Good night and good luck
Well .. with that last pitch for hearts and minds, let’s walk off into the evening. What treasures you have all been. Thank you for the warm welcome back. It will be a very early start tomorrow and a punishing week, so let’s take stock and regroup at first light.
Today, on Captain’s Pick Sunday:
- Tony Abbott used his leader’s prerogative to bring forward the timing of the leadership spill motion from Tuesday to Monday;
- Malcolm Turnbull issued a broad wink that he would be a candidate but didn’t explicitly commit;
- Both men then set about the grim business of winning hearts and minds – one overtly, one covertly;
- Tony Abbott found he could find time to have a competitive tender for submarine construction after all;
- George Brandis declared all the messiness was all fine because gentlemen of the Liberal party didn’t bear grudges;
- Cory Bernardi didn’t get the Brandis memo and declared that communist Malcolm Turnbull would take the leadership over his dead body;
- Insofar as anyone was prepared to predict anything the consensus was Abbott could probably hold out the spill .. but there would be blood in any case.
There is always blood.
Thanks today to Lenore Taylor and Daniel Hurst and everyone who kept me entertained on social media platforms.
See you at sparrows, kids.
Updated
Abbott tells Chris Uhlmann he expects that any minister who couldn’t support the government (meaning him) would have spoken to him by now.
The prime minister also pretends the government had planned an open tender for the submarines all along. He’s not bartering for votes. No siree.
Abbott doesn’t think he’s mortally wounded. He won’t resign.
Tony Abbott:
All prime ministers are on probation, that’s the way it has always been. The wood will be on me to perform.
Tony Abbott fronts ABC news
Abbott, as the ABC news reader Jeremy Fernandez just said – is out in kill spill mode.
It’s a pretty chastening experience to have a spill motion moved on you after just 16 months in government - a very chastening experience. And I am determined that my government, if it continues after tomorrow, will learn from this experience, will be different and better.
Q: The partyroom might vote for the spill?
It could. I absolutely respect the partyroom.
Guess who @CUhlmann is interviewing on tonight's 7PM news #libspill #auspoI pic.twitter.com/rWSDs6DTX0
— Nick Haggarty (@NickHaggarty) February 8, 2015
The prime minister is coming up very shortly on ABC news.
I’ll stay live for that, then we’ll summarise the day and wrap.
A very tanned Cory Bernardi at Canberra airport is saying voters are sick of supersized egos in politics.
Bernardi:
I will vote against this spill motion tomorrow because it is against the national interest.
Bernardi says he cannot vote for someone who once almost destroyed the Liberal party. He means Malcolm Turnbull, not Tony Abbott.
I will not give him a second chance to do that and I don’t think my colleagues should either.
(Surprised, anyone? No?)
(George Brandis was absolutely right. No-one bears grudges in Liberal politics.)
Veteran Nine Network political editor Laurie Oakes has just told his viewers he thinks Abbott currently has the numbers to see off the spill – however – all things liable to change without notice. A bad Newspoll in the morning. Some public declarations.
The long term picture for Abbott is grim, Oakes reasons.
Time: it's all relative
Poor old Joe Hockey. Wake up to speculation you are for the high jump. Then have the prime minister shaft you in a deal cutting frenzy ahead of debate on a spill motion.
It usually takes 10 to 15 years to build a submarine from development stage to outcome in the water. Labor knew that. The first Collins class sub is decommissioned in 2026, so we’ve run out of time in a sense and we need to make decisions now. We don’t have time to go through a speculation process. We do not have time for people to suggest that they can build something that hasn’t been built.
Dignity, always dignity.
Now might be time to ask for a $10 billion grant to SPC, @SharmanStone
— Bernard Keane (@BernardKeane) February 8, 2015
That subs flip will certainly be worth a few votes in South Australia, including the vote of senator Sean Edwards – who basically said ‘give me an open tender or I might have to think about that spill motion.’ Perhaps some MP will join me in demanding a knighthood for David Speers. We might just get there. Over to you Malcolm – one submarine, one knight – let’s talk us some spill turkey.
