- Julie Bishop has thrown her hat into the ring
- Turnbull will hold party room meeting Friday midday if a majority of Liberals petition him
- Cormann, Cash, Fifield, Hunt, Ciobo, Keenan, Tudge, Taylor quit frontbench
- Turnbull government successfully moves to adjourn parliament
- Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton expected to contest the leadership ballot
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed she will be a candidate if a second spill takes place tomorrow, throwing the Liberal party leadership into a three horse race.
SBS understands Ms Bishop will run in the event of a spill, as Malcolm Turnbull has promised to step aside.
It would mark the first time she has thrown her hat in the ring in almost a decade of various Liberal spills and pit her directly against Peter dutton and Scott Morrison.
Earlier, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced he will step aside if he loses the support of the majority of his Liberal colleagues.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
AAP
Mr Turnbull said he plans to hold another partyroom meeting Friday to settle the leadership crisis, but only if he receives a petition signed by a majority of Liberal MPs asking him to do so.
He said it was also critical that questions about his challenger Peter Dutton’s elibility to sit in Parliament are resolved before another leadership ballot.
“You can imagine the consequences of having a Prime Minister whose actions and decisions are questionable because of the issue of eligibility.”
Malcolm Turnbull spoke candidly with journalists about his political future.
AAP
In an extraordinary press conference, the prime minister criticised rebel MPs within his party for staging an “internal insurgency”.
“I have never given in to bullies, but you can imagine the pressure it’s put people under,” he told reporters.
“They’re hard to stop,” he said.
“What we have witnessed at the moment is a very deliberate effort to pull the Liberal Party further to the right.”
If he loses support for his prime ministership, Mr Turnbull intends to quit Parliament, threatening the Coalition’s one-seat majority in the House of Representatives.
“I believe former Prime Ministers are best out of the Parliament.”
Morrison considering challenge
Treasurer Scott Morrison has reportedly entered the contest for the Liberal party leadership as senior ministers line up to quit Mr Turnbull’s frontbench.
Mr Morrison emerged as a contender after key ministers Mathias Cormann, Michaelia Cash and Mitch Fifield deserted Mr Turnbull in a move that all but spelled the end of his prime ministership.
It comes as the Turnbull government successfully adjourned Parliament amid the battle over the Liberal leadership.
Former Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton has been gathering support for a second tilt at the leadership, SBS News understands the Treasurer is actively canvassing to see if he has enough support to run as an alternative candidate.
Senator Cormann said it was with “great sadness and a heavy heart” that the three advised the prime minister yesterday afternoon that he no longer had the support of the majority of the party room and offered to resign.
Ministers Michaelia Cash (left), Mathias Cormann (centre) and Mitch Fifield (right) have delivered a fatal blow to the PM’s leadership.
The three ministers repeated their concerns this morning after learning that five Cabinet ministers, who supported Mr Turnbull in Tuesday’s ballot, had switched their allegiance.
“We advised the prime minister of our judgement, that he no longer enjoyed majority support in the party room, and that we believe we needed to – that he needed to facilitate an orderly transition, and that we should a party room meeting,” Senator Cormann told reporters.
The influential Finance Minister said he now believed Mr Dutton was the best person to lead the party to the next election.
Exodus continues
The three former allies of the Prime Minister join a growing list of ministers that have offered their resignation from the frontbench.
Mr Turnbull had tried to persuade ministers to continue in their roles even if they had backed his rival in Tuesday’s ballot, but several are now determined to quit.
Health Minister Greg Hunt, who is likely to run as Peter Dutton’s deputy in a second leadership ballot, is among the latest to go.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo, Human Services Minister Michael Keenan and Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge have all been to see the prime minister to tell him they cannot to serve under him.
Assistant Minister James McGrath, a former Turnbull loyalist, quit for the second time last night and insisted the Prime Minister accept his resignation.
“Like Peter Dutton has said, we must do everything in our power to stop Bill Shorten ever becoming Prime Minister,” Senator McGrath posted on Facebook.
Michael Sukkar and Zed Seselja have also insisted the Prime Minister accept their resignations after declaring their support for his challenger Peter Dutton.
Dutton requests second spill
Earlier Thursday morning, Peter Dutton spoke to the Prime Minister to request a second party room meeting be held to vote on the Liberal leadership.
The former Home Affairs minister said he believes he has the numbers to beat Mr Turnbull this time, after losing Tuesday’s ballot by 13 votes.
“Earlier this morning I called the Prime Minister to advise him that it was my judgement that the majority of the party room no longer supported his leadership,” Mr Dutton said in a brief media appearance.
“As such, I asked him to convene a meeting of the Liberal Party at which I would challenge for the leadership of the parliamentary Liberal Party.”
Peter Dutton believes he has the numbers to beat Malcolm Turnbull in a second leadership challenge.
AAP
SBS News understands the prime minister will not agree to a meeting before he is presented with a final petition signed by a majority of Liberal MPs, but without the backing of ministers Cormann, Cash and Fifield he may have no choice.
Meanwhile, a Nationals MP has pledged to quit the government and sit on the crossbench if there is another leadership spill, in a move that could threaten the Coalition’s one-seat majority in the House of Representatives.
“The constant rotation of prime ministers by both the Labor Party and the Liberal party, I cannot condone,” the Kevin Hogan, the MP for Page said.
He’s one of several MPs to express frustration at the latest leadership crisis to dominate Canberra.
Nationals MP Kevin Hogan says he’ll move to the cross bench if there’s another leadership spill.
AAP
Dutton’s tactics
Since losing Tuesday’s leadership ballot by 13 votes, Mr Dutton has been working the phones and embarking on a charm offensive in the media, trying to secure the extra seven votes he needs to roll Mr Turnbull.
He went on Melbourne radio in a bid to let voters know who he is, revealing his idea for a royal commission into electricity and fuel prices.
But his plan to exclude household electricity bills from the GST copped a belting.
“That would be a budget blower, an absolute budget blower,” Treasurer Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
He said it would deprive the states and territories of $7.5 billion over four years.
Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen said Mr Dutton’s “crazy” proposal would mean cuts to health and education.
Mr Dutton has also pledged to cut Australia’s immigration intake.
“I think we do have to cut the numbers (of migration) back, I haven’t got a number to give to you today ,” Mr Dutton said.
“I think immigration is incredibly important to our country I think it needs to be operating in our country’s best interests”.
Peter Dutton smiles during question time on Wednesday.
AAP
Elibility questions
Mr Dutton is also being scrutinised for public funding given to his child care centres in Brisbane, which could make him ineligible to sit in parliament.
Section 44 of the constitution bans from parliament anyone who has “any direct or indirect pecuniary interest with the public service of the Commonwealth” – a section which led to former senator Bob Day being disqualified in 2017.
It’s been confirmed the government had now sought advice from the solicitor-general on Mr Dutton’s eligibility.
Mr Dutton has described the investigation as a “spurious and baseless campaign”.
Mathias Cormann, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison.
AAP
