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Leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply spill) is a colloquialism referring to a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (l ...
s of the federal parliamentary leadership of the
Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
were held on 21 and 24 August 2018 and were called by the incumbent leader of the party,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...
. It has been nicknamed "spill week" in the media. Turnbull called the first spill in a regularly scheduled party room meeting of the Liberal Party on 21 August, amid media reports that Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton was considering a challenge. Dutton submitted himself as a candidate for the leadership, but was defeated by Turnbull, who won the ballot 48 votes to 35. Dutton then immediately resigned from the ministry. Dutton requested a second spill motion two days later. Turnbull refused to call the spill without first receiving a list of signatures representing the majority of his Party room, and referred Dutton to the Attorney General's office to test his eligibility to sit in Parliament.Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will not face off against Peter Dutton if spill motion is carried
thewest.com.au; 23 Aug 2018
He declared that if Dutton had the numbers to carry a spill motion, he would take it as a vote of no confidence and not stand to contest the leadership. Dutton secured the numbers for a spill and Turnbull did not re-contest the leadership, opening the way for supporters
Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...
and Julie Bishop to stand against Dutton. Dutton,
Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...
Morrison and Foreign Minister Bishop contested the ballot. Bishop was eliminated in the first round of voting, and in the second round Morrison defeated Dutton by 45 votes to 40, thereby becoming the leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister of Australia. A ballot for the deputy leadership of the party also occurred and was won by
Josh Frydenberg Joshua Anthony Frydenberg () (born 17 July 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the divisi ...
, who was subsequently appointed Treasurer in the
Morrison Government The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...
.


Background

The Liberal-National Coalition won office under the leadership of
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...
in the
2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party of A ...
. The Abbott Government was brought down by an internal party room challenge, launched by Malcolm Turnbull in September 2015, in which Turnbull won 54 votes of the Liberal Party room to 44 and the Turnbull Government became the executive government of Australia. Turnbull cited
Newspoll Newspoll is an Australian opinion polling brand, published by ''The Australian'' and administered by international market research and data analytics group, YouGov. Newspoll has a long tradition of predicting Australian Federal Election resul ...
results and "economic leadership" as reasons for mounting his challenge against Abbott. Under the slogan "jobs and growth," Turnbull led the Coalition to the 2016 election in which their majority in the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
was reduced to one seat. Turnbull's ousting of Abbott had divided the
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
Party rank and file and tensions continued in the parliamentary Party.NSW Liberals groan as Malcolm Turnbull tells gathering party is not ruled by factions, new PM praises Tony Abbott
Australian Broadcasting Corporation; 10 October 2015

