Liberal Party of Australia leadership election, 2009
Encyclopedia
An election for the federal parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
was held on 1 December 2009. The incumbent, Malcolm Turnbull
, was defeated by Tony Abbott
in a three-way vote of Liberal Party Members of Parliament
(MPs). Joe Hockey
also stood as a candidate. Abbott thus became the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Australia
.
The leadership election was the culmination of a dispute within the Liberal Party over its response to the Rudd Government
's proposed emissions trading scheme
(ETS). Turnbull supported the introduction of an ETS and sought to negotiate amendments to government's proposed legislation. Abbott came to represent many Liberal members of Parliament who were climate change sceptics
or otherwise opposed the ETS. After Turnbull survived a spill motion (a motion to declare the leadership vacant) against his leadership in late November 2009, Abbott declared his candidacy and a subsequent spill was moved on 1 December. Hockey—a moderate who had been a supporter of Turnbull's position on the ETS—also stood. While Hockey had been expected to win, he was knocked out in the first round of voting. Abbott subsequently defeated Turnbull in the second round, 42–41.
Malcolm Turnbull
was elected to the House of Representatives
in the 2004 federal election. In January 2007 he was appointed Minister for the Environment and Water Resources by Prime Minister
John Howard
. After the Australian Labor Party
defeated the Howard government in the 2007 election, Turnbull, Brendan Nelson
and Tony Abbott
announced they would each contest the Liberal Party leadership. Nelson defeated Turnbull in a ballot after Abbott withdrew his candidacy. Turnbull became the Shadow Treasurer on Nelson's frontbench
.
Nelson's leadership of the Liberal Party was beset by poor opinion poll numbers. There was speculation that Turnbull would challenge Nelson for the leadership in late 2008; however, Nelson caught Turnbull by surprise by calling a snap spill of the party's leadership positions while Turnbull was returning from an overseas holiday. The spill was moved on 16 September 2008. Turnbull defeated Nelson by four votes, becoming the leader of the Liberal Party and of the Opposition Coalition
between the Liberals and the National Party
. Nelson later resigned from the House of Representatives.
. As Environment Minister, he had overseen the introduction of an emissions trading scheme
(ETS) as a policy of the Liberal Party shortly before the Howard government's defeat. However, many of Turnbull's fellow MPs in the Coalition were climate change sceptics
. Tensions within the Coalition on climate change policy had contributed to the downfall of Nelson's leadership.
As leader of the Liberal Party, Turnbull supported the introduction of an ETS. In June 2009, he indicated in principle support for an ETS proposed by the Rudd Government
despite the opposition of his Coalition partner, the National Party
. Turnbull subsequently outlined the Coalition's position that it would oppose the ETS introduced to Parliament by the government, but would be open to negotiating an amended version.
Turnbull's willingness to negotiate with the government was met with opposition from some Coalition MPs. By September 2009, The Australian
was reporting that only 12 of the 59 Liberal backbenchers
supported negotiations. On 18 October 2009, Turnbull fronted a meeting of Coalition MPs with a proposal to negotiate amendments to the government's ETS. This meeting supported his proposal, in what was seen as a test of Turnbull's leadership. However there was speculation that a number of Coalition Senators would defy Turnbull and cross the floor of the Senate
to vote against any ETS legislation. The ETS opponents argued that it would be premature for Parliament to pass ETS legislation before the Copenhagen Summit
on climate change.
The divisions within the Coalition were laid bare in an episode of Four Corners, aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
on 9 November 2009. The program featured the Coalition's leader in the Senate, Nick Minchin
, suggesting that man-made climate change was a conspiracy of the political left
and disputing Turnbull's authority to strike a deal with the government on the ETS. Later in the month, Minchin spoke against the ETS in the Senate. Abbott—who had publicly supported the ETS—was now arguing that the Coalition should abandon the policy. Turnbull attacked Abbott's change of mind, stating: "Tony has expressed a number of views, each of which is at odds with the view he expressed before".
On 23 November 2009, the Coalition's climate change spokesman Ian Macfarlane
agreed to a deal with the government to amend the ETS legislation. The amendments provided industry with substantial compensation and exemptions from the ETS. Turnbull took the deal to Liberal MPs for formal approval, but a majority of backbenchers opposed it. Turnbull nonetheless claimed he had the Coalition's support, by counting as supporters the 20 members of the Coalition Shadow Cabinet who he argued should be presumed to support the deal. This claim was met with rancour by his opponents in the Coalition.
