Tony Abbott has resigned from the frontbench.
There is speculation there may be another move for a leadership spill, which would mean that Andrews’ candidacy was pure stalking horse.
I must say I’m surprised by how crazy the Libs really can be. There’s been a lot of talk today about Turnbull’s need to mend fences with the right wing. I still can’t see how that would be a viable political strategy for him – he can only lead effectively from a position as a moderniser. But perhaps the Liberals just can’t be led on this basis. If Abbott becomes leader, they will have demonstrated they can certainly be led off a cliff, though I think the other talk around today about the demise of the Liberals is a premature call.
Update: Liberal whips have asked parliamentarians not to leave the House, Sophie Mirabella has also resigned. Follow developments (and a lot of speculation) at Twitter.
Update: Eric Abetz and Tony Smith have reportedly also resigned. Talk is of a Tony Abbott/Tony Smith leadership ticket.
Update: Malcolm Turnbull will give a press conference at 7pm AEDT. Barnaby Joyce has told Sky News he expects Turnbull to step down.
Update: The ABC is streaming Turnbull’s media conference live.
Update: Turnbull has dug in, and thrown down the gauntlet to ‘climate skeptics’, saying no credible party can have a do-nothing stance on climate change. A strong performance in his press conference.
Update: Minchin has resigned, but will stay on until the end of this parliamentary session. Turnbull says that enough Liberal senators will vote for the CPRS to ensure its passage.
Update: Turnbull will announce a reshuffled front bench after Parliament rises.
Update: Liking Turnbull’s crazy brave stance. Someone had to stand up to the madness of the Howardian Liberal right wing. Politics is unpredictable! Turnbull might still prevail. Can anyone actually imagine an Abbott led opposition committed to inaction on climate change, Workchoices redux, etc?
Update: On Sky News, David Speers read out a text message from a Liberal MP comparing Turnbull to Hitler. I’ll make the point I made last night – we’re seeing epic Liberal right wing FAIL. They’re showing their completely nutty and unelectable face.
Elsewhere: Rundle and Keane at The Stump, Public Opinion, Hoyden About Town, New Matilda, Politically Homeless and Greens Blog on the CPRS legislation’s passage.
Update: New post – Five propositions on the Liberal Right’s week of FAIL.
Propositions on the Liberal right week of FAIL
Let’s sum up a few things about the CPRS/leadership shenanigans:
(a) It’s been intriguing to see the focus of political discussion narrow to the Parliamentary dramatics. Journalists – and one suspects, many Liberal MPs – appear to have completely lost sight of the effect that Turnbull’s stand might be having on the public. I’d be very surprised if there isn’t a lot of sympathy for him and his position. Yet those normally obsessed with Newspoll now equate politics with a bunch of lunatics gathered in Nick Minchin’s office, rather than even stopping to think about how all this might be playing with voters. I wonder whether Newspoll will be asking questions about the Liberal leadership this weekend – its owners might not like the answers;
(b) The Liberal Right have shown themselves to be completely unelectable crazies. Liberals are not Republicans and Australia is not America. This appears to be news to some, and it’s hard to know why;
(c) Conversely, text messages and phone calls and emails from Liberal party members and Andrew Bolt’s followers do not equate to a shift in public opinion. The Libs’ only chance of being an effective opposition, and gathering votes in the centre, is to go with Turnbull’s position. The much vaunted ‘base’ will not vote Labor in a pink fit, and a stack of Liberal seats would be at risk if a Leader is elected who is a reactionary on Howard era issues such as climate change denialism and industrial relations. That was clear enough from Kevin Andrews’ press conference where most questions were about the past, and his right wing stance. This is John Howard’s poisonous legacy to his party;
(d) Talk of Turnbull’s ‘management style’ is merely code for the Liberal right refusing to be led by one not of their own. ‘Consultation’ means caving in to dinosaurs. Who’s really the arrogant one in this equation? More likely to be Nick Minchin and his mates;
(e) If Turnbull is toppled tomorrow or on Monday, and leaves Parliament, who really believes an Abbott led Liberal Party would retain Wentworth in a by-election? This is the craziness – Members like Michael Johnson in Ryan calling for Turnbull’s ousting while holding a ‘leafy’ and very marginal seat which has many moderate Liberal voters. It’s not the only one. Kelly O’Dwyer in Higgins, for instance, is going to face a lot of pressure to take a stand on climate change and the ETS in the lead up to the by-election for Peter Costello’s former seat. The Liberals’ actual base is multiple and plural, and they can’t hold it by playing only to the revanchists.
Update: Turnbull’s press conference is now on YouTube.
Elsewhere: Politically Homeless.
Elsewhere: Club Troppo, The Stump.
Update: Fresh post – Abbott will stand for the leadership on Monday.