Now that’s an interesting development being flagged by Tory Shepherd of the Adelaide Advertiser.
To shore up votes PM Tony Abbott has promised SA will get a crack at the Future Submarines projects. Story up shortly
— ToryShepherd (@ToryShepherd) February 8, 2015
Labor has been absolutely pounding the government in South Australia over the loss of car industry jobs and the broken election promise on future submarine construction being undertaken in SA. (The Coalition was looking at a Japanese option, not the local option.) South Australian Liberals have been hurting. If true, Tony Abbott is nailing down the shutters and the roof tiles.
And most other things.
Updated
Former Howard government minister Amanda Vanstone has used her regular column in The Age to deliver some tough love for Tony. Interesting intervention.
In any party room there are backbenchers who are as capable as others in ministerial positions but who, because of timing, geography, gender and a host of other factors, miss out on that chance. They are not lesser beings, just unlucky. There will also be also-rans and nincompoops – although you can rest assured they do not see themselves that way. To treat these people as though they should have no say in what is integral to their future is just not tenable.
In essence Abbott has brought this situation on himself. What the party room will be trying to work out is if he can change and bring the team and Australia with him. We have all seen how devastatingly effective he can be. Nonetheless, if they decide to stick with him there will be no room for mistakes. No third chance. That is no doubt what is weighing on Malcolm Turnbull’s mind. He has been faultlessly loyal. It would be hard to be that popular and sit by as political capital is simply trashed.
If he doesn’t believe Abbott can change, and change the public’s mind, Turnbull might decide to wait until the party effectively hands him the job. That’s what John Howard did when Alexander Downer was struggling as leader in the mid-1990s and it is how he acquired enormous authority. Of course, if the Liberal MPs don’t think Abbott can change, they might do that sooner rather than later.
You people are having entirely too much fun today.
“Mr. Turnbull will see you now.” #libspill /via @declanf pic.twitter.com/ZMr0kqs6gP
— Jeff Waugh (@jdub) February 8, 2015
Still no word from the BullTurn by the by. It’s a judgment call, whether to stay in light cover, or whether to break cover to seek momentum.
We watch. We wait.
Arise, Sir Speersalot.
"Abbott backers" confident of winning with margin of at least 60-40. "Turnbull backers" say could be as tight as 50-50. #pmagenda
— David Speers (@David_Speers) February 8, 2015
That last observation from George Brandis really is quite funny. ‘Liberals are better than others at burying the hatchet.’ Sometimes the hatchet is buried very deep in the backs of opponents. Sometimes.
Meanwhile, the attorney-general George Brandis predicts on the public broadcaster that the spill motion will be defeated. Then everything will be fine again.
Brandis:
In the Labor party, this tribal warfare festers for months and indeed years … In the Liberal party, we are much better than the Labor party in putting these difficulties behind us.
I don’t think Tony Abbott is doing a bad job. The polls are being driven by this big big issue. The economy.
Alan Jones is being interviewed right now by David Speers. The man of the AM wireless is a terrifying shade of puce, and if there is sense in this diatribe I’m struggling to grasp it. I just want to get out of this locker room.
I wonder if Tony could sling David one last knighthood? He deserves it.
For those that keep asking, I arrive in CBR at 1820 tonight. Will state my position on Liberal leadership matters then.
— Cory Bernardi (@corybernardi) February 8, 2015
Was that a trumpet sounding in the distance?
As for Mark Textor – bikeaholic, strategist, pollster, vegetable fancier.
Breaking. pic.twitter.com/HwYrsDN4AN
— Mark Textor (@TextorMark) February 8, 2015
What kind of sauce is this source?
Immigration minister Peter Dutton.
There’s a dark cloud hanging over our parliament and it needs to clear as quickly as possible.
Dutton quite likes this dark cloud. It’s getting a modest flogging on Sky News right now.