Anger at Turnbull's response to the 23 November 2009 meeting triggered a spill motion against his leadership three days later. The motion was moved by Kevin Andrews
, a former Minister in the Howard government, but was defeated by a vote of 48 to 35. Andrews was not seen as a genuine prospect for the leadership, so the close vote on the spill motion was considered a blow to Turnbull. While Abbott supported Turnbull at the time of Andrews' spill, he subsequently resigned from the frontbench. Several others joined Abbott in resigning, including Nick Minchin
, Eric Abetz
, Sophie Mirabella
and Tony Smith.
was to challenge. Abbott confirmed his opposition to the ETS legislation, questioning why Australia would legislate for a potentially detrimental economic measure before other countries had committed to do the same. A Newspoll
released on 30 November placed Hockey at 33%, Turnbull at 30% and Abbott at 19%, when voters were asked who would be the "best person to lead" the Liberal Party. Speculation flourished that Hockey would challenge Turnbull, and Hockey consulted senior party dignitaries such as Howard and Costello about whether he should run.
Hockey faced a dilemma. A moderate in the Liberal Party, Hockey had been a consistent supporter of the ETS. Running against Turnbull would mean taking the leadership with the support of the party's right wing and climate change sceptics. Turnbull seized on the dilemma, claiming Hockey had given Turnbull his "complete support" and was still a firm supporter of the ETS legislation.
Hockey attempted to resolved his dilemma by declaring that as leader he would allow a conscience vote
on the ETS legislation. Abbott rejected Hockey's declaration, and reneged on his earlier indication that he would withdraw his candidacy for Hockey. Abbott stated: "It now seems pretty clear we could change the leader to Joe and these offensive bills could still go through the Parliament". On Hockey's candidacy, Turnbull claimed that Hockey had pledged his opposition to the spill motion. However, it was expected that if the spill motion succeeded, Hockey would stand for the leadership against Turnbull and Abbott. Hockey was generally expected to win the ballot and become leader. To the end, Turnbull refused to stand aside as leader, insisting he would defeat the spill motion. Hockey later alleged that Turnbull had promised he would not stand against Hockey if the spill motion was successful. Turnbull denied that he had given, and therefore broken, any such undertaking.
On 1 December 2009, Liberal MPs convened to consider the spill motion to vacate the leadership. The motion passed 48–34, following which Turnbull, Hockey and Abbott contested a ballot. Hockey was seen as the favourite to win the ballot, but was knocked out in the first round of voting, receiving 23 votes to Turnbull's 26 and Abbott's 35. A second round of voting ensued, in which Abbott defeated Turnbull by one vote (42–41). Fran Bailey
, a supporter of Turnbull, was absent for the vote, and there was one vote of "no", which was recorded as informal
.
Julie Bishop
remained the deputy leader of the party, without being challenged for the position. Abbott thus became the third consecutive leader, after Nelson and Turnbull, for whom Bishop would serve as deputy. After the ballots, Bishop declared that she had voted for Turnbull, although Turnbull doubted her loyalty and Bishop resorted to proving it by retrieving her ballot papers.
Leadership ballot
and background as a trainee priest earnt him the moniker of "the Mad Monk"—and apologised for all his "errors of the past". A week after the ballot, Abbott named his Shadow Cabinet. Hockey remained in the key position of Shadow Treasurer. Three Howard government veterans—Kevin Andrews
, Philip Ruddock
and Bronwyn Bishop
—were recalled from the backbench, and outspoken National Party
MP and climate change sceptic Barnaby Joyce
was appointed to the shadow Finance portfolio. Turnbull voluntarily moved to the backbench.
Under Abbott's leadership, the Liberal Party voted against the ETS legislation in the Senate on 3 December 2009. Two Liberal Senators—Judith Troeth
and Sue Boyce
—crossed the floor
to support the legislation.
In February 2010, Abbott outlined his alternative climate change policy, which would directly fund or subsidise emission reduction measures rather than cap emissions from industry.
Speaking in the House of Representatives in February 2010, Turnbull attacked Abbott's climate change policy and praised the government's ETS legislation. He argued that Abbott's subsidy-based policy would be a "recipe for fiscal recklessness". Turnbull later announced he would leave Parliament at the end of his term, before changing his mind within weeks. He claimed that his change of mind was the result of his anger at the government's decision to delay its ETS legislation until 2013. He denied being interested in regaining the leadership of the Liberal Party, saying "I don't think there is any likelihood of that I assure you". Turnbull subsequently gave qualified support to Abbott's climate change policy, arguing that while it was inferior to an ETS in principle, it was preferable to the government's approach of delaying action until 2013.
