited out of the audio that went online.
— Imre Salusinszky (@Imresal) August 22, 2018
The Liberal party-room needs to have a long, hard think about who is manipulating it, and to what ends.
Heard it live and it was definite a slip that highlighted Dutton as author of the email.
— Mark Evans (@markje4) August 22, 2018
I don’t believe him
— Lis Kelly (@lis_kelly1) August 22, 2018
Hadley has been particularly critical of Mr Turnbull in recent days. Opening his 2GB show on Monday, the host took aim at Defence Minister Chris Pyne and his claim that Mr Turnbull still enjoyed the full backing of the cabinet.
“That’s a lie. That’s a lie. And Christopher Pyne knows it to be a lie. I know at least three cabinet ministers that want him (Mr Turnbull) gone,” Hadley said.
“For the first time, Malcolm Turnbull knows he’s in strife.”
He also said Mr Dutton’s “only hope of remaining in Parliament is to lead the party”.
ABBOTT BLASTS TURNBULL AS ‘DESPERATE INCUMBENT’
Tony Abbott also blasted Mr Turnbull on 2GB, calling the Prime Minister a “desperate incumbent”.
“It’s no big secret that I’m no fan of the incumbent,” he said of the leader.
He said it was “strange” the Prime Minister referred Mr Dutton to the solicitor-general, saying it was either “dirty tricks” by Labor, or — in a not-so-subtle jab at Mr Turnbull — “one last throw from a despairing incumbent”.
Asked if he would return to cabinet if Mr Dutton becomes PM, Mr Abbott said: “I don’t do deals, Ben (Fordham). I don’t do deals. I ask for nothing, I expect nothing.
“I suspect that the average person looking at this says, ‘The politicians, there they go again, it’s another circus’. Sometimes some difficult things have got to be done in order to resume getting the important things done.
“But in the end, I’m just one member of the party room, I can’t resolve it.”
DUTTON ‘WORKING THE PHONES’ TO BECOME PM
Just a day after Peter Dutton said he would go quietly to the backbench, the former Home Affairs Minister revealed he was “working the phones” to win the prime ministership.
Now, News Corp understands Mr Dutton’s camp claims to have 40 out of 43 votes needed to call another Liberal party room meeting, which could happen as soon as this afternoon or tomorrow.
Other names are also being thrown around, including Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop, but Mr Morrison has rejected that idea, saying he fully supports Mr Turnbull in several interviews today and during a media conference this afternoon.
Mr Turnbull called the cringe-worthy conference alongside the Treasurer and Mr Cormann to admit defeat after one of their signature economic reforms — tax cuts for big business — was killed in the Senate.
The embarrassing podium performance outside Parliament House involved an awkward hug from Mr Morrison when asked if he could rule out any leadership ambitions.
“This is my leader and I’m ambitious for him,” he said as he put his arm around Mr Turnbull.
The policy plans Mr Dutton announced this morning were quashed by the trio, namely his move to remove the GST from power bills, which would mean an automatic 10 per cent reduction.
Mr Morrison said such a proposal would cost about $7.5 billion over four years.
“That would be a Budget blower, an absolute Budget blower,” he said. “And you can make all sorts of promises about how much money you’re going to spend, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to account for it.”
Mr Turnbull said the plan was certainly very expensive and the states would expect to be reimbursed as a result.
He kicked off the conference announcing his government would not be taking tax cuts for larger companies to the next election.
In another body blow for Mr Turnbull, the Senate voted down his signature company tax cut policy by 36 votes to 30 today.
“We are going to review our enterprise tax plan in so far as it applies to small and medium businesses and focus on how we can provide enhanced support, or perhaps an acceleration of the tax cuts for the small and medium businesses,” he said.
He also said they would not move to repeal the energy supplement for welfare recipients.
Mr Turnbull said he was not anticipating another leadership challenge this week.
Mr Dutton told 3AW yesterday morning that he was campaigning to gain the numbers to run a second successful challenge against Mr Turnbull.
