Scott Morrison invites defeated Peter Dutton to rejoin cabinet

New Prime Minister Scott Morrison has opened the door for his defeated leadership rival, Peter Dutton, to return to cabinet.

Scott Morrison has opened the door for Peter Dutton to return to cabinet, praising the job his leadership opponent did as immigration and home affairs minister.

The new Prime Minister said there would be a role for Mr Dutton in the government if he wanted it. There has been no hint from Mr Dutton of his intentions, but after losing the Liberal leadership ballot 40-45 votes to Mr Morrison, he immediately threw his support behind the incoming PM.

“My course from here is to provide absolute loyalty to Scott Morrison to make sure that we win the election and defeat Bill Shorten,” Mr Dutton said.

The former treasurer succeeds Malcolm Turnbull with the immediate challenge of bringing together the warring conservative and moderate wings of the Liberal Party after a week of chaos for the government culminated in yesterday’s party room showdown.

Mr Morrison must also shore up support in Mr Dutton’s home state of Queensland, where Mr Turnbull had struggled to reach conser­vative-minded voters. The 10-point plunge in the base vote at last month’s Longman by-election galvanised concern about the ­Coalition’s electoral position in Queensland and the former prime minister’s capacity to turn it around.

Mr Dutton’s run for the leadership was predicated in part on the belief that he would boost the ­Coalition’s stocks there, where it holds 21 of the state’s 30 federal seats through the Liberal National Party. LNP president Gary Spence is reported to have lobbied state MPs to back Mr Dutton, arguing that up to half of their seats were at risk if Mr Turnbull remained.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: AP

An analysis of Newspoll last month, before the by-election, showed that a recovery in the ­Coalition’s primary vote in Queensland had stalled on 36 per cent, seven points down on the 2016­ ­federal election. This fuelled Coalition fears that the election that must be held by next May could be lost in Queensland alone.

However, those opposed to the Dutton candidacy argued that any gains in his home state would be offset by losses outside of Queensland, where his hardman image was less well received.

Emerging from the party room yesterday, Mr Dutton congratulated the new Prime Minister and paid tribute to both Mr Turnbull and Julie Bishop, who was eliminated in the first round of voting for the leadership.

Mr Morrison will consider whether to reach out to conservatives by reinstating Mr Dutton to cabinet, possibly in his former role as home affairs minister.

“I actually recommended him for the job as minister for immigration and border protection after I left it some years ago,” Mr Morrison said. “And he has served faithfully in that role at home affairs and I look forward, if he so chooses, for him to be playing a role in the government that I intend to lead.”

Mr Turnbull, however, scathingly bracketed Mr Dutton with former prime minister Tony Abbott as being among the “wreckers”.

Following the ballot, Mr Dutton slipped away from Parliament House to share a late lunch with wife Kirilly and their three children.