''The Sydney Morning Herald''; 9 March 2016
Kevin Andrews says remarks about challenging Turnbull for leadership 'hypothetical'
Australian Broadcasting Corporation; 5 April 2016
The Government reached the 30-consecutive-Newspoll-losses benchmark Turnbull had used to unseat Abbott, in April 2018. The government suffered by-election losses in July 2018. Dissent from conservative MPs over issues such as energy prices and immigration levels grew during Turnbull's final months. On 21 August, Turnbull announced a leadership spill ahead of his 39th consecutive Newspoll loss. Leadership spills have become a common feature of Australian federal politics in the twenty-first century. As of 2022, only Liberal Prime Ministers
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...
and
Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...
have served full terms, with their terms ending in 2007 and 2022 respectively. Turnbull had served as a Minister in the Howard Government and first led the Coalition in Opposition upon challenging his predecessor
Brendan Nelson Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is a business leader and former Australian politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European Union and NA ...
for the role of Opposition Leader in a 2008 spill. After extended poor Newspoll results against the
Rudd Government Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) * Rudd government (2013) {{Dab ... * Rudd gov ...
, he lost the leadership in the wake of the
Utegate Utegate (also known as the OzCar affair) refers to a 2009 controversy in Australian federal politics, revolving around allegations made by then Federal Leader of the Opposition and Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull, that the Prime Minister, Kevi ...
affair and a Party dispute over climate policy. Tony Abbott defeated Turnbull for the Leadership in a 2009 spill, and led the party to a narrow loss in the 2010 election and to government in the 2013 election. Abbott included Turnbull in his Cabinet, from where Turnbull launched his leadership challenge in September 2015, becoming the first Liberal since
William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1971 to 1972 as leader of the Liberal Party. He was a government minister for over 21 years, ...
to assume the Prime Minister-ship by challenging an incumbent . As of January 2018, voters were split in polls for preferred leader of the Liberal party between Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop. Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton each had around 5% support. In April 2018, Dutton outlined his desire to lead the Liberal party in the future, and Morrison also revealed prime ministerial ambitions. Peter Dutton had served as Minister during the Howard Government in 2004 and to the Cabinet in the Abbott Government in 2013 Given the poor performance by the
Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...
(the Queensland branch of the Liberal Party) in the Longman by-election on 28 July 2018, Dutton, who holds the neighboring seat of Dickson, was viewed as a leader who could strengthen support for the Coalition in regional
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
. Dutton had also been seen as a leading figure among the conservative wing of the Liberal Party, which had clashed with Turnbull and his more
moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...
supporters over the
National Energy Guarantee National Energy Guarantee (NEG) was an energy policy proposed by the Turnbull government in late 2017 to deal with rising energy prices in Australia and lack of clarity for energy companies to invest in energy infrastructure. The policy specificall ...
(NEG), particularly with targets to reduce carbon emissions in compliance with the Paris Agreement, among other issues in mid-2018. Conservative supporters of Dutton included Tony Abbott, who was ousted by Turnbull as party leader and Prime Minister in September 2015. In the days prior to the leadership spills, Turnbull was forced to make concessions on the NEG in an attempt to satisfy the more conservative members of his party, most notably abandoning the emissions reduction targets, despite the possibility of winning votes for the NEG from Labor. Tony Abbott characterized Turnbull's concessions on the NEG as a "conversion of convenience". On 19 August 2018, Dutton declared that he supported Malcolm Turnbull and the policies of the government. However, support had been growing for a conservative Liberal Party member, often Dutton specifically, to challenge Turnbull since 2017, especially when Turnbull performed poorly against the Labor Party in opinion polls. In the weeks leading up to the poll, Dutton made contradictory remarks regarding his intentions. He refused to rule out his interest in becoming Prime Minister during a '' Hack'' interview, and claimed that he would resign from cabinet if he ever found himself unable to agree with a government policy during a 2GB interview. The day before this,
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
had published an exclusive story stating that Dutton would challenge for the prime minister-ship. A poll commissioned by
GetUp! GetUp! is an independent Progressivism, progressive Australian political activism, political activist group. It was launched in August 2005 to encourage Internet activism in Australia, though it has increasingly engaged in Community organizing, ...
on the Monday prior to the spill found that nearly half the Australian electorate would be less likely to vote for the Coalition if Dutton became Prime Minister. On the same day, Network Ten reported that Dutton might be ineligible under Section 44 of the Australian constitution, due to an "indirect pecuniary interest", similar to Bob Day's case. That evening, Luke Howarth told
Craig Laundy Craig Arthur Samuel Laundy (born 16 February 1971) is a former Australian Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party politician who served as Australian House of Representatives, Member of Parliament for Division of Reid, Reid from 2013 Australia ...
that he planned to ask Turnbull to step down from the leadership the following day. In the hours leading up to the spill itself, newspapers reported speculation that
Greg Hunt Gregory Andrew Hunt (born 18 November 1965) is a former Australian politician who was the Minister for Health between January 2017 and May 2022. He was a Liberal Party member of the House of Representatives between November 2001 and 2022, rep ...
might challenge Julie Bishop for the Deputy Leadership of the Liberal Party in the event that Dutton won the vote. However, due to Dutton failing to gain the support of the party, Bishop was the sole contender for the Deputy Leadership.


First spill (21 August)

A regularly scheduled Liberal party room meeting was held at 9:00 am AEST on 21 August. Shortly after it began, Turnbull declared the party leadership vacant, forcing a leadership spill be held, likely acknowledging the speculation that Dutton had intended to challenge Turnbull for the leadership. Dutton nominated for the ballot. The position of deputy party leader, held by Julie Bishop, was also declared vacant. Shortly after the secret ballot, party whip
Nola Marino Nola Bethwyn Marino (née Catalano; born 18 February 1954) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2007, representing the Division of Forrest in Western Australia. She is a member of the Liberal Pa ...
announced that Turnbull had won the challenge, with 48 members of the federal Liberal Party caucus voting for him, while 35 voted for Dutton. Bishop retained her role as deputy leader unopposed. Senator Arthur Sinodinos was absent for the vote due to illness.
Jonathon Duniam Jonathon Duniam (born 31 December 1982) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party and has served as a Senator for Tasmania since the 2016 federal election. He served as an assistant minister in the Morrison Government fr ...
refused to announce who he voted for, and conflicting media reports attributed him as
voting Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...
for either Turnbull (Fairfax) or Dutton (News Corp). There were also conflicting reports on
Ian Goodenough Ian Reginald Goodenough (born 3 July 1975) is a Singaporean-born Australian politician who is the current Liberal Party member for the Division of Moore in the House of Representatives, located in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Austral ...
's vote. News Corp included Duniam and Goodenough as voters for Dutton, whereas ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
s list included
Sussan Ley Sussan Penelope Ley (pron. , "Susan Lee"; ; born 14 December 1961) is an Australian politician who has been deputy leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. She has been member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales seat of Farrer since 2 ...
and
Craig Kelly Craig Kelly (born 29 September 1963) is an Australian politician, who represented the Division of Hughes as a Liberal Party and later United Australia Party MP from 2010 to his defeat at the 2022 Australian federal election. Kelly initially ...
as Dutton voters. Kelly confirmed that he had voted for Dutton.