The majority of voices out publicly today are from the Abbott camp, advising the colleagues to have a Bex and a lie down.
One of the more hilarious observations today was from Joe Hockey – who noted big murders of backbenchers are always moaning about something. (He said that far more politely. His exact observation was people are often unhappy with the prime minister of the day – nothing new about one third of the room wanting to clock the leadership at any given time. If you want a friend in politics, get a dog.)
The near silent backbench revolution may lead you to the conclusion that this spill motion will fizzle out. That may be the correct conclusion. However, that would be a conclusion concluded by someone much braver than I.
I am a notorious coward. Ask anyone.
Some analytical offerings now from Lenore Taylor, and from me, in my non-live form.
Lenore makes the excellent point that Tony Abbott is not in any position to boil down the current transaction to one self-interested question (are we the Labor party?)
In the end many are distilling the situation down to very different questions from the one posed by Tony Abbott this morning. If a prime minister retains power by bringing forward a vote on what is effectively a no-confidence motion against him, without a proper party room debate before that vote is taken, and with the clear threat that any ministers who are known to vote for the spill would have to lose their jobs, if he keeps his job after repeating his same old slogans when asked about the future, should anyone have confidence that anything has changed – whether in comparison to this government or the last one?
You can read the full analysis here.
And a long read from me on Abbott – a prime minister who managed to disappear right in front of me through his decision to be a man for others. A man for the organisation, a man for the base and the backers and the boosters, a man for Alan Jones and Rupert Murdoch. It’s a story about Abbott, and the mistakes he’s made – and a reflection on modern politics.
If so inclined, you can read the piece here.
The challenges of modern manners during leadership meltdowns unfolding in airport terminals.
Accidentally picked up @SenatorAbetz Iphone from the security belt at airport. Oops! Put it straight back of course. #libspill
— Lisa Singh (@Lisa_Singh) February 8, 2015
Awks. What is seen cannot be unseen. (Eric Abetz has an iPhone?)
Quite like this one. Here is the two party preferred measure – Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard – Julia Gillard back to Kevin Rudd – and now. Newspoll numbers. Chart by Mr Evershed.
I suspect this fact will be obvious to readers of Politics Live – but we have a Newspoll due in the morning.
Just saying.
How much do we all love a chart?
Particularly a chart that plots prime minister’s net approval ratings against leadership brain explosions.
Thanks to the clever Nick Evershed for this graph.
Updated
Go to any family GP. Ask them about the copayment. Watch them proceed to smash the mandated 10-minute consultation window. Bring popcorn. Perhaps that’s just me.
Updated
Last week on Twitter I speculated that the GP copayment is Tony Abbott’s mining tax. The comparison is not perfect I know, but I think it is one worth making.
Kevin Rudd’s leadership was brought undone in part because of the damage he’d copped from the mining industry. The resources companies were in full cashed-up campaign mode to try and kill the minerals resource rent tax (MRRT), and if necessary, the then serving prime minister. Rudd Mark One spent his last days in office cooking up a compromise to get the miners off his back.
Abbott’s incredibly thorny issue has been the GP copyament. Doctors have been feral about it. Patients don’t want it. The opposition of the Australian Medical Association validates the anger in the community.
Here’s the AMA president Brian Owler, being just a teensy bit cheeky today.
The government’s clearly having troubles at the moment, and I think one of the key issues has been the Medicare rebate and the changes that the government’s previously announced. I think if the government really wants to get serious about health policy it needs to take these changes off the table, give general practitioners the chance to talk about real solutions. It’s very hard to do that when these changes are hanging over their heads, and so I think the prime minister needs to make the captain’s call and scrap the copayment proposals that are currently before him.
Updated
The wisdom of the betting markets, should that be your fancy.
