Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has vowed to fight for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Party, after a surprise challenge from former minister and one-time party leader Malcolm Turnbull.
Members of the Liberal government will meet later Monday to decide the posts of prime minister and deputy prime minister, in a vote Abbott said he expected to win.
“The prime ministership of this country is not a prize or a plaything to be demanded. It should be something which is earned by a vote of the Australian people,” Abbott said.
Hours earlier, Abbott rejected rumors of a potential leadership spill as “gossip” and “games,” only to be confronted by Turnbull who said the country needed change.
“A little while ago I met with the Prime Minister and advised him that I would be challenging for the leadership,” Turnbull told reporters outside Parliament House in Canberra.
“We have to make a change for our party’s sake, for our country’s sake,” Turnbull said, after resigning his ministerial post.
“We need a different style of leadership. We need a style of leadership that respects the people’s intelligence, that explains these complex issues,” Turnbull said.
Not the first challenge
In February, Abbott emerged victorious from a no-confidence vote among his party colleagues, with 61 votes to 39. The Prime Minister may have won majority backing, but the 39 votes against left him exposed and at risk of further ructions.
Abbott came to power in 2013 with the promise of a stable government, immune from the infighting that had dogged the previous Labor leadership. During the previous government, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard jostled for the top job, and the Liberal Party rightly identified that the electorate had had enough.
However, a series of unpopular decisions exposed cracks within the Liberal Party. Abbott was seen to have bungled his first budget, which went down badly with voters.
The Liberal Party had sold itself as old hands when it came to managing the country’s economy, capable of correcting lax Labor spending, which had eroded a surplus deftly created by the former Liberal government, led by John Howard.
Basis of challenge
On Monday, Turnbull’s nomination speech pulled Abbott up on his economic record.
“It is clear enough that the government is not successful in providing the economic leadership that we need,” he said. “He has not been capable of providing the economic confidence that business needs.”
Abbott defended himself against the attack by drawing on the government’s successes of the past two years.
“Since coming to Government, our team has stopped the boats, improved the budget, cut taxes and increased jobs. We have laid the foundation for a better deal for families and for small business.
“You can trust me to deliver a stronger economy and a safer community,” he said.
Opposition scare tactics
Turnbull warned that if Abbott continued to lead the party they were likely to lose the next election to the Labor Party, and its leader Bill Shorten.
“You only have to see the catastrophically reckless approach of Mr Shorten to the China-Australia free trade agreement, surely one of the most important foundations of our prosperity, to know he is utterly unfit to be Prime Minister of this country and so he will be if we do not make a change,” Turnbull said.
The Australian economy has been feeling the knock-on effects of slowing demand from China for minerals. Australia’s GDP expanded 0.2% in the second quarter, down from 0.9%, missing analysts’ forecasts.
Shorten said a change at the top of the Liberal Party wouldn’t make any difference.
“Australia does not need another out of touch, arrogant, Liberal leader. Australia needs a change of government,” he said.
Abbott losing support
The most recent survey by Newspoll — as of September 7 — shows voters are split between the two major parties, though respondents said Shorten would make a better leader than Abbott.
Until Monday, Turnbull was the country’s popular communication minister, someone seen by many as a potential leader, if only he’d put up his hand. In February, he resisted pressure to nominate for the role during the party-room vote.
In the past, Turnbull has expressed support for same sex marriage and concern that not enough is being done to combat climate change.