“You don’t go into a ballot believing you’re going to lose and if I believe that a majority of colleagues support me, then I would consider my position,” he said. “Of course I am (working the phones). I’m speaking to colleagues. I’m not going to beat around the bush with that.”
The would-be Liberal leader has also unveiled his grand plans to save Australia in a bid to win over voters, including a Royal Commission into the energy and fuel companies he thinks are rorting the country because Australians are paying some of the highest energy bills in the world.
MORE: Petty reason behind Liberal spill
MORE: Mass resignations rock Turnbull
Mr Dutton this morning refused to give a timeline on when he would rechallenge Mr Turnbull. “I want to talk about these sorts of (policy) ideas and we’ll then see what the future holds,” he told Triple M in a separate interview.
Mr Dutton also said energy and fuel costs were his number one issue.
“I think one of the things we could do straight away in this next billing cycle is take the GST off electricity bills for families,” he said.
“It would be an automatic reduction of 10 per cent. People would feel an impact straight away, it would be a down payment on other things you could do to help reduce electricity bills.
“The other thing I think we could do is I think we could set up a Royal Commission into electricity and fuel companies. Australian consumers have been paying way too much for way to long and something just isn’t right.”
He said people were struggling to understand what the Government stood for.
“In a country where we’ve got an abundance of natural resources, of renewables, of coal of hydro, yet we’re paying some of the highest costs for energy in the world and similarly for fuel,” he said.
“They’re the sorts of things we need to talk about and should be working on and if we do, I believe that people will strongly support the government.”
Triple M’s Hot Breakfast hosts asked Mr Dutton to detail his career history, background and upbringing so Australians could understand the “down-to-earth” side of him he said they often did not see.
He said he couldn’t name his favourite AC/DC song because he said he had not had much sleep. Mr Turnbull had the same reaction on Triple M last year, but instead provided a Mental as Anything song.
TURNBULL’S PRIME MINISTERSHIP LOOKS TERMINAL
Mr Turnbull’s position as Prime Minister of Australia is looking increasingly untenable after he fended off Mr Dutton’s attack by just 48-35 in a party room vote.
The government is now in turmoil, and its ability to get anything done severely damaged.
Nine ministers who voted for Mr Dutton offered their resignations, including Trade Minister Steven Ciobo and Human Services Minister Michael Keenan.
Mr Turnbull only accepted the resignation of two ministers: International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who wrote a critical open letter, and Mr Dutton himself, who insisted on going to the backbench.
At this press conference today, Mr Turnbull said: “And so the Cabinet ministers, apart from Peter Dutton, of course, who came to me and told me that they had voted for Mr Dutton in the leadership ballot, have given me unequivocal assurances of continuing loyalty and support.”
The Prime Minister looks unlikely to be able to hang on long after beating his challenger by such a narrow margin.
Mr Dutton has repeatedly refused to rule out another challenge for the Liberal leadership before the next election — which must be called by May 2019 and could now be imminent.
While the Queensland MP failed to oust Mr Turnbull, he exceeded most expectations by managing to collect 35 votes — including cabinet ministers — without campaigning.
He stepped down from his position as Home Affairs Minister, despite Mr Turnbull’s invitation for him to stay, and was already working on softening his image yesterday afternoon.
Mr Dutton’s Triple M interview came after he told Sky News he “likes a drink”, “has a self-deprecating sense of humour” and enjoys “a kid’s footy game on a Saturday or Sunday.”
He said it was “nice to be in front of the cameras where he can smile and maybe show a different side.”
Twitter didn’t exactly buy his attempts at rebranding himself as a relatable Aussie bloke.
- Doesn’t get why Jigsaw is considered the villain in the Saw movies.
— PT Ryan (@P_T_RYAN) August 21, 2018
- Can quote every chapter of American Psycho from memory.
- Thinks we could all do well to a bit more like Negan from The Walking Dead.
Peter Dutton, liking a drink like everyone else #auspol pic.twitter.com/U6j94aMZLX
— Stuart Fazakerley (@stuartfaz) August 21, 2018
— Lil Nangs (@Lil_Nangs) August 21, 2018
Critics have delivered scathing assessments of Mr Turnbull’s performance, including Tony Abbott’s former chief-of-staff Peta Credlin.