Sportsbet odds of Abbott being leader at the end of next week YES $1.65 vs NO $2.10 pic.twitter.com/B2KvobdMYt
— Patrick Keneally (@patrickkeneally) February 8, 2015
Hard to say what’s more extraordinary in this instance – this terrific news picture from Fairfax photographer Andrew Meares, or the confirmation that the prime minister is now officially screening out the world.
C1 window shade cloth | PM Abbott arrives back in Canberra protected by a privacy screen in his car window pic.twitter.com/e4l7fKl6Ut
— andrew meares (@mearesy) February 8, 2015
These moments in politics reveal character, they don’t define character
I’m indebted to Daniel Hurst for supplying the unabridged Joe Hockey quotes on Sky News, concerning putting up or shutting up.
Q: So all 35 frontbenchers and six whips should vote against the motion?
Yes it is fair, because they were appointed by the prime minister and the fact is that under the Westminster system if you do not support the prime minister you cannot serve in his or her cabinet. Now that’s the simple rule, so in cabinet last Monday everyone indicated their support for the prime minister, for stability. There was loyalty from everyone around the table. There was no suggestions of disloyalty and you would assume that that would flow through to the ministry and the parliamentary secretaries because after all, that is the Westminster system.
That is the tradition. Now, if people do not support that position it is their obligation to resign from the frontbench. Over the last few days no one has resigned from the frontbench. In fact, it’s taken some days for people to publicly declare their support for the spill motion. Well I think it needs to be resolved. I think everyone is of that view and I think the Australian people want it resolved.
Q: Anyone who supports spill on frontbench should resign?
That’s the obligation. But there’s no one that has suggested that because, well certainly the other day at a cabinet level there was a very clear indication from every cabinet member that they supported the prime minister. They supported the leader of the Liberal party Julie Bishop, and that’s it, we’re getting on with the job.
If people do not support the prime minister or the foreign minister as deputy leader of the Liberal party, then they should say it, and they should say it to their faces … Everyone was given the opportunity to declare that they did not support the leadership. No one did …
I trust Malcolm Turnbull at his word that he’s loyal; I trust Julie Bishop at her word that she is loyal. I trust every single cabinet minister at their word that they are loyal … Scott Morrison, everyone … If you are going to be disloyal to someone you should front them …
It’s a bit like sport. These moments in politics reveal character, they don’t define character.
Updated
Thanks very much to my colleague, Paul Farrell. Here is the whip and father of the house, Philip Ruddock, speaking about the procedure for tomorrow.
It will be a secret ballot, not a show of hands.
Ruddock:
I’ve seen many of these events over a long period of time.
(Understatement of the day.)
Updated
You can be distracted by scrums and pithy asides and forget to remind your readers about key facts.
This is, indeed, a key fact.
Snap Snap Snap.Only 5 members of the 102 member Liberal Party room have publicly confirmed they support a spill of the leadership #libspill
— Ian Hanke (@IanHanke) February 8, 2015
We still have a spill motion and no confirmed candidate. Postmodern politics. It’s how things roll.
Updated
Scrums, everywhere you look.
Playing Where's Wally with me in these photos. That scrum was intense. (Pic: John Appleyard). http://t.co/J4NJx1ZliN pic.twitter.com/paOUl42kvT
— Rick Morton (@SquigglyRick) February 8, 2015
I don’t get flowers, I’m a very unattractive man.
Clive Troll, busting free at the airport.
Where is my bag?
Clive Palmer and the curse of the walking airport doorstop.
Palmer trolling, in continuation.
I don’t even know if Malcolm Turnbull is standing. Have you asked Malcolm? Is he standing?
Meanwhile, at an airport in Canberra, a billionaire and balance of power player is engaging in some predictable trolling.
Clive Palmer:
I’m prepared to meet with whomever leads the Liberal party.
Here’s a link to that story about axing Joe Hockey that I flagged in the last post by Samantha Maiden and Simon Benson.