Aftermath


Peter Dutton

Despite initial conflicting reports over whether he would retain a cabinet position, Dutton resigned from his role as Minister for Home Affairs and became a backbencher. Treasurer Scott Morrison was later announced as the acting Home Affairs Minister. On 22 August, Dutton spent several interviews discussing his policies if he were to be elected leader of the Coalition, including scrapping the GST on electricity, which Scott Morrison described as "an absolute budget blower". Doubts surrounding Dutton's eligibility to be elected to parliament continued to be discussed, on the grounds of section 44(v) of the Australian Constitution. The section prohibits those with a pecuniary interest in an agreement with the Commonwealth from running for office. The
family trust A discretionary trust, in the trust law of England, Australia, Canada and other common law jurisdictions, is a trust where the beneficiaries and/or their entitlements to the trust fund are not fixed, but are determined by the criteria set out in ...
of which Dutton is a beneficiary-operated child care centre that received over $5.6 million in funding from the
Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
. A similar scenario with a Commonwealth-funded building company saw Senator Bob Day effectively disqualified by the High Court in 2017. Although Dutton had received legal advice stating that he was not in breach of the constitution, Attorney-General Christian Porter referred the matter to the
Solicitor-General of Australia The Solicitor-General of Australia is the country's second highest-ranking law officer, after the Attorney-General for Australia. The position is often known as the Commonwealth Solicitor-General in order to distinguish it from the state solicit ...
.


Malcolm Turnbull

Although Turnbull won the leadership ballot, the revelation that 35 of his party colleagues did not support his leadership was widely regarded as cause for concern, especially since Turnbull had been governing with a narrow one-seat parliamentary majority since the 2016 election, and given his predecessor Tony Abbott also won a spill motion before ultimately losing another leadership spill to Turnbull himself. Following the party room meeting, several government ministers reaffirmed their support for Turnbull, including Veterans' Affairs Minister
Darren Chester Darren Jeffrey Chester (born 13 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives for Gippsland in Victoria, representing the Nationals since 2008. Chester had served as the Minister for Veterans ...
. Chester and fellow Nationals MP Kevin Hogan stated that if Dutton became prime minister, they would leave the Coalition and join the
crossbench A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...
, which would rid a Dutton government of its narrow parliamentary majority. After the first spill, there was a suggestion that Turnbull could call the next Australian federal election to stop a further leadership challenge, but this was discounted by
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
election analyst
Antony Green Antony John Green (born 2 March 1960) is an Australian psephologist and commentator. He is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's chief election analyst. Early years and background Born in Warrington, Lancashire, in northern England, Gre ...
as "far-fetched".


Tony Abbott

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was criticised for his role in fostering disunity within the Liberal Party and the Coalition. National Party MP Damian Drum called on Abbott to resign, while Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch reportedly criticised Abbott directly at the party meeting.


Resignations

As well as Dutton, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer Michael Sukkar, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister James McGrath, Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Minister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Angus Taylor, Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation Zed Seselja, Minister for Human Services Michael Keenan, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Alan Tudge, Minister for Health Greg Hunt, and Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo offered their resignations in response to Turnbull retaining the leadership. At first, only Dutton's resignation was accepted. By 23 August, the resignations of Fierravanti-Wells, McGrath, Seselja, and Sukkar had also been accepted, and those former ministers joined Dutton on the backbench.


