Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Christopher Knaus (now) and Michael McGowan (earlier)

Scott Morrison sworn in as Australia's 30th prime minister – politics live

Goodbye, until next time

Well, what a day. That’s where we’ll leave our live coverage tonight.

Looking ahead, there are still many questions to be answered.

  • Can the new prime minister, Scott Morrison, bring the party together? He’s almost sure to suffer in the polls. This week has been abysmal in the eyes of voters. They will punish the Coalition, have no doubt. So there’ll be a period of turbulence in that respect. At the same time, Morrison is not liked by elements of the right in the Liberal party. Peter Dutton has promised to back him and bury the hatchet. But how long will that last?
  • What will happen in Wentworth? We know Malcolm Turnbull is planning to leave parliament “soon”. That suggests a byelection. The government has a one-seat majority. Wentworth is relatively safe for the Liberals. One of the candidates mooted for the seat is Christine Forster, Tony Abbott’s sister. It will be a curious space to watch.
  • How will Morrison use his upcoming cabinet reshuffle to heal the party and promote unity? We’re expecting the ministry next week. Will Abbott be given a role? Will Dutton?
  • What policy platform will Morrison run on? He’s signalled energy prices and welfare already. Drought relief will be an immediate focus.
  • Will Abbott, who internal opponents have described simply as a “wrecker”, and his backers in talkback radio continue to cause difficulties for a Morrison government?

All this and more will be revealed in the not-too-distant future. As always, the Guardian Australia political team is your best bet for accurate, insightful and intelligent coverage. Thank you for staying with us during what has been a tumultuous week. I’m off to sleep for a few weeks.

pic
And that’s that. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

Updated

The Nationals leadership have given a brief press conference.

Michael McCormack said the Turnbull government had “been a good government”. The deputy prime minister thanked Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy, particularly commending his efforts to ensure drought-stricken communities are well looked after.

Asked to name policies that need to change under Scott Morrison, McCormack nominated only a default electricity price and competition measures to force divestiture of assets by large electricity retailers, commitments the government had already made under Turnbull.

McCormack confirmed that the Nationals will have five cabinet ministers and the same number of ministers, despite the fact Kevin Hogan is going to sit on the crossbench (ie, in the Nationals party room but not the joint Coalition party room).

McCormack said:

We haven’t lost anyone to the crossbench – I’ve got 22 National party members in this room, 16 in lower house, six in the upper house.

McCormack joined the push to blame the media for the spill:

It hasn’t been our best week as politicians. I think there’s a lesson to be learned there for politicians and for the media as well. This blood sport has got to stop, this tearing down of prime ministers, by politicians and by the media too has got to stop.

Updated

The making of a prime minister. Photographer Mike Bowers was at government house earlier, watching as Scott Morrison was sworn in as the 30th Australian prime minister.

pic
New PM Scott Morrison leaves government house with Jenny Morrison and daughters Lily and Abbey. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
pic
Scott Morrison is sworn in as the 30th prime minister of Australia. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
pic
Governor general Peter Cosgrove does the honours, swearing in Scott Morrison. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
pic
Scott Morrison gets a hug from daughters Lily and Abbey. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
pic
Josh Frydenberg with deputy PM Michael McCormack after being sworn in as the treasurer. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
pic
The new Liberal leaders Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg with Nationals counterparts Michael McCormack and Bridget McKenzie. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
pic
Josh Frydenberg is sworn in as treasurer. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

Updated

The last event of the night is a Nationals party-room meeting, which we’re just waiting on now. Our reporter Paul Karp has gone down to see what emerges.

Until then, it’s worth reflecting on today’s leadership spill in numbers, as recorded by our fantastic multimedia team.

Updated

Paul Fletcher, a Liberal MP, is on ABC television, doing his best to stick to the new lines of the Morrison government. We’re all about you, he tells the public.

In the lead-up to the spill, a number of conservatives complained that Malcolm Turnbull had lost the party’s core supporter base. That included Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who directly complained about Turnbull’s loss of the Liberal party base in her resignation letter. Fletcher is asked how Scott Morrison would win the base back.

He dismisses it as “arcane” commentary from pundits.

These sort of arcane political constructs get thrown around by political commentators. But we are there to serve the Australian people, we’re on the side of the Australian people, and that’s what matters.

The spin machine is going to be working in overdrive in the next few weeks.

Updated

pic
The new Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, is sworn in by the governor general, Peter Cosgrove. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Updated

The governor general swears Josh Frydenberg in as treasurer. That wraps up the official part of the proceedings at government house.

Updated

Scott Morrison is sworn in as 30th Australian prime minister

There we have it. The governor-general, Peter Cosgrove, has sworn in Scott Morrison as the 30th prime minister of Australia.

The swearing in is met with much applause in government house.

It’s a short ceremony. Morrison is all smiles.

Updated

Nationals MP Kevin Hogan – who earlier said that he would join the crossbench but guarantee confidence and supply – is not going to quit the Nationals.

I’ve had clarification from a spokesman for Hogan:

Kevin has never said he is leaving the Nationals – only moving to the crossbench. He will sit in the Nationals partyroom but not the Coalition.

Former WA Nationals member Tony Crock did similar. He will guarantee supply etc and look at each bill on a case by case basis.

Updated

Scott Morrison has arrived at government house in Yarralumla, Canberra, to be sworn in as the new prime minister of Australia.

He arrives with his family. His colleagues and the most powerful public servant, Martin Parkinson, are waiting for the ceremony.

'They've lost their mind, haven't they?' Laundy speaks of Turnbull's calmness in crisis

Liberal MP Craig Laundy, a key backer of Malcolm Turnbull until the very end, has just been on 2GB radio, talking to Ben Fordham.

“Mate, I am physically, mentally and emotionally absolutely annihilated,” he said.

Fordham asked him what he thought of the result of the spill, and Laundy sighed for a long time.

Then he said: “Um, I just, I have sat back this week and I have watched the party I love tear down a great man and a great friend and, geez, wow.”

Fordham: “How’s Malcolm dealing with all of this?”

Laundy: “You know what? He’s shattered, obviously, as anyone would be. Put yourself in his shoes.

“But, mate, the thing that struck me, and I’ve had the privilege of having a seat at the table all week … and I think this is probably his barrister background, but in the middle of a crisis, mate, you know, he just stayed calm the whole way.

“He’d turn to me and look at me and say, ‘they’ve lost their mind haven’t they?’ and I’d say “mate, I think they have, but you know we’ve gotta keep working through”.”

Fordham asked him if Turnbull had reflected on the fact that he had torn down a first term prime minister, in Tony Abbott, and now it had happened to him, and that that would have instigated some of this week’s events.

Laundy said: “Look no, but it obviously did [play a role, given] the personalities involved, and I’ve obviously been as involved in what’s happened today as in what happened to Tony Abbott.

“But there’s one clear and distinct difference. When this happened with Malcolm in 2015, the backbench came to Malcolm in desperation. What’s happened this week is that the Dutton forces have gone to the backbench.

“Now some of the behaviour this week, I had one female senator and two female members of the House, when it came to the letter, the petition, that were physically stood over to sign it, and they refused.

“This is the sort of behaviour you had going on.

“And I’m the federal minister for workplace relations, guess what? Parliament house is a workplace. That sort of intimidation and bullying is something you can actually file a claim against.”

Fordham then wondered if Scott Morrison would be given some space and fresh air by the Dutton camp.

Laundy said he hoped so.

Laundy: “We need generational change in politics, because right now politics is broken, and I trace it back to, this is 10 years of tumultuous times, starting back in 2007 with the [Kevin] Rudd era.

“The people that came in in 2013 and 2016, you know, inside my party but also across the chamber, inside our party at the moment you’ve got this great chasm of the left and the right, and historically those that are the senior leaders of both sides have been at each other’s throats for 20 to 30 years, but the hope of the [party] is the next generation.

“The guys on the right of our party right now, the next generation – Michael Sukkar, Zed Seselja, Tony Pasin, these sorts of guys – are good mates of mine and the people on the left of the party that came in more recently.

“We didn’t experience those first lot of horrible years. We’ve sort of inherited and watched on and now, I think hopefully with Scott [Morrison] and Josh [Frydenberg], is a generational change which I think’s needed.

“Let’s hope.”

Updated

A new leader addresses the nation. Mike Bowers captured all the colour from Morrison’s first press conference earlier.

pic
pic
pic
pic
pic

A spokesman for the leader of the Nationals, Michael McCormack, has confirmed that they’re pushing for a better deal from the Liberals but – no – they’re not going to tell us what’s in it.

He said:

In negotiating the Coalition agreement, the Nationals at all times take the opportunity to assert a better deal for the people we represent in regional Australia, such as lowering cost of living pressures or reducing energy costs.

The Coalition agreement is between the two leaders and is not a public document.

During the almost 100-year history of the Nationals, when forming government with the Liberals at various stages, it has not been released.

Any demands for the agreement to be released are nothing but political game-playing and mischief aimed at mischaracterising its purpose.

Earlier today independent MP Cathy McGowan called on the Coalition to release the document.

Updated

The day that was

It’s just gone 5pm here in Canberra, so it feels like the right time for a summary.

For those waking up overseas and tuning in, don’t worry. It’s just another standard day in Australian politics. A sitting prime minister has been turfed by his own party. Yawn.

  • The former treasurer, Scott Morrison, is to become Australia’s 30th prime minister, after a dramatic day in Canberra.
  • A group of conservatives, led by Peter Dutton, forced the leadership spill against the incumbent, Malcolm Turnbull, after days of infighting that had paralysed the government.
  • Turnbull on Thursday stared down Dutton and his backers, demanding to see evidence that a majority of his party wanted to meet and vote on the leadership. He also raised serious doubts about Dutton’s eligibility to sit in parliament. Turnbull knew he could not hold on, but in so doing, he bought more time for his preferred candidates Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop to secure support.
  • The majority needed to force the Liberal party meeting was secured, and a spill of the leadership was called.
  • Dutton, Morrison and Bishop all stood in the leadership ballot on Friday. Bishop was knocked out at the first hurdle.
  • Morrison won the spill against Dutton 45-40.
  • Turnbull did not stand in the ballot and will now leave parliament. On the way out, he slammed the deliberate destruction of his prime ministership, blaming Dutton and conservative former prime minister Tony Abbott for leading an “insurgency”.
  • Morrison stressed unity, stability and liberal-conservative values when he addressed the country. He told Australians the government was here to “serve you”, not itself. He pledged to focus his attention on the drought, and highlighted energy prices and welfare as areas of attention. He gave little explanation for the leadership revolt that has perplexed and angered voters.
  • Dutton said he held no regrets about his actions. He said the spill was needed to resolve the bitter animosity conservatives still held for Turnbull. He pledged to back Morrison and bury the old grievances.
  • Liberal MPs have now pleaded with their colleagues to unite behind Morrison, end the infighting and focus on the next election.
  • We’re still waiting for Morrison to be sworn in as prime minister by the governor-general. Turnbull has already been to see the governor-general to resign.
Pic
Prime minister-designate Scott Morrison and deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg at their first media conference as party leaders on Friday. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

Updated

Another former Labor prime minister offers some words to the Liberals. This time, it’s Julia Gillard. She tells Malcolm Turnbull “there is a life after” and “best wishes for the days to come”.

Updated

'I don't regret it at all': Dutton

ABC reporter Jackson Gothe-Snape has tracked down Peter Dutton at a Canberra restaurant. It’s the most we’ve heard from Dutton since his unsuccessful tilt at the leadership.

Dutton has pledged to get behind Morrison. He says the old grudges and bitterness between the conservative and moderate forces are done.

Does he regret what he’s done?

No, I don’t regret it at all. I’m pleased that Scott Morrison has been elected prime minister. I think it’s a good day for this country. I think it’s a turning point and I think it’s a healing point for the Liberal party. I think we now look forward instead of back. Obviously the animosity ran deep in the party from when Malcolm Turnbull deposed Tony Abbott. We now draw a line under all of that.

Peter Dutton arrives with Mathias Cormann for the party-room meeting
Peter Dutton arrives with Mathias Cormann for the party-room meeting this morning, where he lost his challenge for the Liberal leadership. Photograph: David Gray/AP

Updated

Morrison talks unity, stability and street parking

Just to recap on that first press conference from our prime minister-elect, Scott Morrison.

  • Morrison will announce his ministry next week, but it looks as Josh Frydenberg will be his treasurer.
  • He spoke a lot of unity, stability and serving the Australian people, rather than themselves. That’s not surprising, given the past week.
  • He listed his immediate priority as the drought. He will review the government’s response.
  • When asked why he helped remove Turnbull, he said he didn’t. He said he was loyal. No real explanation was offered for this radical change in government.
  • He paid tribute to liberal and conservative values, which he described as the “fair go” and individual choice. He also spoke of playing by the rules – singling out energy companies abusing their market position and mentioning power prices. He also, jarringly, mentioned the rules were important for people parking on the street.
  • Morrison told Australians they shouldn’t expect to go to the polls any time soon, despite Turnbull’s imminent resignation, which will trigger a byelection.

Updated

Morrison keeps the press conference snappy. Before he leaves, he lets us know the new ministry will be sworn in next week. He also tells us the normal wheels of government will keep on turning. Always a good thing to hear, really.

Morrison is asked why he removed a sitting prime minister.

“We didn’t,” he replies. “We were loyal.”

We will provide the stability and the unity and the direction and the purpose that the Australian people expect of us as leaders.

Updated

Don't expect an election soon: Morrison

Is Morrison angry at Turnbull for resigning and possibly losing him a majority in the lower house? Morrison says they’ll be governing with stability and won’t be taking Australians to the polls.

We intend to be governing. And we have got able to do as a fresh new team. So I don’t think anybody should be making any plans for any elections any time soon. The prime minister, as he currently is, has indicated to me that at some time he will be moving away from politics, and I understand and respect that, and I understand it fully.

Updated

Morrison is asked whether he will keep conservatives in cabinet to help unify the party.

He says it’s important to reflect the conservative and liberal traditions of the party in his team, but says cabinet will be announced in due course.

Updated

Morrison praises 'noble' Turnbull

Scott Morrison praises his predecessor. He described Turnbull as a “great friend”.

He has served his country, in a noble, and professional way.

He also thanks Peter Dutton, although not quite as forcefully. He says Dutton still has a role to play in the government.

I also want to thank Peter Dutton for the service he has provided. I actually recommended him for the job as minister for immigration and border protection, after I left it some years ago, and he has served faithfully in that role and home affairs, and I look forward, if he so chooses, for him to be playing a role in the government which I intend to lead.

Updated

Morrison’s immediate policy priority? The drought. He says he will review the government’s drought response immediately.

Updated

Morrison raises the old Howard mantra of “we will decide who comes to this country”. He talks of terrorism and security.

Morrison also speaks of the importance of unity and strong leadership:

Now, our job, particularly for Josh and I am as we take forward this mantle of leadership as a new generation, is to ensure that we not only bring our party back together, which has been bruised and battered this week, but that will enable us to ensure we bring the parliament back together, that we can continue to work to ensure that our country stays close together

Updated

Morrison is speaking about Liberal-National values. He starts with the importance of a “fair go” and individual choice. Then he says:

We believe that the best form of welfare is a job. That is what releases people out of poverty.

He says:

But everyone has to play by the rules in this country. Everyone. Whether you are a big business, setting electricity prices, or loaning money, or you are just someone parking in the street. We’ve all got to live by the rules of this country, the law of our land. These are values we uphold. And it’s important that we do that right across our areas of policy

Morrison to Australians: 'We're on your side'

The new prime minister begins with a direct message to the Australian people. He’s trying to address the deep, deep frustration voters hold over this kind of internal mess.

There has been a lot of talk this week about whose side people are on in this building. And what Josh and I are here to tell you, as the new generation of Liberal leadership, is that we are on your side. That’s what matters. We are on your side.

We mentioned earlier that Scott Morrison, our incoming PM, was expected to speak at 3pm. There’s been a slight delay. The new time is 4.15pm. So stick with us.

We’re expecting to hear how Morrison will unite the party, lead a new policy agenda, and deal with a buoyant Labor opposition.

Our political editor, Katharine Murphy, gives us her sharp-eyed insight into what has truly been a dramatic day in Australian politics. One of the most dramatic, I’ll wager. Certainly the most dramatic in my time in the press gallery, which amounts to roughly four and a half days.

Please, do read this excellent piece from Murphy:

The country has dodged a bullet. I’d like to say that more diplomatically, but I have no energy to say it more diplomatically, and I strongly suspect voters don’t need diplomacy from me right now.

What’s needed is clarity.

So let’s have that.

There have been big stakes in this leadership ballot. A party of government fractured right in front of us. That political party contemplated its immediate future: would it be government by reason, steady deliberation by the technocrats, or would it be government by crass populism, by feelings, by resentments, by roiling, by the gut, by the vibe?

This same choice has played out in democracies around the world, post global financial crisis. This is the moment history has handed us. How we respond to it will determine our future.

David Rowe, the Australian Financial Review’s cartoonist, has turned this around with remarkable speed.

I mean, I’m sitting here with my head still spinning, and he’s managed a masterpiece. The detail is exquisite.

Updated

Catholic schools are hoping the prime minister elect, Scott Morrison, can help fix up the government’s “flawed school funding policies”. They’re on the front foot. The Catholic education commission of Victoria executive director, Stephen Elder, said:

The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria acknowledges the election of Scott Morrison as leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister.

For the past 15 months Catholic school families have demonstrated their deep concern at flawed school funding policies, as seen at the Batman and Longman by-elections.

We look forward to a new approach from government and have issued a number of papers over the past 18 months that will be able to assist Mr Morrison and his education minister.

The CECV looks forward to working with Mr Morrison to replace school SES scores with a better measure of school needs – as recommended by the National School Resourcing Board – as a matter of priority and a recognition of the importance of choice in education for Catholic school parents.

Updated

The former Labor prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has offered some helpful advice to his rivals. Do what I did.

I’m sure they’ll be chuffed to hear from Rudd, at this particular juncture.

Updated

But that, as you’d expect, is where the cross-party love ends.

Labor are straight out on the attack against Scott Morrison. They’ve emailed members to help build a war chest after his ascent.

It starts:

Dear xxxx

‘It’s official: Today the architect of giving the big banks a $17 billion tax handout is set to become the Prime Minister.

Scott Morrison.

This is the same Scott Morrison who:

  • Locked in massive cuts to hospitals;
  • Will keep fighting to give $17 billion to the big banks;
  • Cut $17 billion from schools;
  • Cut penalty rates;
  • Raised the pension age to 70;
  • Cut the Aged Pension; and
  • Voted 26 times against the banking royal commission.

There you go. Gives you a fairly good idea of Labor’s attack lines in the coming weeks.

You’ll notice that there’s no mention of Operation Sovereign Borders, the Morrison-led mission to “stop the boats”.

Updated

Shorten praises Turnbull as man of 'intellect' and 'eloquence'

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has just released a statement farewelling Malcolm Turnbull. Shorten speaks highly of Turnbull, praising him as a “great intellect” and someone of great “eloquence”. Shorten wishes him well in life after politics, and says he hopes this allows him to spend more time with his wife, Lucy, and family.

Here’s the statement in full:

Politics can be a brutal business.

For Malcolm, for Lucy, for their family and for his personal staff, who are as loyal and as close as family, this is a very hard day indeed.

In 2016, Malcolm and I led our two parties in the longest election campaign in fifty years and in some respects, I suppose we have been engaged in that same contest in the two years since.

But for all our verbal conflict, for all the fierce words we’ve exchanged, I hope Malcolm knows that I have always respected him as a formidable opponent, as an advocate of great intellect and eloquence and as someone who came to parliament, relatively late in life, because he was driven by the desire to serve.

Australian politics will always need people like that, on all sides.

The final observation I would make may seem a small thing but I believe it says a great deal.

On many occasions, Malcolm and I would speak at the same events. I don’t think any Australian Prime Minister has used the word ‘love’ more frequently in his public remarks.

Anyone who listened to him speak could always hear his deep and profound love for his wife Lucy, for their children and grandchildren. But also his abiding love for our country.

I hope the future brings Malcolm plenty of relaxing paddles in the kayak, plenty of stories to read and re-read to the grandchildren - and many long and happy days with his loved ones.

Chloe and I wish him, Lucy and their family well.

pic

Updated

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate Jack, Malcolm Turnbull’s grandson? If only he’d stood in the spill. Surely the conservatives wouldn’t try an insurgency against a kid that cute.

pic
pic
pic

Updated

Just back to that petition, some very interesting notes were made by Liberal MPs clearly gutted by the entire process. Some made it clear they were signing only to resolve the mess, or that they supported the office of the prime minister.

Warren Entsch wrote “for Brendan Nelson”. He told Guardian Australia this morning:

This cancer started when Brendan Nelson got trashed, and it’s never been the bloody same since. Rolling leaders has become a culture. We’ve got to clean it. We have to. It’s about time for a bit of loyalty, a bit of respect.

Updated

More Liberal MPs are leaving parliament and speaking freely to reporters on their way out. Enjoy it while it lasts. We’ll be back to scripted lines in no time.

Trent Zimmerman says the leadership tensions must stop.

The Australian people will be rightly very unforgiving unless we move on, and I’m confident that we will.

Should Abbott and other agitators leave parliament?

I wouldn’t like to see any more byelections but I do think that sometimes former prime ministers should take the model that John Howard sensibly has, and that’s to show great discretion about when you get involved in contemporary issues.

Updated

Fairfax and the ABC have the list of names of the 43 MPs who signed the crucial petition calling for the party room meeting.

Updated

A slight update on movements. Malcolm Turnbull has driven to Government House in Yarralumla, the official residence of the governor general.

Scott Morrison is about to speak to the media back in Parliament House. That’s scheduled for 3pm, so we’ll bring it to you as it happens.

Updated

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Scott Morrison by phone, and seemed warm in her praise of Australia’s new PM, saying he knew New Zealand well.

“I congratulated him on his role. Obviously I don’t need to help him familiarise himself with New Zealand; he has been active in promoting New Zealand to the world. And he acknowledged his warmth for this country. I look forward to building a really strong relationship with him.”

“Regardless of who is in charge we will keep advocating in the same way on behalf of New Zealand. Certainly I will make an assumption here that based on the role he has had in the past he will know New Zealand and its fine attributes really well.”

When asked by a reporter if Morrison was a better choice for Australia then Peter Dutton, Ardern dodged the question.

“Look we constantly make sure that we are the best representatives and advocates that we can be, regardless on who we’re advocating too.”

“I just had a conversation with him about the opportunities we might have to meet in the future, there’s several important fixtures coming up. The UN general assembly, the East Asia summit, Apec, and I look forward to potentially meeting him at any one of those.”

Ardern added that she had not had much to do with Morrison in the past, but her finance minister, Grant Robertson, had.

Leader of the opposition Simon Bridges also congratulated Morrison, and described him as a “warm friend of New Zealand”.

“I would also like to acknowledge Malcolm Turnbull for his commitment to the Australian-New Zealand relationship. Mr Turnbull has been instrumental in ensuring the relationship between our two countries continues to grow from strength to strength and I am confident that this close relationship will continue to grow under Mr Morrison’s leadership.”

pic

Updated

A bit more from Cormann. He says “Malcolm will probably not like me for some time”.

It was a very difficult decision. It was an awful decision to have to make.

I believe it had to be settled more comprehensively than it was earlier in the week.

It’s not something that gave me any pleasure, whatsoever. I genuinely and sincerely enjoyed working with Malcolm. I had a very good working relationship with Malcolm.

Malcolm will probably not like me for some time. It was tough, I made a judgment that it was necessary. In the end all you can do in these jobs, all you can do is make judgments that you believe to be right.

pic
Senate leader Mathias Cormann, Employment Minister Michaelia Cash and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield during their critical decision to abandon Turnbull on Thursday. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

Updated

'I stand by spill against Turnbull': Cormann

One of the key players in all of this, Mathias Cormann, is speaking on Sky News. He effectively sealed Turnbull’s fate on Thursday, when he abandoned the prime minister, along with Michaelia Cash and Mitch Fifield, his frontbench colleagues.

Interestingly, if those three had voted against the spill motion today, it would have been defeated and Turnbull would have remained PM.

Cormann maintains Turnbull had lost the support of the party. He’s asked what Turnbull was doing wrong to warrant his dumping.

The party wasn’t sufficiently united by Turnbull, he says.

Cormann says:

I stand by my judgment. I believe that the ongoing division that we were experiencing … would have been debilitating for the government.

Updated

Liberal MPs are starting to depart parliament.

Warren Entsch, a Queensland MP, tells reporters it would now be “insane” for the conservatives to agitate against the Morrison and Frydenberg leadership team.

We have got two leaders that have come in, leader and deputy, that have clean hands. They’ve got no political blood on their hands. They have been loyal, they have been committed, they have been outstanding performers and they have showed leadership. So I say it’s a great day for us, and I think we can move forward from there.

Updated

A bit more detail on what the Nationals want from prime minister designate Scott Morrison:

  • The regional development and local government portfolio back
  • A new agricultural visa (I’ll try to get more detail on this but the point, I assume, is that it’s hard to attract workers to pick fruit)
  • Money for dams

Nationals lost the regional development and local government portfolio in the December reshuffle when John McVeigh, a regional Liberal from Queensland, got the portfolio.

Turnbull's last press conference as PM

Just to wrap up that final press conference from Turnbull:

  • Turnbull hit out at the “insurgency” that tore down his prime ministership. He described it as a “madness” and named Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott as the instigators. Turnbull also hit out at “powerful media voices”. He said Australians were “dumbstruck” and “appalled”.
  • He acknowledged that climate and energy was a problem for his party, and that much of it was ideological.
  • Turnbull spoke of the difficulties of keeping the broad church of the Liberal party happy. But he said he learned it was crucial, and a lesson he learned from his previous time at the helm of the Liberal party.
  • He listed among his achievements: same-sex marriage, economic growth, Snowy Hydro 2.0, tax reform, defence investment, the redress scheme for child sex abuse, the US refugee resettlement deal, and the cities deal.
  • Turnbull will quit parliament. When? It’s not so clear, but it will be soon, he promises.
  • He praised Scott Morrison for his loyalty, and thanked Christopher Pyne, and Marise Payne.

Updated

Turnbull finishes with this:

I wish you all the best. Above all, I wish the new prime minister elect the very best and his team. Thank you.

He receives applause from the gathered colleagues and staffers who are in the prime minister’s courtyard for this moment.

Turnbull confirms he will leave parliament

Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed he will quit parliament “before too long”.

Any regrets, Malcolm?

We have run a very good government in the sense that we – the cabinet – hasn’t leaked very much, despite your best efforts to cause it to do so. We’ve been united. We’ve had a thoroughly traditional approach so that’s been good.

Now his wife, Lucy, and his grandson Jack arrive by his side.

Updated

Australians 'dumbstruck' and 'appalled' at government's conduct: Turnbull

He’s asked what Australians would think of the past week.

Australians will be just be dumbstruck and so appalled by the conduct of the last week. You know, to imagine that a government would be rocked by this sort of disloyalty and deliberate insurgency, is the best way to describe it, deliberate destructive action.

Turnbull speaks of the difficulty of trying to maintain a broad church in the Liberal party, trying to keep the conservatives and moderates happy.

That has meant that from time to time I have had to compromise and make concessions. It’s something I learnt from my first time as leader that you have to work so hard to keep the show together. That’s the bottom line.

Now, we’re getting into the other bit. He’s blasting his internal opponents.

Turnbull again describes it as a “madness” and talks about the “powerful media voices” who were behind it.

There was a determined insurgency from a number of people both in the party room and backed by voices, powerful voices, in the media.

It was extraordinary. It was described as madness by many, and I think it’s difficult to describe it in any other way.

He gives us an insight into the party room meeting today.

In the party room meeting today I was impressed by how many of my colleagues spoke or voted for loyalty above disloyalty

Updated

The consultancy Capital Economics has also weighed in on the question of how this week’s shenanigans will affect the economy. In a research note today, it wonders whether the chances of a Labor government – which it says is seen as less helpful to businesses – are now more likely.

Labor’s plans to raise government spending, cut taxes for lower income households and raise taxes for higher income households would boost growth, it says. But it is also possible that “Labor’s proposed rises in some taxes would restrain economic growth by a disproportionately large amount”. The net result would be that the RBA would be less likely to increase rates under a Labor administration.

Meanwhile, the ASX200 has perked up in the wake of Morrison’s victory, rising 0.3% on the day to 6,620 points.

Updated

Turnbull thanks his family, and says they have been the subject of unwanted media attention, at times.

I want to thing all my colleagues. I want to thank my staff but above all I want to thank my wife Lucy for her love and support. I want to thank our children, Alex and his wife Yvonne and our daughter Daisy and her husband James. It isn’t easy being either married to or the child of a politician let alone a prime minister.

Updated

Turnbull continuing to talk on his legacy. He talks about the refugee resettlement agreement with the United States, and singles out a key backer, Christopher Pyne, for praise for leading a program of investments in the Australian defence force.

I think it has been a challenging time to be prime minister but I’m very proud of our record. I’m very proud of my government and my ministers’ record in achievement. I want to thank them. I want to thank all my colleagues.

Updated

Turnbull 'optimistic and positive' about Australia's future

Malcolm Turnbull is reflecting on his government’s achievements. He makes a point of listing the achievements of “a progressive Liberal Coalition government”.

It may surprise you on a day like this but I remain very optimistic and positive about our nation’s future, and I want to thank the Australian people for the support they’ve given me and my government over the last nearly three years. We’ve been able to achieve as a progressive government, as a progressive Liberal Coalition government, enormous reforms and very, very substantial achievements.

The achievements he’s listed so far:

  • Snowy Hydro 2.0
  • the railway from Melbourne to Tullamarine
  • strong economic growth
  • taxation reform
  • the legalisation of same-sex marriage
  • the western Sydney airport project

Updated

We’re waiting on Turnbull’s final press conference. It’s imminent.

Will he go out all guns blazing against the conservatives and other “outside” forces, as he did on Thursday? Or will this be more reflective in tone? The latter, you’d expect.

Updated

Australia's credit rating safe for now, says Moody's

First the dollar rebounds and now Australia’s coveted AAA rating is safe after Scott Morrison’s elevation to the Liberal leadership.

The credit rating agency Moody’s has said that the leadership changes “have no implications for Australia’s sovereign credit profile” because it assumes Morrison will stick with existing policy settings. The significance is that if the agency – along with S&P and Fitch – had sniffed any instability they might have considered stripping Australia of its top rating, making it more expensive for the treasurer (whoever that is now) to borrow money.

However, Moody’s does issue a warning that The Lodge’s revolving door has caused some unease:

Australia’s AAA rating is supported by the country’s very high level of economic strength and moderate level of government debt. Our assessment of Australia’s institutional strength takes into account a greater degree of fragmentation in broad political representation at the level of the commonwealth over recent years which, at times, constrains the capacity of successive governments to pursue policy changes.

Updated

Our photographer, Mike Bowers, was in the thick of it earlier, snapping away either side of that momentous party room meeting.

pic
Prime minister designate Scott Morrison and deputy Josh Frydenberg makes emerge from the party room meeting. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
pic
Peter Dutton and Mathias Cormann emerge from the liberal party room meeting. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
pic
The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull makes his way to the party room. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
pic
Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop emerge from the party room. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

Turnbull will address media at 2pm

Malcolm Turnbull will address the media for a final time as prime minister at 2pm.

Malcolm Turnbull’s son wastes no time in telling us:

“I’ll be saying what I think a bit more often from now on.”

Looking forward to it.

Worth noting that the new Liberal party deputy, Josh Frydenberg, was also the man driving the policy so bitterly opposed by the conservative wing: the national energy guarantee.

A reminder that a ReachTel poll on Wednesday night found that Morrison was the least popular of a menu of possible Liberal leaders.

It found Malcolm Turnbull was the preferred Liberal leader with 38%, followed by Julie Bishop (29%), Tony Abbott (14%), Peter Dutton on just 10% and Scott Morrison on 8.6%.

Of course opinion polls don’t dictate the course of the Liberal party room, and Turnbull and Bishop threw their votes behind Morrison, allowing him to consolidate the anti-Dutton vote. But he has a task ahead of him now establishing himself with voters.

Updated

“While Turnbull and I have had our differences ...” says Eric Abetz, who has spent the past few months undermining him. Abetz has released a statement on the election of Morrison. He calls for a “clean start” for the parliamentary Liberal party.

I congratulate and look forward to working with the new Liberal leadership team, Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg, in the best interests of Tasmania and Australia.

Today must mark a clean start for the parliamentary Liberal party and having worked with Mr Morrison well over a number of years, I am certain that he will lead a more consultative parliamentary party, be more responsive to issues raised with him and actively seek to bring back together our broad church.

I am looking forward to working with all my colleagues to serve the people of Australia to the very best of our abilities.

While Mr Turnbull and I have had our differences, I am appreciative in particular for his efforts in Tasmania and I wish him and Lucy well for the future.

pic

Updated

Scott Morrison has just walked back into the

He says he is “off to see the Nationals”. They’ll be pleased this is all over, no doubt.

Some vision of Scott Morrison, our new prime minister, leaving the party room.

Updated

Morrison 'more palatable': Sharkie

The independent MP Rebekha Sharkie – who had threatened to withdraw supply if Peter Dutton won the ballot – is pleased the former home affairs minister lost the ballot but is still making no guarantees.

She told Guardian Australia:

I believe Morrison is a more palatable [leader] to Mayo compared to Dutton (from what I can tell from emails so far). I hope we can now return to stable government but I will reserve a position on confidence until I get feedback from my community.

Updated

Dan Tehan is warning us all to be careful of the Coalition’s “laser-like focus” ahead of the next election. We’ll have never seen such focus, he says.

The focus will be so laser-like that you won’t know what’s hit you.

Updated

Morrison emerges from the room, but doesn’t speak. He says he’ll address the nation later in the day.

The former health minister, Greg Hunt, emerges. He speaks:

Two incredible people and two incredible friends have been elected as prime minister and deputy leader of the Liberal party.

I think what we have now is a new generation, a next generation of leadership. Two incredible people of extraordinary integrity and capability. They will give Australia a real change at success..

Isn’t Morrison/Frydenberg just a continuation of Turnbull?

You’ll see that they’ll put a fresh face on it, it’s a next generation government.

Dutton pledges loyalty to Morrison

Peter Dutton is speaking.

My course from here is to provide absolute loyalty to Scott Morrison to make sure that we win the election and that we defeat Bill Shorten.

Tony Abbott is next.

We’ve lost a prime minister but we still have a government to save, that is what we will all do our best to do now ... We are the custodians of a great political tradition.

Updated

Down with Turnbull, up with Morrison, what next?

I bumped into a conservative in the corridor on the way to the party room briefing. I expressed commiserations for the difficulties of the day. The MP said to me he was relieved that the brutal transaction would shortly be over. He said he was hopeful. I told him this seemed a strange emotion, in the circumstances.

He said: “The party is taking the government back.”

It’s a useful way of expressing what’s happened over the past couple of weeks – the ritual banishment of the outsider, Malcolm Turnbull– but the question is what party is taking what government back?

The Liberal party is divided. So is the government. This has been the most vicious leadership contest of them all. Australian politics, and all who watch it, have touched the depths of despair over the course of the past week.

By electing Scott Morrison as leader, the Liberal party is attempting to bridge the divide with a candidate who began his career as a moderate and morphed into a conservative.

That truce, to me, looks entirely uneasy.

With the Dutton push, conservatives have attempted to impose their authority on the Liberal party, seizing it from moderates with the objective of crushing them and consigning the Turnbull experiment to history.

It was a battle of brute force, not of diplomacy and persuasion. It was about an assertion of power – a statement of who should wield it, and even more importantly, who shouldn’t wield it.

They’ve lost the battle, at least in this round.

In the end, they were outflanked, and Turnbull used his last hours in office to help deliver the hammer blow.

Now that it’s done, there will be talk of healing. I’m sure there will be healing gestures.

But this has been politics at its most brutal. The Australian public have watched, and they won’t forget it.

Now for the reckoning, internally and externally.

Updated

Malcolm Turnbull has just left the party room, flanked by Julie Bishop, the deputy Liberal leader. He was all smiles, but didn’t stop to speak to the media. We’re likely to hear from him later.

The Christian lobby has wasted no time in welcoming Morrison to the leadership. Morrison is an avowed Christian and an active member of an evangelical church.

Nationals MP says he will still go to crossbench, despite Morrison win

The Nationals MP Kevin Hogan just told me he still plans to go to the crossbench as a result of the leadership spill in the Liberal party – his warning shot before the party room was that any spill would trigger that move, it wasn’t about who emerged as Liberal leader.

However, Hogan has written a letter guaranteeing confidence and supply to the Coalition government.

It’s likely there will be no issue of confidence and supply for Scott Morrison – once the Coalition agreement is put back into place, Hogan’s confirmation of confidence and supply means it won’t fall on the floor of the lower house.

We can have technical arguments about whether having 75 MPs with one in the Speaker’s chair makes it a minority government, though.

Updated

Aussie dollar spikes on Morrison victory

The currency has risen sharply after the treasurer secured the path to the top office, jumping 0.4% to US72.82c.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg becomes deputy Liberal leader

The whip is addressing the media. She announces Josh Frydenberg was elected deputy.

She says:

A ballot conducted in the party room for the leadership of the Liberal party. The successful candidate was Scott Morrison and he won this vote by 45 votes to 40 for Peter Dutton

In relation to the deputy position, this was won in an overwhelming sense ... by Josh Frydenberg.

Updated

The government whip, Nola Marino, is approaching the press to announce the results formally.

A momentous moment in Australian political history. Scott Morrison to become Australia’s 30th prime minister. The Liberal party room meeting is still going. There’s still the deputy vote to come. We’ll soon hear from the whip on the official result.

Who is Morrison? The man who has made the journey from the Shire to The Lodge.

We profiled the former treasurer this morning. Here’s a flavour:

The boy from the Shire – a cluster of southern beach suburbs in Sydney renowned for its churches, lack of ethnic diversity and embrace of suburban life – was never going to be left out of the scramble for power that’s convulsing the Coalition.

He will be hoping his track record as a political warrior, but with a slightly less confrontational style and no constitutional complications, will give him the edge over fellow conservative, Peter Dutton, who has precipitated the challenge.

The son of a policeman and an active member of the ShireLive evangelical church, Morrison wears his political ambition and his conservative credentials proudly.

He voted No on same-sex marriage, listed “church” as one of his interests in his Who’s Who report, and counts former prime minister John Howard as his political inspiration.

Before he entered parliament, Morrison was a wheeler and dealer in NSW Liberal Right politics and was always going to go places.

But his overweening ambition, and his preparedness to swap allegiances to further his own position, may count against him in what has become a fight over the heart and soul of the Liberal party.

pic

Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

Updated

Scott Morrison Australia's next PM, wins vote 45-40

Scott Morrison has won the leadership spill 45 votes to Dutton’s 40. He will become the next prime minister of Australia. Dutton, despite all the turmoil of this week, has lost the spill.

Turnbull’s preferred candidate gets in. What will this mean for the Liberal party and the bitter dispute, driven by conservatives, that has done it so much damage already? Will the Dutton/Abbott conservatives be content with this result? Hard to say they will be.

Updated

There are early reports coming through of numbers. We’ve made a decision, due to all the misinformation during this spill, to wait and confirm the results.

Stay tuned, folks. It won’t be long now. My computer, sensing the import of this moment, has decided it doesn’t want to work anymore. So that’s fun. Never fear, I am wresting control back from the gremlins.

Spill motion carried 45-40

The spill motion has been carried 45-40. So a leadership contest will take place and Turnbull is done.

The meeting is on. The 85 Liberals in that party room meeting are, right now, deciding between Scott Morrison, Julie Bishop and Peter Dutton. Have the conservatives done enough to get Dutton over the line? Or has the time bought by Turnbull given either Morrison or Bishop the chance to drag Liberals back over to their side?

pic

Updated

We also saw Arthur Sinodinos, a Liberal MP, walk in with Turnbull. Sinodinos has been battling cancer for the past year, so it’s a great sign that he’s been able to travel to Canberra for this meeting. He’s also another vote against the conservative candidate, Peter Dutton.

Right, we think most of the party room is in the meeting now. We’re now in the period of waiting for a result.

Who will be our next prime minister? Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison, or Julie Bishop?

Malcolm Turnbull is walking to the party room with his close ally Craig Laundy. Laundy has stuck with Turnbull through and through.

Just a bit more on the optics. On the surface, it’s illustrative that the moderates in the Liberals are fractured. Bishop and Morrison walk in by themselves.

Updated

A crowd has started to gather in the members’ hall, the square hall at the centre of parliament, positioning themselves between Malcolm Turnbull’s office/bunker and the party room.

It’s mostly public servants although there are some staffers – and it has more of an air of morbid curiosity than a guard of honour.

Mathias Cormann and Peter Dutton have just walked past.

Updated

Peter Dutton is now approaching the party room meeting with his good friend and key player Mathias Cormann.

Scott Morrison is walking in by himself.

Julie Bishop is walking in by herself.

The optics are important here. But remember, we’re expecting this leadership contest to be close.

Updated

Party room meeting at 12.20pm

We’ve confirmed that meeting will take place at 12.20pm.

Sky News is reporting the party room meeting will take place at 12.20pm.

They’re also showing us close-up shots of microphones and explaining their function. So, yeah.

The wait continues. Anticipation palpable. We’re still in this process of verification. We’re also still waiting on a firm time for the party room meeting. Won’t be long now.

Some more interesting movements past the ministerial wing.

The Victorian Liberal president and party powerbroker Michael Kroger is walking through the ministerial wing.

He’s asked if this has become a farce. His response:

I don’t think so. It’s happened before, it’ll happen again.

Updated

Some movement near the prime minister’s office, as we prepare to watch him leave his office.

Our correspondent in the ministerial wing, Gareth Hutchens, tells us:

They’re setting up some bollards and ropes to keep the media in a confined, safer, area before the PM and his entourage leave the ministerial wing for the party room. The security guards are being helpful. They realise it’s a momentous occasion.

Updated

Well, there you go people. You’ve heard it from our second-in-charge. There’s no embarassment for the government in this shambles. Reassuring. But hey, that’s what happens when crisis becomes the only constant in Australian politics.

There’s a bit of time now, while this petition is verified. Forty-three names are on there. Sit tight.

While we wait, consider this. These are Turnbull’s last moments in that office. When the party room meets and a leadership spill is called, he will step aside. He’s not running in the ballot and says he will quit parliament. He has said that before, mind you.

So, what’s next for the Liberal party? The excellent David Marr analysed their prospects if they choose the Queensland option, Peter Dutton. His conclusion? It ain’t looking great.

Marr:

The assumption that he’s a potent adversary of his party’s enemies in Queensland looks very shaky in the light of focus groups of undecided voters held in the last few days in his seat of Dickson.

He’s no hero to them. They haven’t forgotten – as Canberra strangely has in the turmoil of the last few days – that Dutton made his reputation imprisoning women and children out in the islands. These voters want the boats stopped but they reckon their MP is heartless, cruel and not very bright.

Dickson is not a bleak outer suburb of Brisbane. It’s leafy and only a quarter of an hour from town. It’s mostly middle-class. The notion that this is some uniquely Queensland electorate is rubbish. There are electorates like this across Australia. If Dutton can’t hold on to his – and his margin is only about 2% – then how is he, as prime minister, going to hold such electorates across the nation?

Updated

Mood.

pic

Turnbull verifying names on petition

Turnbull is now verifying the names on the petition, which “should not take long”.

Then the meeting will be called.

More time, more valuable time for Dutton’s opponents.

What’s going on?

Not entirely clear. But Dutton has walked the petition round to Turnbull’s office to try and force the issue – here is the petition, here are the signatures. There was some talk among MPs last night that given the claims of bullying there might be a process of verification of the signatures.

Not clear whether that’s the hold up here: whether Turnbull or Pyne or others are insisting that these names be checked.

Updated

The chief government whip, Nola Marino, has just left Turnbull’s office, our reporter Gareth Hutchens tells me.

Julie Bishop has also just left.

Almost before I can take a breath, Dutton leaves Turnbull’s office.

He can’t have been in there for more than a couple of minutes. Sounds very much like he walked in, showed the petition, and left.

Updated

Peter Dutton enters Turnbull's office

Gareth Hutchens has just watched Peter Dutton walk into Malcolm Turnbull’s office, paper in hand.

Julie Bishop has walked in too.

Looks like this is it.

Crossbencher says Liberals are risking her guarantee of confidence

Independent MP for Indi, Cathy McGowan, has given a doorstop about how she is handling the Lib spill.

The long and the short of it is: my agreement is with Malcolm Turnbull and after that, all bets are off.

McGowan:

I’m not opting out of my decision and I’m not sitting on the fence. I’m in a very precarious situation. I had an agreement with the prime minister of Australia which we negotiated over a very long period of time, on policy, what needs to be done and what the needs of my electorate are and I hold to that agreement. I said I would support him - and I did that this week - in confidence motions and on supply. What the Liberal Party is doing in breaking their agreement with their leader is putting the crossbench and me in particular into a very awkward situation.

I’m not sitting on the fence, I’m waiting for them now to sort it out. My hope is Malcolm stays as prime minister for four or five months and we have an election. My agreement remains with Malcolm. If the Liberal Party changes their leader, they need to come speak with me with their policies, with their arrangements and they need to negotiate with me. As I’ve said to the people of Indi, I won’t be doing any deals I will not my sell my vote. I’ll look at policies, I’ll look at leadership credentials, the person, the team and then I will reach my decision.

pic
Cathy McGowan after the house of representatives adjourned early in Parliament House Canberra on Thursday Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

Preselections threatened in leadership spill: Scott

We’ve heard throughout the week of some of the standover tactics used in this leadership spill. Politics is a bruising game, there’s no doubt. But the level of bullying and intimidation has prompted many, including the Liberal senator Linda Reynolds, to decry the current state of their party.

Former Liberal MP Fiona Scott has just appeared on Sky News. She says Liberal MPs have had their preselections threatened unless they switch to the Dutton camp. Extraordinary.

I’ve had a couple of people having their preselections challenged against them. In relation to comments even [Queensland Liberal MP] Gary Hargrave made not too long ago, where he’s saying well if Peter Dutton doesn’t get up, the civil war will continue, we will just keep marching through, that’s not uniting the party.

A couple of people that I’ve spoken to across the various camps hate that rhetoric. And at the end of the day they’re sitting there saying ‘well I’m going to lose my seat anyway, I’m just going to go with my heart’.

Updated

Our reporter Gareth Hutchens has just told us the government whip, Nola Marino, is back in the PM’s office, having just left his office. Trying times for live bloggers, let me tell you.

Touchdown in camp Dutton

While the Morrison camp is sounding upbeat this morning, Dutton HQ is keeping calm, and carrying on. “We’re confident,” on key person told me a minute ago.

There are reports the petition has gone to the whip’s office. The whip’s office are not confirming that yet, but it’s a formality in any case. I can’t see this meeting not going ahead.

pic
Peter Dutton during a division where the opposition tried to have him referred to the high court on Thursday. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

Updated

Our reporter Gareth Hutchens is down in the ministerial wing of Parliament House. He’s just told me the chief government whip, Nola Marino, just left the PM’s office. You’ll remember that Marino is responsible for organising this meeting and will receive the petition, when it’s ready with 43 signatures.

Updated

Let’s just stop for a moment, in this madness, to consider what is currently happening in Australian politics. We’re about an hour away from a party room meeting that will decide the next leader of our country. And one of the leading candidates is trying to prove he has been eligible to sit in parliament for the better part of a decade.

There are truly no words.

I’m just going to leave this link here. Click it if it all gets too much.

Updated

Dutton says advice proves he is 'capable of sitting'

Peter Dutton has just issued a statement. He thinks the solicitor general’s advice puts him in the clear. Dutton says it puts to rest the “false, unsubstantiated and malicious” claims about his eligibility.

He also refers to his own advice, which he’s previously released.

Today I received advice from the solicitor general that in his view I am capable of sitting as a member of the House of Representatives.

This confirms the legal advice which I received from the former solicitor general David Bennett AC QC yesterday and the advice I received from Guy Reynolds SC on 4 December 2017 and 23 August 2018.

David Bennett AC QC, who served 10 years as commonwealth solicitor general, was recently successful in the high court in Re Canavan and provided advice to Malcolm Turnbull on the eligibility of Justine Keay, Susan Lamb and Rebekha Sharkie, later confirmed by the high court.

The consistent and strong advice which I have received puts to rest the false, unsubstantiated and malicious claims regarding my eligibility to sit as a member of parliament.

Updated

Labor is, as you’d imagine, less than convinced by the solicitor general’s advice about Dutton’s eligibility. Anthony Albanese says:

This guy thinks that’s an acceptable level of assurance that he even has a right to sit in the parliament, and he wants to be the prime minister of the nation. It’s extraordinary.

Updated

Quick situation report

Down in the bunker, the feeling now is this is a two-horse race, and numbers are tight as a fish’s you-know-what. Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison are neck and neck according to people counting. Julie Bishop, according to these accounts, doesn’t have enough primary votes to survive the first ballot.

A senior government figure told me a couple of minutes ago that Morrison has pulled ahead, but this version of events is more declarative than other versions I’ve had in the last 10 minutes.

People in the Morrison camp are also saying the former communications minister Mitch Fifield (who resigned his cabinet position yesterday) has come across from Dutton. I don’t have primary confirmation from Fifield, I’m seeking that, but I’m told this by people I trust.

ALL information needs to be treated with caution over the next couple of hours, because powerbrokers sprinkle it out to journalists doing live coverage to try and influence the votes of the undecideds.

They play with the basic herd instinct of politics: the objective is to trigger stampedes of various types.

But as best I know, this is the current outlook.