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
was held on 1 December 2009. The incumbent, Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division...
, was defeated by Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...
in a three-way vote of Liberal Party Members of Parliament
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
(MPs). Joe Hockey
Joe Hockey
Joseph Benedict "Joe" Hockey , is an Australian politician and member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of North Sydney for the Liberal Party of Australia since 1996....
also stood as a candidate. Abbott thus became the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Australia
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
.
The leadership election was the culmination of a dispute within the Liberal Party over its response to the Rudd Government
Rudd Government
The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...
's proposed emissions trading scheme
Emissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants....
(ETS). Turnbull supported the introduction of an ETS and sought to negotiate amendments to government's proposed legislation. Abbott came to represent many Liberal members of Parliament who were climate change sceptics
Climate change denial
Climate change denial is a term used to describe organized attempts to downplay, deny or dismiss the scientific consensus on the extent of global warming, its significance, and its connection to human behavior, especially for commercial or ideological reasons...
or otherwise opposed the ETS. After Turnbull survived a spill motion (a motion to declare the leadership vacant) against his leadership in late November 2009, Abbott declared his candidacy and a subsequent spill was moved on 1 December. Hockey—a moderate who had been a supporter of Turnbull's position on the ETS—also stood. While Hockey had been expected to win, he was knocked out in the first round of voting. Abbott subsequently defeated Turnbull in the second round, 42–41.
Background
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division...
was elected to the House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
in the 2004 federal election. In January 2007 he was appointed Minister for the Environment and Water Resources by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
. After the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
defeated the Howard government in the 2007 election, Turnbull, Brendan Nelson
Brendan Nelson
Dr Brendan John Nelson is a former Australian politician and former federal Opposition leader. He served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives from the 1996 federal election until 19 October 2009 as the Liberal member for Bradfield, a northern Sydney seat...
and Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...
announced they would each contest the Liberal Party leadership. Nelson defeated Turnbull in a ballot after Abbott withdrew his candidacy. Turnbull became the Shadow Treasurer on Nelson's frontbench
Frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as...
.
Nelson's leadership of the Liberal Party was beset by poor opinion poll numbers. There was speculation that Turnbull would challenge Nelson for the leadership in late 2008; however, Nelson caught Turnbull by surprise by calling a snap spill of the party's leadership positions while Turnbull was returning from an overseas holiday. The spill was moved on 16 September 2008. Turnbull defeated Nelson by four votes, becoming the leader of the Liberal Party and of the Opposition Coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
between the Liberals and the National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
. Nelson later resigned from the House of Representatives.
Climate change policy dispute
Turnbull was regarded as a "believer" in global warmingGlobal warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
. As Environment Minister, he had overseen the introduction of an emissions trading scheme
Emissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants....
(ETS) as a policy of the Liberal Party shortly before the Howard government's defeat. However, many of Turnbull's fellow MPs in the Coalition were climate change sceptics
Climate change denial
Climate change denial is a term used to describe organized attempts to downplay, deny or dismiss the scientific consensus on the extent of global warming, its significance, and its connection to human behavior, especially for commercial or ideological reasons...
. Tensions within the Coalition on climate change policy had contributed to the downfall of Nelson's leadership.
As leader of the Liberal Party, Turnbull supported the introduction of an ETS. In June 2009, he indicated in principle support for an ETS proposed by the Rudd Government
Rudd Government
The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...
despite the opposition of his Coalition partner, the National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
. Turnbull subsequently outlined the Coalition's position that it would oppose the ETS introduced to Parliament by the government, but would be open to negotiating an amended version.
Turnbull's willingness to negotiate with the government was met with opposition from some Coalition MPs. By September 2009, The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
was reporting that only 12 of the 59 Liberal backbenchers
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
supported negotiations. On 18 October 2009, Turnbull fronted a meeting of Coalition MPs with a proposal to negotiate amendments to the government's ETS. This meeting supported his proposal, in what was seen as a test of Turnbull's leadership. However there was speculation that a number of Coalition Senators would defy Turnbull and cross the floor of the Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
to vote against any ETS legislation. The ETS opponents argued that it would be premature for Parliament to pass ETS legislation before the Copenhagen Summit
2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit, was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 December and 18 December. The conference included the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate...
on climate change.