Senior cabinet ministers have floated a new 11th-hour deal to install Malcolm Turnbull as treasurer to head off a spill against the prime minister. The move would demand Mr Abbott cut loose his friend Joe Hockey, whom colleagues believe has failed to sell the budget. Senior MPs believe Mr Turnbull has the “firepower” needed to steer the debate back to the economy.
Updated
Poor old Joe. A major sweat fest happening now on Sky. Imagine waking up this morning to front page reports that Abbott was contemplating dumping him from the treasury portfolio in order to save himself. Politics is really a mug’s game.
Those reports are unsourced gossip says Hockey. Everyone should do their own job.
I’m not worried about myself, I’m worried for my country. That’s why I went into politics to serve others.
Joe Hockey makes an appearance on Sky News: put up or shut up
The treasurer Joe Hockey is pretending he likes wandering in to do TV interviews on a Sunday on uncomfortable topics. He’s not interested in the rolling leadership seminar but it’s time, in essence to bring it on.
Hockey:
I think there has been enough talk about this issue.
Hockey isn’t sure why Malcolm Turnbull thinks bringing forward the leadership spill to Monday is a captain’s call. Hockey says Abbott consulted colleagues before making the statement this morning.
There’s a dig at colleagues, too. People were given an opportunity at last week’s cabinet meeting to speak out against the leadership and nobody did, Hockey says. If they don’t support Tony Abbott they should resign.
I’m watching vision of Tony and Margie Abbott pressing the flesh in Sydney’s Chinatown. The House Speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, is said to be there.
That reminds me I haven’t shared with you the latest stone tablet dropped from the headquarters of News Corporation.
Abbott, good guy, not perfect but no case for rebellion. Remember last one gave us Gillard disaster. Country still paying for it.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) February 7, 2015
Amazing – how easily Murdoch renders Abbott to being nothing more than a chess pawn, isn’t it? Public lectures to him about his staff and his policy choices, public lectures to the rest of us about what we should be thinking.
Reasons to love the internet. Thanks Jeff Waugh, and other kind Politics Live lifers who have shared this while I was throwing my laptop across the room.
Captain’s Call Sunday, @murpharoo. #libspill pic.twitter.com/qaEyGSKPgH
— Jeff Waugh (@jdub) February 8, 2015
Lenore Taylor has caught up with the Liberal MP Sharman Stone who is voting in favour of the spill motion.
Sharman Stone:
I will certainly be voting in favour of the spill motion which by implication means I believe we need a change of leader. Most people have made up their minds and the sooner we sort this out the better for the country. My voters are telling me we need to fix this.
Asked about the prime minister’s decision to bring forward the party room meeting, she said “it seems a bit panicked doesn’t it”.
Updated
Having the odd browser wobble – computer obviously wants to remain on holidays. Keep your fingers crossed.
Let’s take stock of the news reports capturing the story thus far.
Daniel Hurst and Lenore Taylor, Guardian Australia. “Malcolm Turnbull has all but confirmed he would run for the Liberal leadership if the party room passed the spill motion against Tony Abbott on Monday. After Abbott brought forward the crucial meeting by one day, Turnbull pointedly said this was another one of the prime minister’s “captain’s calls”. And Turnbull described the Liberal leadership as the gift of the party room, echoing the words of former prime minister John Howard.”
David Crowe, the Australian. “Tony Abbott has inflamed his critics by bringing forward a party vote on his future to early Monday morning, prompting a warning from Liberal figure Arthur Sinodinos hours after the prime minister tried to take his enemies by surprise.”
James Massola et al, Fairfax Media. “Malcolm Turnbull has described Tony Abbott’s decision to bring the spill motion for the Liberal leadership forward as a “captain’s call”, while sending the clearest signal yet he would stand for the Liberal leadership if it is declared vacant.”
Updated
I should have mentioned in the Sinodinos post from earlier that he’s a yes for the spill also. Just in case that wasn’t obvious.
Ok then. Tick.
Just spoke to Sharman Stone MP: "I will vote for a spill".
