Australia PM Malcolm Turnbull defiant over fresh leadership challenge
SYDNEY: Defiant Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull vowed not to “give in to bullies” on Thursday in the face of a new leadership challenge, but said he will quit politics if his party no longer supports him.
Former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, an ex-police officer and right-wing conservative, said he was confident he now had the numbers to unseat Turnbull, considered a moderate. And with senior ministers defecting, Turnbull’s near three-year grip on power is tenuous despite surviving a snap ballot on his leadership on Tuesday, winning the vote 48-35.
He said Dutton had yet to prove he has majority backing from the Liberal Party — a requirement for him to force another meeting to have a second crack at the top job ahead of national elections due by mid-2019.
If a petition arrives showing that support — and reports late in the day said Dutton was closing in on his target — the meeting will be held at midday on Friday (0200 GMT).
Turnbull said that if that happens, he will not stand as a leadership candidate and will leave parliament, sparking a by-election which could be problematic for the government which has a wafer-thin one-seat parliamentary majority.
In a twist to the plot, ABC and Sky News reported that Treasurer Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, both Turnbull allies, may also stand in a leadership ballot, in a bid to derail Dutton’s power grab.
Turnbull accused Dutton and his supporters of intimidation in a crisis that snowballed from Monday after months of poor opinion polls and a revolt by fellow Liberal politicians over plans to embed carbon emissions targets in law.
Former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, an ex-police officer and right-wing conservative, said he was confident he now had the numbers to unseat Turnbull, considered a moderate. And with senior ministers defecting, Turnbull’s near three-year grip on power is tenuous despite surviving a snap ballot on his leadership on Tuesday, winning the vote 48-35.
He said Dutton had yet to prove he has majority backing from the Liberal Party — a requirement for him to force another meeting to have a second crack at the top job ahead of national elections due by mid-2019.
If a petition arrives showing that support — and reports late in the day said Dutton was closing in on his target — the meeting will be held at midday on Friday (0200 GMT).
Turnbull said that if that happens, he will not stand as a leadership candidate and will leave parliament, sparking a by-election which could be problematic for the government which has a wafer-thin one-seat parliamentary majority.
In a twist to the plot, ABC and Sky News reported that Treasurer Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, both Turnbull allies, may also stand in a leadership ballot, in a bid to derail Dutton’s power grab.
Turnbull accused Dutton and his supporters of intimidation in a crisis that snowballed from Monday after months of poor opinion polls and a revolt by fellow Liberal politicians over plans to embed carbon emissions targets in law.