The divisions within the Coalition were laid bare in an episode of Four Corners, aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
on 9 November 2009. The program featured the Coalition's leader in the Senate, Nick Minchin
Nick Minchin
Nicholas Hugh "Nick" Minchin is a former Australian politician, serving as a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing South Australia from July 1993 to June 2011, and a former cabinet minister in the Howard Government....
, suggesting that man-made climate change was a conspiracy of the political left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
and disputing Turnbull's authority to strike a deal with the government on the ETS. Later in the month, Minchin spoke against the ETS in the Senate. Abbott—who had publicly supported the ETS—was now arguing that the Coalition should abandon the policy. Turnbull attacked Abbott's change of mind, stating: "Tony has expressed a number of views, each of which is at odds with the view he expressed before".
On 23 November 2009, the Coalition's climate change spokesman Ian Macfarlane
Ian Macfarlane (politician)
Ian Elgin Macfarlane , is an Australian politician. He was elected as a member of the Australian House of Representatives in October 1998, representing the Division of Groom, Queensland for the Liberal National Party...
agreed to a deal with the government to amend the ETS legislation. The amendments provided industry with substantial compensation and exemptions from the ETS. Turnbull took the deal to Liberal MPs for formal approval, but a majority of backbenchers opposed it. Turnbull nonetheless claimed he had the Coalition's support, by counting as supporters the 20 members of the Coalition Shadow Cabinet who he argued should be presumed to support the deal. This claim was met with rancour by his opponents in the Coalition.
Anger at Turnbull's response to the 23 November 2009 meeting triggered a spill motion against his leadership three days later. The motion was moved by Kevin Andrews
Kevin Andrews (Australian politician)
Kevin James Andrews is an Australian politician and member of the Liberal Party of Australia. He is a member of the House of Representatives and was Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in the Howard Government, having previously been Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations from 7...
, a former Minister in the Howard government, but was defeated by a vote of 48 to 35. Andrews was not seen as a genuine prospect for the leadership, so the close vote on the spill motion was considered a blow to Turnbull. While Abbott supported Turnbull at the time of Andrews' spill, he subsequently resigned from the frontbench. Several others joined Abbott in resigning, including Nick Minchin
Nick Minchin
Nicholas Hugh "Nick" Minchin is a former Australian politician, serving as a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing South Australia from July 1993 to June 2011, and a former cabinet minister in the Howard Government....
, Eric Abetz
Eric Abetz
Eric Abetz , has been a Liberal Party member of the Australian Senate since February 1994, representing the state of Tasmania. He is currently Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. He was educated at the University of Tasmania and was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics...
, Sophie Mirabella
Sophie Mirabella
Sophie Mirabella is an Australian federal politician. She has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of Indi, Victoria...
and Tony Smith.
Abbott and Hockey challenges
Abbott announced on 27 November—one day after Turnbull survived Kevin Andrews' spill motion—that he would challenge Turnbull for the leadership. Abbott committed to withdrawing his candidacy if Joe HockeyJoe Hockey
Joseph Benedict "Joe" Hockey , is an Australian politician and member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of North Sydney for the Liberal Party of Australia since 1996....
was to challenge. Abbott confirmed his opposition to the ETS legislation, questioning why Australia would legislate for a potentially detrimental economic measure before other countries had committed to do the same. A Newspoll
Newspoll
Newspoll Market Research is an Australian company providing opinion polling and other market research services. Its chief executive is Martin O'Shannessy.Newspoll's surveys of voter opinion are published in The Australian....
released on 30 November placed Hockey at 33%, Turnbull at 30% and Abbott at 19%, when voters were asked who would be the "best person to lead" the Liberal Party. Speculation flourished that Hockey would challenge Turnbull, and Hockey consulted senior party dignitaries such as Howard and Costello about whether he should run.
Hockey faced a dilemma. A moderate in the Liberal Party, Hockey had been a consistent supporter of the ETS. Running against Turnbull would mean taking the leadership with the support of the party's right wing and climate change sceptics. Turnbull seized on the dilemma, claiming Hockey had given Turnbull his "complete support" and was still a firm supporter of the ETS legislation.