— James Massola (@jamesmassola) February 8, 2015
WATCH: Malcolm Turnbull pointedly describes PM's decision to bring forward #libspill as a "captain's call" #auspol https://t.co/gfOIx6BiSi
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) February 8, 2015
The moving part that cannot and should not be forgotten is of course Tony Abbott’s deputy (and let’s face it everybody’s deputy), Julie Bishop.
We are assuming Malcolm Turnbull is the main contender for greatness apart from the prime minister, because: many Liberal MPs like Bishop, respect her disposition towards independence, and believe she’s skilled – but there’s a degree of internal consensus (outside Western Australia, those folks hunt very much as a pack), that she’s not ultimately up to the task of being prime minister. Some people fear she’d run precisely the same trajectory as Julia Gillard. But it’s a mistake to blithely assume she won’t make a run herself.
Bishop has bobbed up a couple of times already today. She said she was talking to her colleagues, but added a familiar line:
Julie Bishop:
The leadership positions are the gift, as John Howard used to say, of the party room.
Updated
Sinodinos: Tony Abbott, a man of his word?
My colleague Lenore Taylor has spoken to the Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos, who has decided not to sit this particular transaction out.
Pure speculation on my part but perhaps the prime minister’s office could have considered the longer game when they chose to leak Sinodinos’ decision to resign last December, without consulting the man in question. He wasn’t happy about it. He’s also had some opportunity to sit outside the self reinforcing bubble by cooling his heels on the backbench courtesy of the Icac and its deliberations.
Arthur Sinodinos:
The decision to bring on the vote a day early shows disrespect to the party and the parliament. A meeting on Monday will be more truncated because parliament starts and there will be a condolence motion for the Lindt cafe victims.
But this could actually make some people angry that the prime minister’s earlier undertakings have been abrogated. A commitment given should be honoured.
Is the Liberal party the Labor party – that is the question
There are more voices and developments around, but first let’s consider this question of whether or not the Liberal party is the Labor party if it decides to ditch Tony Abbott after less than a term.
The answer to that, in my view is yes, and no. Let’s step through this carefully.
Kevin Rudd was displaced by colleagues in 2010 for similar reasons as Tony Abbott is now facing: the government had broken from the inside out. Ministers and backbenchers could no longer tolerate Rudd’s high handedness and his inability to make clear decisions and get things done. The conditions and atmospherics are very similar.
But they are different in one critical respect. At the time the colleagues moved against Rudd, the bond between the prime minister and the people had not been broken. Voters still liked Rudd. Labor was only just behind in the polls. The insiders killed the king, and the voters couldn’t work out why.
Colleagues are moving against Abbott in a quantifiably different climate. The bond between Abbott and the people was always a tenuous thing (this government had the shortest honeymoon in modern political history), and the voters have marked Abbott down more or less consistently for the best part of 12 months. Anyone who spends anytime talking to people outside the Canberra bubble can work out that ordinary people are not buying Abbott. A change of leader is likely to be positive in political terms for the Liberal party, not dead weight on the brand.
But. And the but matters.
It is never that simple of course. If Turnbull succeeds in removing Abbott, there will be consequences and implications, some of which can be planned for, some of which will only present themselves out after the fact.
There are no magic bullets or perfect fixes here, not for anyone.
Malcolm Turnbull is not throwing shade at the prime minister just for kicks, he’s surfing the prevailing sentiment in the partyroom.
This leadership putsch is a genuine backbench revolt – folks around the government are sick of the command and control culture in the government. (They would of course cop the command and control structure if it would cement their collective hold on power, but given this is a command and control strategy apparently intent on leading people off the cliff, then backbenchers have had enough.)
Turnbull dog whistling on the captain’s call of bringing forward the ballot is a message to the colleagues: Tony won’t change. He can’t change. He’ll continue being a careening bus.
Brisbane MP Teresa Gambaro issued a strongly worded statement after Abbott’s announcement that the spill would happen on his terms, not the terms of the party room.