Continuing business of Parliament

During
question time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...
on 21 August, Opposition Leader
Bill Shorten William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition ...
moved to suspend standing orders in order to move a
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...
in the House of Representatives against Turnbull. Leave was granted by the government but the no confidence motion failed with 76 votes against and 67 in favour. All Coalition MPs, the
Centre Alliance Centre Alliance, formerly known as the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT), is a centrist political party in Australia based in the state of South Australia. It currently has one representative in the Parliament, Rebekha Sharkie in the Australian House o ...
's
Rebekha Sharkie Rebekha Carina Sharkie ( Che; born 24 August 1972) is an Australian politician and member of the Centre Alliance party. She is a member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Mayo in South Australia. At the 20 ...
, and Independent Cathy McGowan voted against, while all present Labor MPs, the Australian Greens' Adam Bandt, and Independent
Andrew Wilkie Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Clark. Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the Australian Army., Australian Parliament House Biographies; 19 Augu ...
voted in favour. The second stage of the Coalition's corporate tax cut package was rejected by the Senate. Labor and the Greens failed to stop an expansion of the Cashless Welfare Card trial. Kelly O'Dwyer cancelled a meeting of state and territory ministers for Women. Labor attempted to move a motion to refer Peter Dutton's eligibility as an MP to the High Court, in a similar manner to referrals made during the recent parliamentary citizenship crisis in which several members of parliament resigned after discovering their dual citizenship status, violating section 44 of the Constitution of Australia. The motion failed 69 votes to 68. On 23 August, Senate Opposition Leader
Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate (Australia), Leader of the Government in the ...
moved a motion of no confidence in the Senate, which failed with 35 votes against and 31 in favour. All present Coalition Senators, both One Nation Senators, the
Australian Conservatives The Australian Conservatives was formed in July 2016 as a conservative political activist group in Australia and as a political party in February 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, b ...
'
Cory Bernardi Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party ...
, the Liberal Democratic Party's
David Leyonhjelm David Ean Leyonhjelm ( "lion-helm"; born 1 April 1952) is an Australian former politician. He was a Senator for New South Wales, representing the Liberal Democratic Party from 2014 to 2019. Having been elected at the 2013 federal election, he ...
, the Katter's Australian Party's
Fraser Anning William Fraser Anning (born 14 October 1949) is an Australian former politician who was a senator for Queensland from November 2017 to June 2019. Anning is known for holding far-right, nativist, and anti-Muslim views, and has been criticised ...
, the Justice Party's
Derryn Hinch Derryn Nigel Hinch (born 9 February 1944) is a New Zealand-born media personality, politician, actor, journalist and published author. He is best known for his career in Australia, on Melbourne radio and television. He served as a Senator for V ...
, and Independent Tim Storer voted against, while all present Labor and Greens Senators voted in favour, and both Centre Alliance Senators abstained. With up to 13 Ministers having resigned amidst the crisis, the government moved to
adjourn In parliamentary procedure, an adjournment ends a meeting. It could be done using a motion to adjourn. A time for another meeting could be set using the motion to fix the time to which to adjourn. This motion establishes an adjourned meeting. ...
the lower house of Parliament on 23 August, shortly before Question Time was scheduled to begin. The adjournment motion was controversial and vigorously opposed by Labor, whose leader Bill Shorten labelled it "the ultimate admission of surrender of a bankrupt government." The adjournment motion passed by 70 votes to 68. Simon Birmingham acted as the Leader of the Government in the Senate for Question time on 23 August. He, Nigel Scullion, Marise Payne and
Bridget McKenzie Bridget McKenzie (born 27 December 1969) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the National Party and has been a Senator for Victoria since 2011. She has held ministerial office in the Turnbull and Morrison governments, also servin ...
took on questions related to portfolios of multiple former ministers. Also on 23 August, the Senate voted to investigate Peter Dutton's handling of two visa decisions relating to
au pair An au pair (; plural: au pairs) is a helper from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a mon ...
s.


Second spill (24 August)

On the morning of Thursday, 23 August, Dutton challenged Turnbull's leadership a second time. Initially, Turnbull refused to call a spill, but later that morning key Turnbull supporters withdrew their support, most notably Mathias Cormann, Michaelia Cash and Mitch Fifield, who tendered their resignations and claimed that Turnbull lacked the support of the majority of the party room. Several other ministers also confirmed their resignations. At 12 noon AEST on 23 August, following the resignation of a significant portion of the front bench, the Government won a vote in the House of Representatives to adjourn Parliament, with 70 votes to 68. Parliament had been scheduled to adjourn later that day, with the next sitting day to be held on 10 September. One hour later, Turnbull addressed the media and said that he would call a party room meeting if he sighted a petition signed by a majority of party members (i.e., 43 members) calling for a spill. Turnbull suggested that the party room meeting could be called for 12 noon the next day, on 24 August, once he had seen both the petition and an advice from the Solicitor-General on Dutton's eligibility. He said that in the event of a second spill, he would resign rather than take part in any ensuing leadership ballot, as he would consider such the petition to be a sign that he no longer had the support of the party room. The Solicitor-General's advice, released publicly a few hours before the party room meeting, found that Dutton was "not incapable" of sitting as a member of parliament, but that there is still "some risk" the High Court might find he has a conflict of interest, which could disqualify him from sitting in parliament. In relation to the request for a petition, Eric Abetz, a Dutton supporter, claimed that in the past a party room meeting could be called with only two signatures.


