Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will reportedly step aside to allow his longtime supporter, treasurer Scott Morrison, to challenge aspirant Peter Dutton in a party room vote on who should lead the Coalition.
Sky News reports Turnbull has recognised party room support for his leadership has absolutely crumbled after the high-profile defections of several key power-brokers, and has decided Morrison has a better chance of fending off the hard-right challenger Dutton.
DEVELOPING: Sky News understands Prime Minister @TurnbullMalcolm will stand aside with Treasurer @ScottMorrisonMP to contest the leadership.
FULL COVERAGE: @Foxtel channel 103 & https://t.co/UFTF06werJ #auspol #libspill pic.twitter.com/93e9QHhQB7
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) August 23, 2018
Whether Morrison provides strong enough alternative to Turnbull to woo wavering Liberal Party members seems unlikely, given the public announcement that senators Mitch Fifield, Mathias Cormann, and Michaelia Cash see a transition to Dutton. On the other hand, many MPs who no longer have faith in Turnbull but seek a more moderate alternative than Dutton could feasibly switch to ScoMo.
(Moderate is a very loose term in this context – we all know that Morrison was as brutal on border policy and immigration as Dutton is. It’s just a comparative thing.)
It’s all basically bedlam at the moment, but it seems like that’s how the cards are falling. We’ll keep you posted as more info emerges, which it almost certainly will in like 30 seconds.
