Australian PM Tony Abbott ousted by Malcolm Turnbull

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Malcolm Turnbull will be Australia's fourth prime minister in just over two years
Malcolm Turnbull will be Australia’s fourth prime minister in just over two years

Australia is to have a new prime minister after Tony Abbott was ousted as leader of the centre-right Liberal Party by Malcolm Turnbull.

In the hastily arranged party leadership ballot, Mr Abbott, who had been plagued by poor opinion polls, received 44 votes to Mr Turnbull’s 54.

Mr Turnbull said he assumed that parliament would serve its full term, implying no snap general election.

The new leader will be Australia’s fourth prime minister since 2013.

The prime minister-elect is expected to be sworn in after Mr Abbott writes to Australia’s governor general and resigns.

The vote took place at a meeting of Liberal MPs late on Monday. They also voted for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to remain deputy leader of the party.

Speaking after the result was announced, Mr Turnbull praised his predecessor for his “formidable achievements” as prime minister.

The new party leader said Australia needed to have “the economic vision, a leadership, that explains the great challenges and opportunities we face”.

He said he would lead “a thoroughly Liberal government, committed to freedom, the individual and the market”.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Turnbull had said if Mr Abbott remained as leader, the coalition government would lose the next election.

He said he had not taken the decision to launch a leadership challenge lightly, but that it was “clear enough that the government is not successful in providing the economic leadership that we need”.

Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull were elected as deputy and party leader in a secret ballot of MPs
Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull were elected as deputy and party leader in a secret ballot of MPs

Ms Bishop had supported his bid to become party leader.

The last Australian prime minister to serve a full term was John Howard, who left power in 2007.

Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard was ousted by rival Kevin Rudd in a leadership vote in June 2013 – months before a general election won by Tony Abbott’s Liberal Party.

Ms Gillard herself had ousted Mr Rudd as prime minister in 2010.

Mr Turnbull had previously been leader of the Liberals while in opposition, but was ousted by Mr Abbott in 2009.

Mr Abbott survived a leadership challenge in February, but his government has consistently been behind the opposition Labor Party in opinion polls.

Under the Australian system, as in the UK, the prime minister is not directly elected by voters but is the leader of the party or coalition that can command a majority in parliament.

abbott warns How it all went wrong for Abbott

It is being described as “front stabbing” – a brutal attack by Malcolm Turnbull, who has long coveted the job of prime minister of Australia.

Rumours that cabinet and backbench government MPs were once again worried about Tony Abbott’s performance had been circulating since late last week.

A leaked list of ministers Mr Abbott wanted to dump reportedly angered many in the cabinet. Then, on Monday, two public opinion polls conducted by Australia’s two major media companies showed there was likely to be a sharp swing away from the government at a by-election in Western Australia due this Saturday.

When Communications Minister Mr Turnbull announced his intention to challenge Mr Abbott on Monday afternoon, he did not mince his words.

He told journalists if Mr Abbott remained in power, the Liberal-National Coalition would lose the general election, due mid-next year.

He said the prime minister had failed to provide economic leadership; had lost the confidence of the business sector; had failed to explain to the public the challenges and opportunities the nation faced; and had developed policy on the run.

Many in the coalition have warned against removing Mr Abbott and repeating the disastrous leadership debacle of the previous Labor government.

Who is Malcolm Turnbull?

Served as Minister for Communications under Mr Abbott, before resigning to launch a leadership challenge

Many in his party dislike his support for climate change action and gay marriage

Led the Liberal Party in opposition from 2008-2009 – but lost a leadership challenge to Mr Abbott by one vote

Previously worked as a successful lawyer and businessman – defending former British spy Peter Wright in the “Spycatcher” case in the 1980s

BBC

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20 responses to “Australian PM Tony Abbott ousted by Malcolm Turnbull”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar

    You see, Hind, that phrase ‘Front-Stabbing’. Except for the direction of approach, how do Fiberals do it any differently than Conservatives? ;-)))

    1. Hind Abyad Avatar

      I know nothing about Australia …(?)…

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar

        Watch the video-news report about the Billion$ smuggling business….
        And the ‘Wasted AID’ ….