Petition

A petition signed by 43 Liberal Party members calling for a spill was delivered to Turnbull on Friday, 24 August. The petition was annotated by three petitioners. Among them, Karen Andrews wrote beside her name "because this has to be resolved", while Scott Buchholz wrote "I support the office of the Prime Minister" and Warren Entsch wrote "for Brendan Nelson" referring to the former Liberal leader who was defeated by Malcolm Turnbull in a leadership spill in 2008. While the second party room meeting was intended to occur at 12 noon AEST, there was a delay of twenty minutes as the signatures on the petition were verified by the party whip's office. Arthur Sinodinos, who was absent from the first spill due to illness, returned to Parliament to participate in the second spill and walked into the meeting alongside Turnbull.


Result

It was reported that Turnbull had decided not to contest the ballot, and that Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop would also be running in the challenge alongside Dutton. ''
The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...
'' ran an editorial saying that Turnbull should stand aside for Morrison. Morrison was widely seen as a compromise candidate, who was agreeable to both the moderate supporters of Turnbull and Bishop and conservatives concerned about Dutton's electability. The initial motion to declare the leadership positions vacant, held at approximately 12:20 pm Canberra time, was successfully passed 45 votes to 40. As previously mentioned, Turnbull had indicated that he would consider a second spill motion as a vote of no confidence in his leadership, and he did not contest the subsequent leadership election. The leadership spill was contested by Scott Morrison, Julie Bishop and Peter Dutton. Bishop with 11 votes was eliminated in the first round, while Morrison received 36 votes and Dutton 38 votes. The second round was between Dutton and Morrison and resulted in a victory for Morrison, 45 votes to 40. Morrison became party leader and subsequently prime minister. Moderate MPs were privately urged against voting for Bishop, as there was concern that Cormann had arranged for some WA-based Liberals to initially vote for her, then let Morrison's voters flow to Dutton in the second round, giving him enough support to defeat Bishop. Cormann has denied doing so.


Deputy leadership

Bishop did not contest the deputy leadership spill, which occurred after the leadership spill. Josh Frydenberg won a majority in the first round with 46 votes, while Steven Ciobo received 20 and Greg Hunt received 16.


Aftermath

As the leader of the Liberal Party and subsequently of the Coalition, Scott Morrison was invited to form a government and was sworn in as the 30th Prime Minister of Australia, a few hours after the leadership spill. On the same day Josh Frydenberg, elected as the party's deputy leader, was sworn in as Treasurer. On the day that the vote was announced, National MP Kevin Hogan made good on his earlier promise and moved to the crossbench. However, he maintained his National membership and continued to sit in the National party room. He also promised to support the Coalition on confidence and supply. Turnbull notified after his ouster as Liberal leader that he intended to resign from parliament, forcing a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
to replace him in his Sydney seat of
Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...
. His departure meant a drop in the Coalition to 74 seats. The first Newspoll after the spill had Labor on 56 percent of the two-party vote to the Coalition's 44 percent. Bill Shorten became the preferred Prime Minister in the Newspoll for the first time since 2015. The subsequent Newspoll taken a fortnight later showed no improvement on the two-party preferred vote, which remained at 56-44 to Labor, following four consecutive 51-49s to Labor prior to the spill. On 29 August Julia Banks, member for Chisholm, announced she would retire at the next election. She cited "bullying and intimidation" and the leadership spills as "the last straw" for her decision. Lucy Gichuhi threatened to name MPs who bullied during the spill, furthermore stating that she was asked during her preselection in June 2018 if she thought Turnbull was the right person to lead the Liberal party. Gichuhi was subsequently assured by Scott Morrison that the bullying would be dealt with and it was later clarified, at least publicly, that the bullying was not in direct connection to the leadership spill. Brian Loughnane and Chris McDiven, were appointed to review the Liberal party's state branches' processes for handling complaints, but there was no investigation into individual complaints.


Subsequent leadership spill rule changes

On the evening of 3 December 2018, Scott Morrison introduced a new threshold to trigger a Liberal leadership change in government, requiring two-thirds of the party room vote to trigger a spill motion. The change was introduced at an hour long evening special caucus meeting. Morrison said the changes, which were drafted with feedback from former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, would only apply to leaders who lead the party to victory at a federal election.


Notes


References

{{Leadership spills in Australia 2018 in Australian politics 2018 elections in Australia August 2018 events in Australia Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills Morrison Government Scott Morrison Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills