For the Liberals, there is no peace nor settlement. This is a government broken beyond repair.
Now there is a new contest. Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop are rivals for the leadership in a perpetuation of Liberal ideological and personal hatreds onto yet another political cycle.
Consider the irony: as the long and ignominious struggle between Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott reaches termination point, the schism within the Liberal Party assumes an entrenched and enduring character guaranteed to ruin this Coalition government.
As Turnbull sinks, he has cast two dark shadows over the party: doubts about the constitutional eligibility of Peter Dutton under section 44 of the Constitution and the threat of an early Wentworth by-election by quitting parliament if he loses the leadership.
Yesterday was the worst day for Turnbull. It was one of the worst days in Liberal Party history. A total of seven cabinet ministers have resigned, six yesterday. Six junior ministers have resigned, four yesterday. But the hammer blow — the fatal strike — came mid-morning when the rock on whom Turnbull has relied, Senate leader Mathias Cormann, resigned, backed Dutton and announced he had told Turnbull to call a party meeting to resolve the issue. Adding to the sense of tragedy Cormann, flanked by fellow resigning ministers, Mitch Fifield and Michaelia Cash, called Turnbull a “great prime minister” and, as he finished off the leader, lamented that “I did not want to be in this position”.
For the Dutton forces, it is vital they prevail at the special party meeting today. Their challenge is based upon speed and momentum; it exploits the sentiment of the moment. They need to crash through before the party reassesses and shifts position. Dutton told Turnbull early yesterday he had majority support and requested a party meeting.
But a three-way contest can be deadly and unpredictable. The decisive event for Morrison was Turnbull’s decision to interpret any successful spill motion as a vote of “no confidence” in his leadership, accept defeat and not nominate in the subsequent leadership ballot. This created an opportunity for Morrison to run for the leadership if, as expected, the spill prevails. Bishop’s decision to run is no surprise — she was never likely to surrender the party to Dutton without a fight and the conservatives who drive the Dutton push loathe the idea of a Bishop succession.
Turnbull, facing a loss of numbers, has thrown up a series of roadblocks. He plans to release this morning the advice of the Solicitor-General on Dutton’s constitutional eligibility and assumes it will be equivocal. But this risks an inflammatory blow-up, given Dutton has his own advice saying there is no problem.
Meanwhile, Bill Shorten looks a giant-killer and calls for an election. Labor is intoxicated by the smell of political death.
Liberals face elemental crisis
The Liberal Party’s view of Australian capitalism — the model it has known all its days — is facing a death sentence.
Let’s not give in to this threat
Australia must not allow what makes it great to be undermined by tribalism.