Updated

Dutton's electorate does not support his rebellion: poll

A fresh ReachTel poll of 867 voters in Peter Dutton’s seat of Dickson show even they don’t support his push against Malcolm Turnbull.

The poll found 52.5% oppose Dutton attempting to replace Turnbull, of those 38.9% strongly oppose it and 13.6% oppose it.

On the other hand, 37.6% support Dutton attempting to replace Turnbull, of those 29.8% strongly support it and 7.8% support it.

It’s important to note that it’s possible some of those who don’t support the push do prefer Dutton to Turnbull. A sensible Liberal voter might recognise that the week’s events destabilise the Liberal Party and make Labor more likely to win and Bill Shorten to become prime minister.

That could weigh Dutton’s numbers down, even if they wanted him to be PM.

Stock market steady, but dollar on knife edge

Australian shares have opened stronger this morning with the ASX200 benchmark index up 17 points or 0.3% to 6,261 points.

But the political situation is being reflected more in the fall in the Aussie dollar, known as “AUD” in trading circles. It has dropped almost 1% in the past 24 hours to US72.46c with some traders thinking it could drop again if the Liberal party can’t agree on a new leader. On the other hand, a clear win for one candidate could easily send the dollar soaring.

Investors will also now be looking at how the turmoil could play out in the next few months and whether any new government – be it Coalition or even Labor if a general election is needed – will be able to function properly.

Chris Weston of Pepperstone in Melbourne says:

The news flow coming from Canberra is keeping traders away from the AUD ... The news flow will continue to roll in today with another leadership challenge likely to be called. Betting markets still have Labor firmly as taking the lower house, but the issue of how policy is passed through the Senate suggests the passing of any future legislation could be a real issue, similar in many ways to that of the US after the mid-terms. This has to be an AUD negative, as the ability for Labor to address the deficit and raise taxes by A$223bn over 10 years will diminish. The views around Australia’s AAA-credit rating from the likes of S&P and Moody’s in the wake of the election is going to be a market mover.

Updated

If you haven’t had the chance, take the time to read this incisive account of the Liberal party’s leadership wrangling from our political editor, Katharine Murphy.

Here’s a taste:

After the prime minister refused to accept the resignations of the ministers who had lined up behind Peter Dutton in Tuesday’s snap leadership ballot, the government man noted ruefully:

“Malcolm has always coddled his enemies and not the people who save his arse.

“It’s been olive branch after olive branch. Eventually they will shove that olive branch up his arse.”

As premonitions go, it was apposite. That is precisely what happened, and then some.

By Thursday, the government had collapsed, and the Australian parliament was in the throes of a meltdown unparalleled even by the standards of the past decade, when chaos established itself as the new normal of politics.

Andy Vesey, the chief executive of AGL Energy, is stepping down.

AGL told the stock exchange this morning that Vesey was no longer a member of the board.

Just two weeks ago, as rumours swirled about Vesey’s tenure, he declared he had “no intentions of going anywhere.”

But now AGL has replaced Vesey with an interim CEO “effective today.”

To ensure a smooth transition, he will remain employed by AGL in an “advisory capacity” to the board until 31 December.

Brett Redman, AGL’s chief financial officer, has been appointed interim CEO, and while Redman performs the role, his fixed remuneration will be $1.05m a year, and he will get an additional $100,000 for each month pro-rated for any part-month.

Vesey had been head of AGL for almost four years, during one of the most tumultuous periods in Australia’s energy policy history.

He endured the ire of members of the federal Coalition, such as Tony Abbott, because he had insisted on closing AGL’s ageing Liddell power station.

In May, he rejected a bid from Alinta to buy Liddell, and confirmed the power station would shut in 2022, saying Alinta’s offer was “not in the best interests of AGL or its shareholders”.

Tony Abbott then pounced on the decision, using his regular radio spot on 2GB to brand it as a “strike against the national interest in the same way a militant union might strike against the national interest”.

Abbott then repeated his demand that the government compulsorily acquire Liddell.

The former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce also blasted AGL. “We need to grab AGL, cart them back in and say, ‘This is BS, you are taking us for a ride, you think we are fools and the Australian people are not, and they are not going to pay for your market manipulation, which is what is coming next’.”

Joyce has previously accused AGL of “shorting” the market by hanging on to Liddell rather than selling it to a competitor prepared to extend its operating life – a charge the company rejected.

pic
The chief executive of AGL Energy, Andy Vesey. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Updated

Entsch confirms he has signed petition

Liberal MP Warren Entsch has now signed the petition calling for a party room meeting, Guardian Australia understands.

You’ll remember he previously said he would provide the 43rd signature, if needed.

It looks a certainty now that this party room meeting will happen and a spill called.

John Alexander, a former tennis great and Liberal MP from NSW, made a similar point to Buchholz earlier. He was speaking to reporters outside parliament, and said the Liberals had not learned their lessons from the previous Abbott-Turnbull spill.

He says:

We are now committing another act of self-harm, greater than the last.

It’s often asked what did playing tennis have to do with politics? A good tennis player, when they lose or make mistakes, they learn from them and try not to do them again. So I can only hope that what we have endured in the last week, we learn this most bitter lesson.

The Liberal backbench MP John Alexander
The Liberal backbench MP John Alexander. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Turnbull backer says 'political system is broken' and calls for change

Scott Buchholz, a Queensland Liberal MP and Turnbull backer, is speaking to reporters outside parliament.

Buchholz has signed the petition for party room meeting. This just shows us, again, that MPs from all factions now want a party room meeting. It’s not just Dutton’s camp, although they began circulating the petition.

This morning I signed a letter and I caveated the letter that I supported the office of the prime minister, not the original intent of the letter, which was to support a particular candidate. I do not. I supported the letter because it has morphed ... into a document to bring on a party room meeting so that this can be resolved.

Buchholz, importantly, calls for mechanisms to be put in place to stop the kind of leadership challenges that have blighted Australian politics in the past decade.

He doesn’t detail how you would implement such a mechanism, which risks clashing with fundamental tenets of the Westminister system.

But he declares “our system is broken”.

We have just had it up to the back teeth with the revolving door prime ministership. If I had a wish list, I would wish for two things. One, that we put in mechanisms that prevent this from happening again in the future. And secondly, we look at how we can discourage people who join a political party and then the very day that they’re elected or the day after, they join another party. Cory Bernardi, Jacqui Lambie, Glenn Lazarus, and the half a dozen who have fled from One Nation. That must stop. Our system is broken and it is time for a review.

Updated

So that advice, in reality, has thrown more confusion into the mix.

Now, one of the leading constitutional experts in the country, George Williams, says the advice is “spot on”, and says only the high court can now resolve this question. Yikes.

The advice is equivocal, if nothing else. The solicitor general says he thinks “there to be some risk” that the high court could conclude there is conflict between Dutton’s duties as a parliamentarian and his personal interests.

Are you scratching your head about all this?

Just to get back to the bare facts, Dutton is under a cloud because he owns, through a trust, a childcare company that has received millions in subsidies from the federal government. The constitution (s44(v)) bars MPs from holding a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in an agreement with the commonwealth. It’s a law designed, at its most basic level, designed to ensure parliamentarians act in the best interests of the people, and not their personal interest.

Updated

SG, hedging like a boss, in continuation

The advice continues.

Reading on from the paragraph in the last post.

For those reasons I consider there to be some risk, particularly in light of the substantial size of the payments that appear to have been made by the commonwealth to RHT Investments, that the high court might conclude that there is a conflict between Mr Dutton’s duty as a parliamentarian and his personal interests.The court might consider those payments to have created the expectation of benefit to Mr Dutton, on the basis that they would contribute to the amount of surplus income available to be distributed to beneficiaries of the RHT Family Trust, and that Mr Dutton had an indirect pecuniary interest on that basis. However, while that risk cannot be entirely discounted, it would remain necessary for the court to identify an agreement in which Mr Dutton held that interest. I am unable to identify such an agreement. For that reason, I consider that the high court is more likely to conclude that the size of the payments made to RHT Investments is not relevant to the s44(v) analysis, because those payments were made pursuant to statutory entitlements of particular individuals who use child care services operated by RHT Investments. 11. Finally, I consider it unlikely that Mr Dutton is disqualified by reason of payments made to RHT Investments under the Inclusion Support Programme (ISP).

Finally, I consider it unlikely that Mr Dutton is disqualified by reason of payments made to RHT Investments under the Inclusion Support Programme (ISP).

Then roll through to paragraph 69, and the SG says it’s “not possible to reach a definitive conclusion on that matter without more detailed factual information”.

Updated

Not incapable (probably, I think) says the SG

Pity the poor, Stephen Donaghue, the commonwealth solicitor general, caught in the middle of this horrific dogfight.

The SG has given a nuanced position on Peter Dutton’s eligibility. “On the facts set out below, in my opinion the better view is that Mr Dutton is not incapable of sitting as a member of the House of Representatives by reasons of s44(v) of the constitution”.

Then there’s more qualification.

While I consider the position summarised above to represent the better view, it is impossible to state the position with certainty. That is so for three reasons. First, the facts concerning Mr Dutton are unlike those that have previously been assessed against s44(v). Second, as I note below, there may be further facts of which I am presently unaware. Third, there is a significant division of opinion on the high court as to key questions concerning the legal operation of s44(v), which creates some difficulty in predicting the manner in which the court would analyse the facts. There is a possibility, consistently with the approach that the high court recently took in the context of s44(i) of the constitution, that the court might endeavour to create a clearer line in the interests of certainty, which might involve a broader reading of s44(v) than was reflected in some of the judgments in Re Day (No 2).

Updated

Petition still not at 42

The momentum towards the party room meeting now looks unstoppable but just for the record, Warren Entsch tells me the Dutton petition is still one short.

Entsch has offered to be the 43rd signature to break the deadlock, just to ensure the leadership spiral doesn’t go beyond today. But the Dutton folks haven’t turned up with the document yet.

“I don’t want to leave here without a meeting,” he tells me.

Entsch is in a state of total despair about the state of federal politics.