Ms Credlin said Mr Turnbull’s death warrant had been “signed” and urged him to “stem the bleeding to the right”.
“The main feeling is sadness about the disintegration of what should have been a good government that was first elected to bring an end to this sort of political assassination politics that was so much a feature of the former Labor government,” she told Sky News.
“Let’s be very clear here — Malcolm Turnbull never stayed in the Parliament to be somebody else’s Minister. Tony Abbott always felt that Turnbull was owed a place in Cabinet as a former leader and that, of course, was Abbott’s undoing.
“As we’ve seen it play out over the past seven days there’s not a principle Turnbull won’t junk, a policy he won’t change, an individual he won’t attack in order to survive and survive he has again today.
“But with 35 votes against the prime minister following his clever ambush spill against himself today, mark my words, his death warrant has been signed and the scaffolding’s been built, it’s only now a matter of time.”
Ms Credlin said she knew what it took to win elections having worked with Mr Abbott when he took 25 seats off Labor.
She also labelled Mr Turnbull “shameless” and said he had no right to demand loyalty from anyone.
‘DUTTON WILL WIN IN WEEKS’
Mr Dutton’s supporters were encouraged by the close result in the spill, telling the Adelaide Advertiser Mr Dutton can “easily” win the contest for the prime ministership with more time and a campaign.
A senior Liberal MP said the vote had come without warning. “Dutton will win in a matter of a few days, or at worst, a few weeks,” said the MP, describing the vote as a stunt.
“Malcolm Turnbull is not selling anything. There will be a second challenge.”
Another said the Prime Minister’s condition was “terminal”.
The ABC said Mr Turnbull was “mortally wounded”, with a source close to Mr Dutton telling the broadcaster another two or three Liberals have drifted to Mr Dutton overnight.
The Guardian called the PM’s predicament “political annihilation”.
Labor leader Bill Shorten claimed the PM was “a Prime Minister in name only,” adding, “If nearly half of his own government do not want him to be the Prime Minister of Australia, why should the rest of Australia have to put up with him?”
Mr Shorten sought to move a no-confidence motion against Mr Turnbull in Parliament yesterday, saying the Prime Minister “has no authority, no power, and no policies”. It was defeated at 67-76.
But if history is anything to go by, the writing is on the wall for Mr Turnbull. No Australian prime minister has recovered after a leadership challenge.
Mr Turnbull scraped past his rival with less than 60 per cent of the vote. Former prime ministers Julia Gillard and Bob Hawke both performed better than that in challenges shortly before they were forced out.
Mr Dutton was just seven votes short of becoming Prime Minister.
Some believe he could make another challenge within days, while others say he may wait until the next sitting week, the second week of September, following Mr Turnbull’s expected slide in upcoming polls.
The next Newspoll comes next week.
Mr Dutton had said he challenged Mr Turnbull to give the Government a better chance of winning a future election. Some believe the Queensland MP’s leadership could be particularly valuable in his home state and West Australia — but it could cause issues elsewhere.
Victorian Liberals fear a change of leadership would result in a bloodbath for the Government and put seats considered safe at risk, according to The Guardian.
Ms Bishop said she will not be running for the top job, emphasising her loyalty when pressed by Leigh Sales on ABC’s 7.30.
“That’s such a hypothetical. I mean, it’s got so many hypotheticals built into it,” said Ms Bishop, who was yesterday re-elected to her position after Mr Turnbull placed both their roles up for a vote. “No. I’ve just been elected as deputy leader of the party. I don’t take that for granted, and I will do my very best to act out that role as deputy in support of the Coalition delivering good government for the Australian people.”
According to some polls, the Foreign Minister would be the party’s only chance of improving their vote, Sales pointed out.
“Peter Dutton made it clear in April that he wanted to be prime minister,” replied Ms Bishop. “I think that was a signal to colleagues that he wants the job. I’ve got a job. I’m getting on with my job of delivering good government for the people of Australia, and supporting the Turnbull government in doing that.”
Any new leader may have trouble forming a majority in the House of Representatives, where the Government has just a one-seat majority.
Moderates including Craig Laundy and Ms Bishop could trigger a general election by resigning from Parliament, The Australian reported.
Mr Laundy denied the suggestions, saying he “would not tear apart the party” because “unlike those attempting to tear apart the party as we speak, I genuinely care for it.”
The ABC reported that at least three Nationals would quit the Coalition and move to the crossbench if Mr Dutton succeeds.
Nationals Minister Darren Chester said some MPs would “consider their future” if there was a change of leader.
Crossbenchers Cathy McGowan and Rebekha Sharkie reserved their position on confidence and supply in the event a coup triggers Government MP resignations.
Three Liberal marginal seat holders will either not run at election or will resign immediately if Mr Turnbull is rolled, according to The Australian’s contributing editor Peter van Onselen.
A Labor frontbencher also told him the party could double down on their “Medicare” campaign at an election if Mr Dutton were Liberal leader, since he was the co-payments architect.
Battling to steady a sinking ship, the Prime Minister warned: “We know that disunity undermines the ability of any government to get its job done, and unity is absolutely critical.”
Two crossbenchers have confirmed to me they won't guarantee supply if MBT is rolled. Two Nats are considering moving to the crossbench because of the chaos. Three Liberal marginal seat holders either won't run at election or will resign immediately if MBT rolled. Early election!
— Peter van Onselen (@vanOnselenP) August 21, 2018
‘POISONED CHALICE’
Pauline Hanson said Mr Dutton would do an “excellent job” as PM, but could be accepting a “poison chalice”.
She told Sky News she liked the former home affairs minister, and suggested his supporter Tony Abbott could also be a contender for a return to the top job.
“I like Peter Dutton, I think he’s done a great job as Immigration Minister,” she said. “I think he’s a very matured, well-managed man and I think he could handle the position of PM very well.
“He’s on the conservative side of politics and I think he’d do very well. People are saying we don’t know much about him, I think he would do an excellent job. Very measured in the way he answers questions.
“I think Peter may be taking on a poison chalice here if he takes on the position of PM … They’re going to be decimated at the next election. I don’t have a lot of faith in some of the others.”
The One Nation senator also said Mr Abbott was “speaking the language” Australians wanted to hear, and has learned from his experience.
“People say ‘oh no, not Tony Abbott again’,” she said. “In the situation that the Government’s in now, and destined to lose the next election to Labor, astoundingly, maybe Tony Abbott would’ve been the alternative to take on this position.
“He’s learned a lot from his first time around. He actually is talking about conservative, new coal-fired power stations, immigration, and he’s actually speaking the language a lot of Australians want to be heard from the leader of this nation. I think Tony Abbott, if not Peter Dutton, should be given another chance at it.”
She said Mr Turnbull staying would help her and Opposition Leader Mr Shorten but did not benefit the country. “He’s too much to the left and he’s not representing the conservative views and opinions, and that’s why there’s this conservative revolt from the backbench.
“A lot of them are going to lose their seats under Malcolm Turnbull.”
It is with great regret that this evening I have tendered my resignation as Minister for International Development and the Pacific. Attached is my resignation letter to the Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/PmqW3tBYEc
— C Fierravanti-Wells (@Senator_CFW) August 21, 2018
Party Room votes are a secret ballot. The Party Room has decided leadership of our Party. We must now unite to defeat Labor.
— Steven Ciobo (@StevenCiobo) August 21, 2018
The members who announced their intention to resign after the vote were:
• Health Minister Greg Hunt
• Trade Minister Steven Ciobo
• Law Enforcement and Cyber Security Minister Angus Taylor
• Human Services Minister Michael Keenan
• Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells
• Assistant Minister to the Treasurer Michael Sukkar
• Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister James McGrath
• Assistant Minister for science, Jobs and Innovation Zed Seselja
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