Liberal leadership crisis: Peter Dutton vows to challenge Malcolm Turnbull again

11:00am

Company tax cuts voted down

By Eryk Bagshaw

The $35.6 billion remaining of Malcolm Turnbull’s flagship economic policy – company tax cuts – have been defeated in the Senate, putting an end to legislation that has fuelled unrest in the Coalition and culminated in a challenge to Turnbull’s leadership on Tuesday.

Turnbull put the company tax cut package at the front and centre of his “jobs and growth” mantra when he was elected in 2016, warning a failure to cut the company tax rate from 30 to 25 per cent for companies earning over $50 million would end in investment fleeing Australia.

The political wisdom of that philosophy – argued forcefully by his lieutenants Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Treasurer Scott Morrison for two years – took its final hammer blow before lunch on Wednesday, with the Senate voting down the $35.6 billion remaining of the package 36 to 30.

10:56am

Dutton childcare company received $5.6 million in public money

By Kylar Loussikian, Dana McCauley

The childcare company operated for Peter Dutton's family trust received more than $5.6 million in public Commonwealth funding, placing the Liberal leadership contender in danger of being ineligible to remain in Parliament.

Education Department figures obtained by Fairfax Media show the Camelia Avenue Childcare Centre, which is operated by a company owned by Dutton's wife Kirilly, received $2.03 million in Commonwealth funding between 2014 and 2018.

The same company, RHT Investments (QLD) Pty Ltd, operates another childcare centre in Bald Hill which received $3.6 million between 2010 and 2018.

RHT Investments is owned by the RHT Family Trust, of which Dutton and his family are beneficiaries.

Dutton's office earlier this week denied that relationship would breach section 44 of the constitution, which says that any person who "has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth", is ineligible to remain in Parliament.

Read the full story here.

10:47am

Labor attacks Dutton on health

We're getting a taste of the lines of attack Labor could use against Peter Dutton as prime minister.

Deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek had this to say on Sky News a short while ago:

"I think the problem with a switch to Peter Dutton is ... not many people know who he is, they don't know his name, they don't really know his face, but they know his handiwork. They know, for example, that when he was health minister he presided over the $50 billion of cuts to hospitals in the 2014 budget. He is the health minister who launched the Medicare privatisation task force. He is the health minister that tried to get the GP co-payment in. He tried to increase the cost of all medicines. He cut hundreds of millions from dental care, from mental health, from preventative care, including the anti-smoking campaigns..."

Labor always highlights health policy during election campaigns, viewing it as an area of strength. This was deployed most notoriously in the form of the "Mediscare" strategy in 2016. If Dutton were elevated, you can bet his record in the portfolio would be a Labor talking point.

9:50am

Laundy pushes back against Dutton's alternative policies

Small Business Minister Craig Laundy, a NSW moderate and strong Turnbull backer, has been dismissing the policy offerings made by Peter Dutton this morning.

On the idea to take GST off power bills, Laundy questions whether the states would agree, given it's their revenue; suggests it is not responsible to narrow the tax base so significantly; suggests it is a populist, not conservative, policy.

And on the royal commission into fuel and energy prices, Laundy tells Sky News: "I don't believe in having royal commissions into every area of price sensitivity."

Laundy says he is "disappointed" to hear Dutton is publicly confirming his push for a second leadership challenge.

9:28am

Dutton confirms he is working on a second challenge

Peter Dutton has publicly confirmed he is working towards a second challenge and continued to lay out his alternative policy vision this morning.

Dutton just then on radio station 3AW:

"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."
"Of course I am [working the phones]. I'm speaking to colleagues. I'm not going to beat around the bush with that."

On policy, he said that, given concerns about infrastructure and housing affordability in the major cities, immigration numbers need to be looked at.

"I think you do have to cut the numbers back," he told 3AW, adding migrants needed to be encouraged to settle outside of Sydney and Melbourne.

He has said there are issues with some migrants not integrating properly into the Australian way of life, expressing concern about examples of communities prioritising religious laws above Australian laws. He points to forced underage marriages as one.