        “Long traffic jams built up on the Germany-Austria border and refugees were left stranded on non-EU Serbia’s side of the frontier with Hungary in the latest chaotic scenes from the biggest such crisis since World War II.”

        http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/hungary-enforces-tough-immigration-law-150915003743802.html

        1. Hind Abyad Avatar

          I think only..who wanted to empty the Levant ..this is a transfer of the population.. the world strategists did it, the rats do the rest.

          1. 5thDrawer Avatar

            Good one… Strategists build the maze … the rats only want to eat. 😉

          2. Hind Abyad Avatar

            ..and who are the powers who worked to create the guys who are cutting heads, who opened Syrian frontiers to Asia Taliban’s and foreign Jihadists. A NATO member?

            In 2014 Biden said US Allies finance ISIS, he said the truth he had to apologize. The people can’t live there anymore. So,they go

            http://www.mintpressnews.com/how-the-us-its-allies-and-syria-unwittingly-corporatized-isis/201748/

          3. 5thDrawer Avatar

            There’s really nothing worse than those ‘Creationists’.

          4. Hind Abyad Avatar

            Too late, when they wanted to do something they only added fire. This is the end of Middle East as we knew it..and Iskhara is there to stay. If you can read between the lines of some opinions here, mostly Zionist and Sunni extremists are on same line, hatred of Christians.

          5. 5thDrawer Avatar

            MOST INTERESTING, For ‘the people’ who have Suffered long in Tripoli Lebanon … even if the incompetent government finally allowed the Army to go in …
            “Upon their return, some of the inmates “remained at large (but in contact with the regime),” others went to Lebanon, and the rest were arrested again – these were the Islamists. They felt “cheated,” the cable says.”

            And we continue reading … following The Money as all hell breaks loose …. see:
            “Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) and the Sheikh Fahad al-Ahmed Charity.”

          6. 5thDrawer Avatar

            Yes, Probably .. because we are first to speak our minds, perhaps.
            And reading further into the article, this line appears … the point where ‘control’ vanished, even for ASSad, although his fingers worked in the pie.
            “That was the turning point,” said Barabandi. Before that, the people in the streets were talking about dignity, peace and democracy, he explained, noting: “Nobody was talking about Islam or about Islamists.”

          7. Hind Abyad Avatar

            There was no sectarianism in Syria..

    2. 5thDrawer Avatar

      (Hind will LOVE this Advert … hehehehe)

      1. Hind Abyad Avatar

        I see you detest Quebec but like B’nai Brith Harpenyahu.

        Harper enrolled at the University of Toronto but dropped out after two months. He then moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he found work in the mail room at Imperial Oil…(owned by his father). He took up post-secondary studies again at the University of Calgary, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1985. He later returned there to earn a master’s degree in economics, completed in 1991. Harper is the first prime minister since Joe Clark without a law degree…etc..en plus he’s Evangelical.

        1. 5thDrawer Avatar

          I don’t know why you think that makes me detest Quebec … I had/have relatives there …
          BUT, since we do the research … Do you see that there’s a bit of difference then in background education? I mean, go NDP … Or better yet, GREEN PARTY. There’s a woman with a head on her shoulders. 😉 Although the others won’t let her ‘debate’ …
          In fact, THE GLOBE & MAIL won’t let her ‘debate’. ;-))

          1. Hind Abyad Avatar

            I liked the NPD chief that died..forgot his name, Mulclair (?) is a racist.
            PS. did you watch ‘Henry V speech’ i posted (after O menaced you with HENRY) ?

          2. 5thDrawer Avatar

            Oh, No. Maybe the ‘thread’ got too long? I hate searching through the piles …

  2. nagy_michael2 Avatar
    nagy_michael2

    So Costallo beat Abbott. is there a difference here?

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar

      Apparently Costello has Israeli Connections … ;-))

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