Malcolm Turnbull denied the conspirators their choice of spoils

Malcolm Turnbull flanked by Mathias Cormann, left, and Scott Morrison in Canberra this week. Picture: Kym Smith

Malcolm Turnbull’s coup against Tony Abbott in 2015 was an elaborate, surgical strike. It took months to plan and was executed in a matter of hours to remove a prime minister who by his own hand and the actions of his chief of staff had become electoral poison.

The coup against Turnbull had all the subtlety of a chainsaw massacre, removing a prime minister who, despite almost three years of daily, calculated destabilisation from within and remorseless criticism from the delcons without, ­remained the government’s best electoral asset.

Leadership contests are brutal affairs. Tears and blood flow in equal measure. However, there were uglier tactics employed in this one, with claims of threats from the Dutton camp against MPs. There was heavy-handed lobbying from Abbott’s unelected supporters, senators were told they would lose their preselections and others were threatened with the revelation of damaging personal information. These attempts at blackmail were unconventional, even in the ruthless environment of a challenge, and ultimately unproductive. Previous leadership aspirants have relied on bribery.

Turnbull lost the prime ministership after 1075 days, not quite a record. He had to get to September 18 to exceed Julia Gillard’s tenure. However, he lasted that long because he had the conservative praetorian guard of Mathias Cormann and Peter Dutton protecting him — until they didn’t — because he put in place the proper cabinet and decision-making processes to avoid the mistakes and dysfunction of the Abbott era, and because despite a hostile Senate he managed to legislate more of his agenda than anyone expected.

His farewell press conference was a tour de force. He listed his triumphs, charmed the gallery and gave his enemies a whack.

Among the rubble was a victory of sorts. He lost his job, and while this will be some consolation to the likes of Alan Jones and Peta Credlin, Abbott has been left looking like yesterday’s suicide bomber.

Turnbull always said he would quit if he lost the prime ministership, as he should. There is no other option. Whoever won the ballot would not have wanted two warring former prime ministers sitting in parliament, overshadowing their attempts to unite the party, to regroup and to refocus on Bill Shorten. If he had any decency Abbott would resign too, now that he has accomplished his mission.

Turnbull’s delay in calling the meeting to resolve the leadership was not a vanity project to enable him to cling to office, as a few have suggested. It was a strategic exercise that began more than a week ago after media reports suggested Dutton was preparing to challenge. Turnbull knew he was done for; if he needed confirmation it came on Tuesday, when 35 Liberals voted if not for Dutton, then certainly against him.

Those close to Turnbull were not surprised Dutton’s vote was so high; in fact they thought it would be a little higher. Turnbull’s move was deliberate: to flush out Dutton before he was ready, then to delay a second vote long enough to allow Julie Bishop and Scott Morrison time to organise a counter-insurgency. It worked.

Ultimately most Liberals believed Morrison stood a better chance of saving seats beyond Queensland. They wanted someone who had proven himself in a broad range of portfolios; was across the granular policy detail, particularly on the economy; would not be surrounded by blood and guts or a constitutional cloud from day one; and who, as a former NSW state director, knew a thing or two about campaigns.

Morrison would, if he had to, be able to help put the infrastructure together quickly for an election. He loves cooking, he loves his football, his family and his church. He has friends across the political, ethnic and religious spectrums. He sometimes races when he should just take a breath, but he can communicate. And he works hard.

Kelly O’Dwyer tells the story of Morrison’s visit with her a few years ago when he was immigration minister. They went to an AFL game at the MCG with her father, Dan, as part of an outreach campaign for disaffected youth.

In the middle of the game a man with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist approached Morrison. Morrison excused himself. He explained he had to sign documents to make sure that a bikie who had left the country could not get back in. Then he ­settled in and enjoyed the rest of the game.

O’Dwyer was one of several Victorians who backed Morrison, convinced Dutton equalled annihilation. So did Julia Banks, Sarah Henderson and Jane Hume. Mitch Fifield’s switch from Dutton to Morrison was critical. Fifield, who along with Cormann and Michaelia Cash told Turnbull on Wednesday he was resigning, announced his support for Dutton before Morrison and Bishop declared. Cormann, who had pledged to stand by Turnbull to the end, voted for Dutton. Cormann also had vowed to resign if Liberals were put through the trauma of another prime ministerial assassination. Even his close friends believe he should because he has been so compromised.

Cormann has been integral to the success of the government by steering the passage of critical legislation through the Senate. But in the past few days other cabinet ministers have blamed him for Turnbull’s demise.

Attempts were made to dump the company tax cuts before the Longman by-election — the catalyst for these catastrophic events for Turnbull and the Liberal Party — and then in the immediate aftermath. Cormann would not budge. Turnbull stuck by him, only to have Cormann dump him. It is a cruel business.

Yes, it was over for Turnbull, and yes, Dutton is Cormann’s best friend in parliament, but his best friend listened to people who were never really his friends, engineered the disaster that felled the PM, and dragged Cormann into it.

Despite saying he would tell Turnbull if he could no longer serve under him and resign from the cabinet, it seemed Dutton told Ray Hadley first. He and his numbers men — Andrew Hastie, Tony Pasin, Angus Taylor and Greg Hunt — were counting numbers while Dutton remained in cabinet, acting out a charade.

Bishop’s stellar career also has ended, but it is unlikely this is the last we will hear or see of her. There are already whispers that with Sir Peter Cosgrove notching up five years as Governor-General in March, she would make a fine replacement.

In electing Josh Frydenberg to replace her, in recognition of his tireless but ultimately unsuccessful efforts to reconcile the differ­ences on energy, Liberal MPs hope he will choose a domestic portfolio. There are also others who could handle Treasury, including Christian Porter, a former West Australian treasurer.

Morrison has a good office and a good political brain. He doesn’t have a lot of time, but he should not rush to construct his ministry.