This cancer started when Brendan Nelson got trashed, and it’s never been the bloody same since. Rolling leaders has become a culture. We’ve got to clean it. We have to. It’s about time for a bit of loyalty, a bit of respect.

pic
Christopher Pyne with Trent Zimmerman, right, and Warren Entsch, left, in December. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

Updated

Advice says 'better view' is that Dutton is 'not incapable' of sitting

Right, we’ve now got that legal advice in full. It’s slightly more qualified than previously reported.

The crucial paragraph says the following:

On the facts set out below, in my opinion the better view is that Mr Dutton is not incapable of sitting as a member of the House of Representatives by reasons of s 44(v) of the Constitution.

We are still working through this advice. It’s 27 pages long and it landed in my inbox about a minute ago. As you can appreciate with constitutional law, it’s dense and legalistic. Stay with us.

Updated

The 2GB radio host Ray Hadley has just had a spray at Malcolm Turnbull on his morning radio show.

He’s very angry that Turnbull is refusing to fall on his sword politely.

His complaint – which mirrors the complaints of other media showmen who have been stridently anti-Turnbull, like Sky News’ Andrew Bolt – is that Turnbull has laid some booby traps for Dutton on his way out the door.

“It’s a low, low act,” Hadley declared.

He then swerved topics, saying no one but Dutton will have the ability to address the problem with Australia’s immigration levels.

“If Scott Morrison’s the prime minister there’ll be no chance because he’s been fervent supporter of maintaining a couple of hundred thousand people a year. So too has Julie Bishop,” he said. “The only person who wants to change it is Peter Dutton.

“I have lived for the bulk of my life in Sydney. Now previously on the program I’ve shared with you the battle to cross from where I live in the north-western part of Sydney to somewhere like Leichhardt Oval on a Thursday to arrive going to the football.

“Getting from one part of Sydney to another is almost impossible during peak, whether you’re going from the north side – the northern beaches – to the [Sutherland] Shire, or you’re going to the south-west on the M5 or going to the west on the M2, the M7, or going north on the M1.

“It’s just an impossible mission.

“Sydney is bursting at the seams. It doesn’t matter which way you go … and yet there’s very little discussion from key people in politics about supporting a slowdown in immigration, like Dick Smith has advocated for quite some time, like [former Labor NSW premier] Bob Carr has advocated for quite some time.

“It’s one of the biggest issues confronting capital cities in the country and it’s a really big issue for those of us who live in Sydney at the moment or Melbourne, and to a lesser extent Brisbane.”

pic
The radio broadcaster Ray Hadley. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Updated

Dutton 'not incapable' of sitting in parliament: reports

Sky News is reporting the solicitor general’s advice finds that Peter Dutton is “not incapable” of sitting as a member of parliament. That will be of significant relief for Dutton.

We’re still working to get a copy of the advice in full and will let you know, as soon as we have it.

Updated

Attorney general confirms advice on Dutton's eligibility received

Another significant development. The attorney general, Christian Porter, has confirmed the advice on Dutton’s eligibility has been received from the solicitor general. The statement reads:

I have today received advice from the solicitor general, Mr Stephen Donoghue QC, regarding the eligibility of Mr Peter Dutton to sit as a member of the House of Representatives.

That advice has been provided to both the prime minister and to Mr Dutton.

We don’t yet have the advice. But there are indications it will be released publicly ahead of the party room meeting.

Updated

Liberal MPs are continuing to arrive at parliament this morning. Most, it’s fair to say, look suitably despondent about the crisis gripping their party.

Sarah Henderson, a Victorian Liberal, says:

I am personally devastated by what is occurring. We just have to get through today as quickly as we can and reunite.

We’re also hearing more and more MPs saying they signed the petition just to resolve this mess with urgency. That does not mean they’re backing Dutton, obviously.

It seems pretty safe to say those 43 signatures (a majority of the party) will be on this thing by morning’s end.

Alex Hawke, a NSW Liberal and assistant minister, had this to say:

It’s a big thing today to sign a petition but there are good people on that petition.

I think people today want to have this resolved. I think colleagues want to have it resolved I do think people will sign the petition, I think they will sign the petition not because they want to, but because they want to see the issue resolved today.

Updated

We’re getting reports in that the prime minister has received that critical piece of legal advice about the eligibility of Peter Dutton and will publish it publicly. We are trying to confirm those reports as we speak.

This is the advice, you’ll remember, from the solicitor general that Turnbull so desperately wanted to put before the party room meeting ahead of a spill.

The advice will play a critical role in this whole saga. If the advice is unequivocal that Dutton is not eligible, it could throw a real spanner in the works for his leadership ambitions. Remember, only the high court can rule Dutton eligible or ineligible for office, and only the lower house can refer Dutton to the high court.

But if the solicitor general rules him ineligible, the question becomes this: could the party elect a prime minister that is more than likely not eligible for parliament? Or would it be enough to sway more MPs over to a Morrison or Bishop vote?

Updated

The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, spoke to ABC radio a little earlier this morning. He made the point that whatever happens in this ballot, action on climate change, however meek, now looks unlikely. Turnbull dumped his signature energy and climate policy to appease conservatives, who then decided it wasn’t enough and knifed him anyway.

Turnbull announced the policy wouldn’t be taken to the next election, and you’d hardly expect any of his successors to backtrack on that, given it precipitated the demise of the PM.

Here’s what Di Natale had to say:

Regardless of who wins the ballot, we’re not going to see any action on climate change. At a time when 100% of NSW is in drought, we’ve had bushfires right across NSW, in winter for goodness sake. We’ve got the Great Barrier Reef on the brink of collapse. We’ve got no energy policy now.

We have a party that has decided that it’s own pathway to electoral success is to talk about the fact that we’ve got to many people coming to this country, rather than addressing infrastructure and all those things that we know lead to a decent society.

The reality is that the Liberal party now, right now, is controlled by a backward looking, rightwing faction, that are trying to take us back decades.

Updated

Warren Entsch declares he will be 43rd signature

Right, we’ve got some immediate breaking news.

Warren Entsch, a Queensland Liberal who played a critical role supporting the same-sex marriage debate, has just indicated he will be the 43rd signature on the petition, if needed.

He adds to a pool of Liberal MPs who are signing this petition out of frustration with the current mess. He wants stability and a resolution to the deadlock.

Entsch is an interesting character. He gives lie to the fact that you need to lurch to the right to win votes in Queensland. That’s the motivation behind Dutton’s push for the leadership after the disastrous byelection result in Longman.

Updated

Hello, and thanks to Michael McGowan for giving me some much-needed sleep this morning.

We’re about three hours out from the all-important party room meeting. So buckle up, let’s walk hand-in-hand together across this political wasteland.

I was despairing at the state of affairs when I got home late last night. But then a plucky little fella named Burt Reynolds made me smile, despite the inanity of it all. He’s ready for a spill. So I suppose we all should be too.

Updated

Right, that’s going to do me for the morning. I’ll hand you back to the more than capable hands of Christopher Knaus in Canberra.

Before I go, here’s a quick run down of where we are at.

  • It now appears certain that there will be a party room meeting at noon. MPs have suggested the petition is at or extremely close to the required 43 signatures, and the president of the Liberal Party Nick Greiner has contacted Turnbull today to push him to hold the meeting either way.
  • If and when it goes ahead, it will be a three-way race between Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop.
  • This morning Matthias Cormann reconfirmed his support for Dutton, but was less than effusive when asked about his idea to remove GST from power bills.

Thanks for reading.

Kevin Andrews, a Howard-era conservative and Victorian MP, has just spoken to reporters.

Asked whether he thought Turnbull should remain in parliament to keep the government’s margin alive, he said:

I would hope everyone involved in this will act honourably and do what’s in the best interests of stable government in Australia

Look, it’s almost certain you’re going to have a new prime minister today. You don’t get to vote, of course, but you still ought to know who the candidates are. Luckily, we’ve got you covered.

How might Australia’s Indigenous and migrant populations react to a Peter Dutton prime ministership?

Dutton was one of only a handful of MPs who boycotted Kevin Rudd’s apology for the stolen generations in 2008.

He’s also made incendiary comments about particular migrant groups and crime in Australia. In 2016 he suggested the former prime minister Malcolm Fraser made mistakes “bringing some people in”, in reference to Lebanese-Muslim Australians.

Yesterday, my colleagues and I heard from some members of those communities, some of whom said they were “deeply worried” at the prospect of him leading the nation.

Read the piece here.

Earlier Ben Morton said he thought he may have been the 43rd name. It seems certain now that one way or another we’re going to have this midday spill meeting.

Just back to that Cormann interview on Sky. He seemed less than enthusiastic about Dutton’s key policy platform: removing GST from power bills.

You’ll remember Cormann stood next to Scott Morrison only two days ago when the Treasurer said the policy would be a “budget blower”.

Asked about the policy Cormann said Dutton had made “certain comments as a backbench member of parliament” and that if he was elected it would be “discussed through normal cabinet processes”.

That seems like code for, yeah, probably not.

Cormann also said that whoever becomes leader would honour the government’s previous commitments on GST. That’s a big deal for Western Australia.

Updated

It’s not often that the Aussie dollar is the main story on foreign exchange markets but today is the exception. The currency has suffered a 1.4% fall in the past 24 hours as investors have taken fright at the instability in Canberra.

As market analyst Greg McKenna says this morning, it’s not often that Australian politics moves the dollar – which is more senstive to overseas factors – but this time it’s different. Greg writes on axitrader.com:

All I can say is what a shambles. And I guess I have to say that my comments this week that politics doesn’t usually upset Australian markets was wrong. It’s usually been the case over my career that it doesn’t matter to trader. But I guess in a world of Trump, Brexit, Putin, Erdogan, Duterte and many other populist leaders the type of instability and lurch in policy Dutton has already articulated, combined with the reality that the whole world knows this will be Rudd-Gillard-Rudd-Abbott-Turnbull-Dutton/Morrison/Bishop has simply given the bears the whip hand on a day the USD was doing better anyway. So the path of least resistance for the Aussie was lower.

This chart shows what Greg means. The initial ructions in Canberra didn’t really affect the dollar too much. But in the past 24 hours you can see it’s lost quite a lot of ground as the leadership spill has dragged on (the timings on this chart are in BST). Markets never like uncertainty and the dollar is paying the price.