Gambaro:
We cannot govern ourselves in an internal climate of fear and intimidation. And that is the unacceptable situation we have endured for the past five years. Equally we cannot govern the country through belligerence and hubris. In our parliamentary democracy, MPs, as elected officials, have the individual honour to serve the people of their respective electorates and as such deserve to have their voices heard. This is the path to good government.
Tony Abbott's pitch to keep his job: we are not the Labor party
Now Malcolm has done what the prime minister needed him to do, inch out of hiding into plain view, let’s recap Tony Abbott’s pitch to remain the leader of his political party, and the prime minister of Australia.
Here was Abbott’s statement for the TV cameras this morning. The prime minister took no questions.
Tony Abbott:
The last thing Australia needs right now is instability and uncertainty. On reflection, and after talking to my colleagues, I’ve decided that the best thing we can do is deal with the spill motion as quickly as possible and put it behind us. Accordingly, I’ve asked the whip, Mr Philip Ruddock, to convene a party room meeting at 9 o’clock on Monday morning to deal with this matter. The only question for our party is do we want to reduce ourselves to the level of the Labor party in dragging down a first term prime minister.
Now, obviously, I’ve been talking to many colleagues over the last few days and my very strong sense is that we are determined to do what we were elected to do: to clean up Labor’s mess and to give our people the economic security and the national security that they need and deserve.
Malcolm, reading the tea leaves
A quick moment of translation before I do a whole lot better job of landing a snap shot on this Sunday morning.
- Turnbull, as I’ve indicated, all but declared his candidacy just then.
- Furthermore, he’s no longer committing to vote against the spill motion.
On, like Donkey Kong, people.
Malcolm, unplugged
Here is the full Malcolm.
The Liberal party is uniquely in the gift of the party room. As John Howard has always said. Just as I said very early this morning, somewhat more informally dressed, I’m talking to my colleagues and I know that other senior members of the party are doing that and they’re the people I want to talk to. I don’t want to be communicating with them through the media, with all due respect to you and your legitimate interest in it.
Q: No decision on whether you would contest a vacant leadership?
That’s a hypothetical question for the time being, so can I head through now?
Q: You said the prime minister was showing respect by holding the meeting on Tuesday. Is he showing disrespect by bringing it forward to Monday?
No. The prime minister’s decision had been to hold the meeting on Tuesday. You are right. I did praise him for that this morning.
Subsequently – he is the prime minister, he has made a captain’s call, he has changed the date of the meeting. Beyond that, I’m now going to go in. Lucy, let’s go.
Q: Do you stand by that comment as a Cabinet minister you will vote against the spill motion?
I have said enough about all of that this morning.
Turnbull: it's on, and I'm probably on, but I'll get back to you
Well the challenger just came very close to declaring his hand just then. Malcolm Turnbull has been followed for the last several days by about one hundred of his closest media friends wielding TV cameras.
He’s still not quite ‘on’ but he’s certainly not off either.
If the leadership of the party is declared vacant then anyone can run and not be disloyal to the leader, Turnbull notes, smile just in check. Bringing forward consideration of the spill motion is a captain’s call by the prime minister.
Turnbull:
The prime minister, he has made a captain’s call, he has changed the date of the meeting.
Burn.
Good morning and welcome to Politics Live. My humble apologies for the late start – I was detained by the lovely people at Radio National. (How can anyone plan ahead in times where everything moves at hyper speed?) Happy new year blogans and bloganistas – it’s delightful to be back with you all.
A quick recap of the events of the morning before I look back and look forward to Mad Monday in the capital.
Tony Abbott has used the one advantage he has in any leadership contest – he’s brought forward consideration on the spill motion from Tuesday to Monday. This reflects a judgment that he needs to, 1. Flush out challengers, and 2. Try and cut off challengers at the pass.
That’s the main fact thus far. Now – for what everyone else thinks about that. As usual, the comments thread is wide open and waiting for your insights – and you can grab me on the twits @murpharoo
Updated