Earlier, on Triple M Melbourne, he had this to say about energy policy:

"I think one of the things that we could do straight away, in this next billing cycle, is take the GST off electricity bills for families. It would be an automatic reduction of 10 per cent for electricity bills and people would feel that impact straight away."
"The other thing I think we could do, frankly, is I think we could set up a royal commission into the electricity companies and into the fuel companies. I just think Australian consumers for way too long have been paying way too much for fuel and electricity and something just isn't right with these companies."

It's also notable that the two media appearances he has done so far this morning have been on Melbourne radio stations. One of the internal Liberal concerns about him is that, while he might be a good option in Queensland, he lacks appeal and recognition in Victoria (and perhaps other southern states as well).

9:08am

The players arrive at the ground

9:03am

Chester: All options are on the table

Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester, a Nationals MP, has fleshed out his position a bit this morning.

In a veiled threat, said some Nationals are worried about what's happening and "all options are on the table".

Chester said "there’s no reason why any potential challenger, whoever that may be, should assume that they can command numbers on the floor of the house of representatives, given we have a one-seat majority".

He says Malcolm Turnbull should be allowed to see out his term and the Coalition should focus on issues not leadership.

8:50am

Fierravanti-Wells lays out concerns

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has been among the most vocal Turnbull opponents since yesterday.

In a series of media appearances this morning, she has focused on her worries about the ideological direction and composition of the government.

"We have seen votes walking away from the Liberal Party. We are not bleeding from the left, we are bleeding from the right," Fierravanti-Wells told ABC radio.

She added later: "I think it's important to have the approprioate balance. John Howard also spoke about the broad church and the broad church is that appropriate mix between moderate and conservative."

The senator, who was until yesterday the minister for international development and the Pacific, has also revealed she pushed to have Julie Bishop replaced as deputy leader (in favour of Dutton).

In her resignation letter to the PM, Fierravanti-Wells said: "Our conservative base strongly feel that their voice has been eroded. They needed some demonstrable indication that there are conservative voices around your cabinet table."

8:27am

Dutton hints at some policies

Leadership aspirant Peter Dutton has provided a hint of his alternative policy agenda this morning, telling Triple M Melbourne he wants a royal commission into fuel and energy prices and suggesting GST should be removed from power bills for families and retirees.

"We are in a country where we have an abundance of renewables, of coal, of hydro and yet we're paying some of the highest energy prices in the world, similarly for fuel," Dutton said.

"And they are the sorts of things that I think we should be working on. If we do, I believe that people will strongly support the government"

8:05am

Turnbull fights for survival

Liberal MPs barely stopped for breath after yesterday's leadership spill before regrouping to prepare for a second strike from former home affairs minister Peter Dutton. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is fighting for survival – he only needs to lose seven votes in the party room to be dethroned.

A cascade of frontbenchers who opposed Turnbull have offered their resignations to him. These include Dutton himself, Steven Ciobo, Michael Keenan, Greg Hunt, Michael Sukkar, Zed Seselja, Angus Taylor, James McGrath, Alan Tudge and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. Thus far, Turnbull has only accepted the resignations of Dutton and Fierravanti-Wells.

There are also suggestions that an election could immediately be triggered by a switch to Dutton because the Coalition's wafer-thin, one-vote majority in the House of Representatives would be jeopardised. Some Nationals MPs could go to the crossbench; some Liberals could quit Parliament and force byelections; key crossbenchers could also reconsider their guarantee supply under a new prime minister.

Various Liberals from both camps are out and about this morning, pushing their view of things.

Former Abbott government minister and staunch Turnbull critic Eric Abetz has suggested a second spill could happen in the the coming days. He also suggested support for Dutton has grown since yesterday's meeting.

"I think there was a shift after the party room meeting," he told ABC radio.

Foreign Minister and deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop, however, has suggested the opposite. She told ABC: "Some of those who did not vote for [Turnbull] now back him."

Bishop said some ministers who offered their resignations to Turnbull but were asked to stay on are considering that and will support the PM.

Another person who voted for Dutton, backbencher Craig Kelly, told Sky News the "genie's out of the bottle" and said it was "very difficult to see where it goes from here".