Australian dollar over past five days.
Australian dollar over past five days. Photograph: Yahoo Finance

Michael Kroger, the Liberal president for Victoria, has just confirmed state party directors had dinner last night and decided that party president Nick Greiner would contact Turnbull to say they want the leadership issue resolved today.

Greiner has now done that. Kroger won’t say what Turnbull’s response was.

There’s no reason why this meeting shouldn’t be held. Meetings have been held [with] two signatures.

Greiner doesn’t say whether or not they have the 43 signatures, but the heads of the party want the meeting anyway to resolve the leadership saga.

He says he’s sure that “reflects the views of Liberal party members around the country”.

Updated

Senior Liberal senator Mathias Cormann is being interviewed on Sky News. Cormann’s resignation from the frontbench yesterday was really the end of Malcolm Turnbull’s government, given his sway in the party.

He reconfirmed he’ll be supporting Peter Dutton for leader in the event of a party room meeting. He says he “would have preferred” if Turnbull had called the meeting earlier, but he’s “very confident” it will take place today.

Cormann says he’s backing Dutton because he’s the candidate “best able to connect with hard working, aspirational families in Australia”.

Peter Dutton connects very well to hard-working, aspirational Australians ... he will be able to reconnect with the Howard battlers [and] bring them back into Liberal fold. He knows what it takes.

On section 44 questions, Cormann says he’s confident Dutton is eligible to be in the parliament.

Peter Dutton is a validly elected member of parliament ... childcare benefits are benefits for parents childcare centres do not provide services to the commonwealth.

Updated

Am I the only one who feels like yesterday took on a vaguely Beckettian vibe after Turnbull declared he would only hold a party room meeting if the Dutton forces could cobble together 43 signatures on a piece of paper?

We then spent the day waiting around for a petition we were sure was going to arrive but never did.

But last night the conservative ACT senator Zed Seselja – one of the group of ministers who have resigned their posts – said the petition had “over 40” signatures and was “around about the mark” of the 43 signatures required to force a spill.

You can read Katharine Murphy and Paul Karp’s account of yesterday’s events here.

OK, this is significant. West Australian Liberal Ben Morton has just said he thinks he might be the 43rd signature on the petition.

“I could be the last person having to sign it,” were his exact words.

Morton was stopped on his way into parliament. He’s thrown his support behind Tthe treasurer, Scott Morrison.

The signing of the petition is doing one thing and one thing only, calling a meeting to resolve this issue ... it’s the right thing to do because this issue needs to be resolved.

I’m not supporting the particular candidate who is circulating the petition ... I thought about this overnight, talked to colleagues, friends, I’ve spoken to people in my electorate. They want to see certainty, they want to see the government of Australia get back to governing.

Morton said there was only “one person” who he believed could unite the Liberal party – Scott Morrison.

I’ve known him a long period of time. I’ve seen him work in close quarters as treasurer of this nation, he has the breadth of experience needed to unite the party [and] to be prime minister. That is my view and I feel it should be shared.

Updated

Summary

Christopher Pyne’s just been interviewed on his way into parliament. Pyne’s a Turnbull loyalist, and had a little bit to say about the Dutton camp. He was asked whether Turnbull should stay in the parliament even if he loses the leadership, and said he isn’t about to tell the prime minister what to do.

I don’t think that people can expect to be telling Malcolm Turnbull what to do. He’s run an excellent government for three years, a growing economy, records job, balancing the budget yet that hasn’t been good enough for some of his colleagues in the parliamentary party. I’m not about to tell Malcolm Turnbull to do anything other than what he wants to do.

I think some people in caucus should have considered the greater good of the people of Australia and the government rather than their own self-interest mission.

Updated

Aussie dollar battered overnight

The Australian dollar has endured a tough night on the currency markets. It has fallen 1.4% to stand at US72.48c.

Well, this is intriguing. From the Herald Sun’s chief of staff.

Peter Dutton has released advice he received from the former solicitor general David Bennett overnight. The advice, of course, relates to his eligibility to stand in parliament.

If you’re playing catch up, take a look at Paul Karp’s wrap up of the issue here. The question here relates to whether Dutton’s childcare business interests might disqualify him from being in parliament, and thus being a candidate for leadership.

The Bennett advice argues Dutton does not have a case to answer to the high court because his family trust does not have any agreement with the commonwealth.

“Mr Dutton is not rendered ineligible by Section 44(v) by virtue of these facts.”

Which, look, I’m not a lawyer so I’m not about to make any “the high court shall so hold” type statements. Turnbull’s said he wants to see the solicitor general’s advice on the issue before the putative midday party room meeting. It’s unclear if it will arrive in time, but that’s the advice that will really matter.

Labor’s previously released advice by barrister Bret Walker SC arguing the “preferable argument” is that Dutton is ineligible because he may have an “indirect pecuniary interest” in an agreement with the commonwealth.

Updated

Liberal MP Tim Wilson is speaking on the ABC. He’s suggested the tactics of the Peter Dutton camp have not been totally above board. You’ll remember there’s been some talk of intimidation of MPs.

Scott Buchholz just mentioned the pressure he’s been under to sign the petition that’s circulating Parliament House.

I’ve said at every point that I think Peter [Dutton] is a decent and honourable man, and somebody I have a high degree of trust and respect for. That won’t change. There are other people surrounding him who have been involved in this, and I don’t think their tactics have been appropriate. I don’t think the tactics of all sides have been appropriate, frankly. I’m on this program to say some of us get it and some are behaving like responsible adults.

Updated

Queensland MP Scott Buchholz has just been talking to Sky News. Buchholz has previously declared himself a Turnbull supporter, but this morning he’s called on the prime minister to bring on the party room meeting without the list of 43 names.

He says he’s being “pressured beyond comprehension” to sign the list, but won’t because of fears of repercussions.

“I suggest that that list in time will be used in a symbolic way to suggest – similar to Brutus [and] Caesar – of those who knifed a PM. That is not my intent.”

Updated

I’ve done a quick whip around to see what the papers are saying ahead of the likely midday spill.

The Daily Telegraph have declared the Liberal party chaos the “madness of Malcolm” – which, OK – while the Sydney Morning Herald prepares for “Showdown”. The West Australian have put their cards on the table, backing in home-town hopeful Julie Bishop.

Meanwhile, in Dutton’s home state of Queensland the “circus” has had to share front billing on the Courier Mail with something properly important; Johnathan Thurston.

Updated

Windows have been smashed at Peter Dutton’s electorate office in Dickson overnight, Queensland police say.

As he prepares for d-day in Canberra, his electorate staff will be sweeping up glass.

Damaged glass windows are seen at the electorate office of Peter Dutton in the suburb of Strathpine, north of Brisbane.
Damaged glass windows are seen at the electorate office of Peter Dutton in the suburb of Strathpine, north of Brisbane. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Brick pavers were thrown at the office on Gympie Road in Strathpine about 1.45am on Friday, causing what they called “extensive damage”. Detectives are appealing for information about the incident. They say four reinforced glass windows and two glass doors were smashed.

Updated

Good morning and welcome to the day in politics. It’s Michael McGowan here. I’ll be keeping you up to speed with developments in Canberra until Christopher Knaus takes over later this morning.

All the focus today will be on whether the petition Peter Dutton’s backers have been circulating for the last two days can reach the magic number 43, after Malcolm Turnbull imposed a midday deadline yesterday.

To recap on events from last night:

  • The Malcolm Turnbull-imposed deadline for the party room meeting is midday. Turnbull said yesterday that he’ll only hold the meeting (and therefore allow a spill for the leadership) if he is presented with the petition of 43 signatures, a majority of the party. Dutton’s camp were saying last night that they think they’re close to that number.
  • The possible contenders so far are Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton and Julie Bishop. That is liable to change. The numbers were being worked late into the night. Our latest word yesterday was that Morrison was slightly ahead of Bishop as the alternative candidate to Dutton.
  • Either way, it’s likely that Turnbull is all but done. The fatal blow was delivered by Mathias Cormann, Michaelia Cash and Mitch Fifield on Thursday morning when they abandoned him. If the spill is called, Turnbull will take it as a vote of no-confidence in his leadership and step aside.
  • He’s suggested he would leave parliament if that happened, which puts Dutton in a difficult position, because it triggers a byelection and jeopardises the Coalition’s razor thin majority in the lower house.
  • A crucial piece to this puzzle is Dutton’s eligibility to sit in parliament. Turnbull wants the solicitor general’s advice on Dutton’s case before the party room before the leadership spill. It’s unclear whether that advice will arrive in time. Dutton’s camp thinks he’s in the clear, and have their own legal advice to support that position. Leading constitutional lawyers disagree. They think there’s a serious question to be answered by Dutton. Only parliament can refer him to the high court but the issue might be enough to create doubt and anxiety in Liberal ranks.
  • Don’t forget those crossbenchers and rogue Nationals, either. Darren Chester, a Nat, is still not saying whether he would guarantee confidence and supply to a Dutton government. Other crossbenchers are making similar statements. The Coalition has a one-seat majority.

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fans Have Been Roasting The Rock’s Moana Look, But The ‘Pounds Of Hair’ It Took To Achieve It Don't Sound Fun
This is quite a look.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
The Season 1 Finale Of HBO's Neighbors Is Must-Watch Television For One Big Reason
Stop what you're doing and watch it.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
‘I’m trying to de-escalate. He has a needle in my arm’: Southern California woman goes to tattoo shop. Then the owner asks her something shocking
A woman has sparked discussion online after she called out her tattoo artist for his inappropriate behavior once he learned she was recently single.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Forget birdwatching, I’m into moth-watching: they’re fascinating and misunderstood insects
According to new research, distinguishing between the UK’s 2,500 species could halt cognitive decline – so my brain could not be happier, or healthier, says science writer Helen Pilcher
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
I tried HigherDose’s $1,400 PEMF mat to help me relax. I got weird dreams and disappointment
This pricey infrared therapy mat claims to help mood, sleep and muscle recovery. It felt more like a glorified heating pad
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Florida judge asked if Black defendant had ever ‘chopped cotton’ as he mulled community service sentence, report says
The judge acknowledged his remarks were ‘ill-considered,’ court documents state
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play