This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2018/aug/24/liberal-spill-malcolm-turnbull-peter-dutton-scott-morrison-liberal-spill-politics-parliament-live

The article has changed 23 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 9 Version 10
Coalition party room meets to decide leadership – politics live Scott Morrison voted next prime minister of Australia after defeating Peter Dutton 45-40 – politics live
(35 minutes later)
A momentous moment in Australian political history. Scott Morrison becomes Australia’s 30th prime minister. The Liberal party room meeting is still going. 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.
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 lot 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.
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.
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?
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.
Surely this is the image of today's arrivals for the leadership meeting.Arthur Sinodinos, who is battling cancer and has been on leave for many months, arrives in Canberra to support the PM @politicsabc #libspill #auspol pic.twitter.com/UDfCyV3NHF
Right, we think most of the party room is in the meeting now. We’re now in the period of waiting for a result.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?Who will be our next prime minister? Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison, or Julie Bishop?
The PM has left his office looking stunned, ashen faced. He received a round of applause as he walked past Parliament’s wishing well. #auspol #libspillThe PM has left his office looking stunned, ashen faced. He received a round of applause as he walked past Parliament’s wishing well. #auspol #libspill
Malcolm Turnbull is walking to the party room with his close ally Craig Laundy. Laundy has stuck with Turnbull through and through.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.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.
That walk into the party room confirms, not that we needed it, that we are already in the post Turnbull era. The moderates are scattered for a three way contest. Turnbull walked with Laundy and Arthur Sinodinos, who is here to vote #auspol
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.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.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.Mathias Cormann and Peter Dutton have just walked past.
Peter Dutton is now approaching the party room meeting with his good friend and key player Mathias Cormann.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.Scott Morrison is walking in by himself.
Julie Bishop is walking in by herself.Julie Bishop is walking in by herself.
The optics are important here. But remember, we’re expecting this leadership contest to be close.The optics are important here. But remember, we’re expecting this leadership contest to be close.
We’ve confirmed that meeting will take place 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.
Michael Kroger was asked if his party was a farce #Libspill pic.twitter.com/cDZ4xMb9tX
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.
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.
Michael McCormack, National leader and deputy PM, was just asked if the government was behaving embarrassingly, he said "the only thing embarrassing is the way the media's carrying on." #libspill #auspol
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?
Mood.
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.
I have just been provided with a request for a meeting of the Parliamentary Liberal Party. It has 43 signatures. As soon as they are verified by the Whips, which should not take long, the meeting will be called.
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.
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.