Friends, it has been an unbelievably confusing evening trying to keep up with whatever the fuck is happening in Parliament. There’s been misinformation, innuendo, rumours, and — hell, I’ll say it — there’s even been scuttlebutt.
[jwplayer wl3O6ZaK]
Early rumblings that something was happening first came from radio dickhead Alan Jones, who more or less acts as a PR spokesperson for the conservative wing of the Libs:
https://twitter.com/AlanJones/status/1032178989379411968
Which was met with some scepticism from journalists:
https://twitter.com/rharris334/status/1032183380903751681
whip’s office claims no knowledge of a party meeting – you seem very sure alan ??
— Michelle Grattan (@michellegrattan) August 22, 2018
A tweet from the substantially more reliable Alice Workman from BuzzFeed indicated that at least something was up:
https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/1032180324665442304
Something was happening, it turns out: a petition. Thrilling stuff, I think we can all agree.
It would appear that pro-Dutton MPs are collecting signatures on a petition to force a party room meeting, at which they intend to contest the leadership.
The AFR‘s Phillip Coorey points out that even if they get the signatures, that doesn’t mean it’s on tonight:
Lib source says even if Dutton camp gets the 43 signatures req’d for a meeting, PM has to agree to call meeting and it won’t be tonight #libspill
— Phillip Coorey (@PhillipCoorey) August 22, 2018
Even with that in mind, around time of writing, ABC News managing editor Gillian Bradford is reporting that the petition is still in single digits:
Inhale. The agitators are using the media here to build a sense of momentum. They drip feed numbers of people signing the letter. But we are still in low single figures. @politicsabc This follows the pattern of announcing resignation offers last night
— Gillian Bradford (@bradders2) August 22, 2018
9 News political editor Chris Uhlmann claims to have the text of the petition, quoting its contents as thus:
Dear Prime Minister, We, the undersigned, request that you call a meeting of the Joint House Parliamentary Liberal Party, as soon as practicable, for the purpose of determining the leadership of the Party
There are a lot of rumours about resignations and shifting alliances floating around which are all too spurious to bother mentioning here, but this part is unbelievably funny:
https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/1032201060738203649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1032201060738203649&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Faustralia-news%2Flive%2F2018%2Faug%2F22%2Fmalcolm-turnbull-fights-to-hold-cabinet-together-as-dutton-hits-airwaves-politics-live
Interesting definition of ‘support’ that Jim Molan is working with there.
So where does that leave us? The existence of the petition likely indicates that Dutton is confident that he’s now got the numbers to win the ballot (in the wake of the first, a bunch said they were taken by surprise and would have voted for Dutton with more notice).
It’s not necessarily going to go down tonight, but it is definitely on. The Guardian is reporting that the chief whip was seen entering Turnbull’s office, which could be incredibly significant, or it could mean absolutely nothing. There’s also this:
Just saw a couple of Libs going home for the night, Said they haven’t been asked to sign anything and certainly no meeting tonight.
— Phillip Coorey (@PhillipCoorey) August 22, 2018
What a week.
