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| Australia PM Abbott faces leadership challenge from Turnbull | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Australian PM Tony Abbott is being challenged for the leadership by senior cabinet minister Malcolm Turnbull. | Australian PM Tony Abbott is being challenged for the leadership by senior cabinet minister Malcolm Turnbull. |
| Mr Turnbull, long considered a major challenger to the PM, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop visited Mr Abbott's office on Monday afternoon requesting a ballot for the top job. | Mr Turnbull, long considered a major challenger to the PM, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop visited Mr Abbott's office on Monday afternoon requesting a ballot for the top job. |
| The challenge comes seven months after Mr Abbott survived an internal Liberal party challenge to his leadership. | |
| He has been plagued by poor opinion polls and a hostile upper house. | He has been plagued by poor opinion polls and a hostile upper house. |
| It is up to Mr Abbott - who has yet to comment on the challenge - to decide when and if a ballot is held. | |
| At a press conference in Canberra, Mr Turnbull said if Mr Abbott remained as leader, the coalition government would lose the next election. | |
| 'Advocacy not slogans' | 'Advocacy not slogans' |
| He said Australia needed a different style of leadership that explained to the public the challenges faced by the nation. | He said Australia needed a different style of leadership that explained to the public the challenges faced by the nation. |
| "We need advocacy not slogans," he said, taking a swipe at Mr Abbott's public habit of repeating phrases such as "stop the boats" numerous times in press conferences. | "We need advocacy not slogans," he said, taking a swipe at Mr Abbott's public habit of repeating phrases such as "stop the boats" numerous times in press conferences. |
| "A style of leadership that respects the people's intelligence, that explains these complex issues and then sets out the course of action we believe we should take and makes a case for it. | "A style of leadership that respects the people's intelligence, that explains these complex issues and then sets out the course of action we believe we should take and makes a case for it. |
| "We need to respect the intelligence of the Australian people. | "We need to respect the intelligence of the Australian people. |
| "If we continue with Mr Abbott as prime minister, it is clear enough what will happen. He will cease to be prime minister and he'll be succeeded by [opposition Labor leader Bill] Shorten." | "If we continue with Mr Abbott as prime minister, it is clear enough what will happen. He will cease to be prime minister and he'll be succeeded by [opposition Labor leader Bill] Shorten." |
| Analysis: Wendy Frew, Australia Editor, BBC News website | |
| After the leadership debacle that was the previous Labor government, it seemed impossible that the coalition would be willing to dump Tony Abbott for any pretender. | |
| After being toppled by his deputy Julia Gillard, Labor PM Kevin Rudd seized his old job in a reverse coup only to lose it forever when the public punished his party at a general election in 2013. | |
| But it seems that at least some in the coalition government have finally lost patience with Mr Abbott, following a long string of weak public opinion polls, a failure to push any major reforms through the parliament and an inability to stem leaks from his cabinet. | |
| As one unnamed cabinet minister told local media on Monday morning: "This time I think they will get him." | |
| Mr Turnbull described Mr Shorten as unfit to lead, particularly in light of his recent opposition to a free trade deal between Australia and China. | |
| However, he noted that the coalition had fared worse than the Labor Opposition in 30 public opinion polls by Newspoll in a row. | |
| "It is clear that the people have made up their mind about Mr Abbott's leadership," said Mr Turnbull. | |
| "John Howard's government most of us served in and yet few would say that the cabinet government of Mr Abbott bears any similarity to the style of Mr Howard. So that's what we need to go back to." | |
| A challenge had been expected later this year, particularly if Mr Abbott's Liberal Party performed poorly at a by-election for the seat of Canning in Western Australia, this weekend. | A challenge had been expected later this year, particularly if Mr Abbott's Liberal Party performed poorly at a by-election for the seat of Canning in Western Australia, this weekend. |