Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull: I’ll quit if party calls another leadership vote

Under pressure: Malcolm Turnbull speaking at a press conference today
AFP/Getty Images
Roger Maynard23 August 2018

Australia's embattled prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he will quit if his party agrees to a second leadership challenge.

His pledge came amid reports that foreign minister Julie Bishop was preparing to stand for leadership of the ruling Liberal party.

Mr Turnbull’s coalition government has been thrown into turmoil after several ministers tendered their resignations, leaving him clinging to power.

His finance, employment and education ministers also quit today — and parliament was suspended to try to resolve the crisis.

The prime minister, who has led Australia for three years, narrowly won a leadership vote last week against the former home affairs minister Peter Dutton. He agreed to another leadership contest tomorrow if his political rivals are able to produce enough signatures from his party’s MPs demanding the move, but said he would stand down rather than fight on.

“Australians will be rightly appalled by what they’re witnessing in their nation’s parliament today and in the course of this week,” the 63-year-old told reporters today.

If the so-called “spill motion” is successful, it would likely trigger a three-way battle for control of the Liberal party between Mr ­Dutton, Ms Bishop and treasurer Scott Morrison. But in what many saw as an act of retribution, Mr Turnbull revealed that he was seeking legal advice from the solicitor-general over Mr Dutton’s eligibility to sit in parliament.

It followed suggestions that the Queensland MP may have breached the Australian constitution over his family interest in two childcare centres that receive government ­subsidies.

“You can imagine the consequences of having a prime minister whose actions and decisions are questionable because of the issue of eligibility,” Mr Turnbull said. “Are they validly a minister at all?” he asked.

Mr Dutton has denied he is in breach of the constitution, but the Labor opposition has produced legal advice that he is “not entitled to continue to sit”.

Labor leader Bill Shorten has called for a general election to resolve Liberal in-fighting. “This is a family heading for a divorce,” he said.

Whoever emerges as Australia’s next leader, they will become its sixth prime minister in less than a decade. None of those has served a full term. The political revolving door has frustrated voters and business.

Alan Joyce, CEO of Quantas, said: “For everybody in the country what is happening in Canberra is disappointing.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in