Hockey attempted to resolved his dilemma by declaring that as leader he would allow a conscience vote
Conscience vote
A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party....
on the ETS legislation. Abbott rejected Hockey's declaration, and reneged on his earlier indication that he would withdraw his candidacy for Hockey. Abbott stated: "It now seems pretty clear we could change the leader to Joe and these offensive bills could still go through the Parliament". On Hockey's candidacy, Turnbull claimed that Hockey had pledged his opposition to the spill motion. However, it was expected that if the spill motion succeeded, Hockey would stand for the leadership against Turnbull and Abbott. Hockey was generally expected to win the ballot and become leader. To the end, Turnbull refused to stand aside as leader, insisting he would defeat the spill motion. Hockey later alleged that Turnbull had promised he would not stand against Hockey if the spill motion was successful. Turnbull denied that he had given, and therefore broken, any such undertaking.
Results
Fran Bailey
Frances Esther "Fran" Bailey is an Australianpolitician and Liberal member of theAustralian House of Representatives from 1990 to 1993 and again from 1996 to 2010, representing the electorate of McEwen in Victoria.-Personal life:...
, a supporter of Turnbull, was absent for the vote, and there was one vote of "no", which was recorded as informal
Spoilt vote
'Bold text'In voting, a ballot is considered to be spoilt, spoiled, void, null, informal or stray if it is regarded by the election authorities to be invalid and thus not included in the tally during vote counting. This may be done accidentally or deliberately...
.
Julie Bishop
Julie Bishop
Julie Isabel Bishop is an Australian politician and the current Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Australia. She holds this title as the deputy leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. She is the party's first female Deputy Leader and the third woman in Australian history to...
remained the deputy leader of the party, without being challenged for the position. Abbott thus became the third consecutive leader, after Nelson and Turnbull, for whom Bishop would serve as deputy. After the ballots, Bishop declared that she had voted for Turnbull, although Turnbull doubted her loyalty and Bishop resorted to proving it by retrieving her ballot papers.
Ballots
Spill motion to vacate leadership| Support | Votes |
|---|---|
| Yes | 48 |
| No | 34 |
Leadership ballot
| Candidate | First round | Second round | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Abbott Tony Abbott Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election... |
35 | 42 | |
| Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division... |
26 | 41 | |
| Joe Hockey Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict "Joe" Hockey , is an Australian politician and member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of North Sydney for the Liberal Party of Australia since 1996.... |
23 | Eliminated | |
Aftermath
Abbott said he was "humbled and daunted" by his unexpected election, while Hockey expressed surprise at his defeat. Upon his election, Abbott acknowledged his propensity for making controversial public statements—which with his CatholicismCatholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and background as a trainee priest earnt him the moniker of "the Mad Monk"—and apologised for all his "errors of the past". A week after the ballot, Abbott named his Shadow Cabinet. Hockey remained in the key position of Shadow Treasurer. Three Howard government veterans—Kevin Andrews
Kevin Andrews (Australian politician)
Kevin James Andrews is an Australian politician and member of the Liberal Party of Australia. He is a member of the House of Representatives and was Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in the Howard Government, having previously been Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations from 7...
, Philip Ruddock
Philip Ruddock
Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...
and Bronwyn Bishop
Bronwyn Bishop
Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop , an Australian politician, is a Member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Liberal Party representing the Division of Mackellar, New South Wales since 1994...
—were recalled from the backbench, and outspoken National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
MP and climate change sceptic Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Thomas Gerald Joyce , Australian politician, has been a National Party member of the Australian Senate representing the state of Queensland since July 2005...
was appointed to the shadow Finance portfolio. Turnbull voluntarily moved to the backbench.
Under Abbott's leadership, the Liberal Party voted against the ETS legislation in the Senate on 3 December 2009. Two Liberal Senators—Judith Troeth
Judith Troeth
Judith Mary Troeth has been a Liberal member of the Australian Senate since July 1993, representing the state of Victoria. She was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and was educated at the Methodist Ladies' College, and later at the University of Melbourne, where she graduated in arts and education...
and Sue Boyce
Sue Boyce
Suzanne Kay "Sue" Boyce , Australian politician, businesswoman and disability advocate, is a member of the Australian Senate for Queensland. She was selected by the Liberal Party in Queensland to replace Santo Santoro in the Senate, and endorsed by the Parliament of Queensland. She is Queensland's...
—crossed the floor
Crossing the floor
In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...
to support the legislation.
In February 2010, Abbott outlined his alternative climate change policy, which would directly fund or subsidise emission reduction measures rather than cap emissions from industry.
Speaking in the House of Representatives in February 2010, Turnbull attacked Abbott's climate change policy and praised the government's ETS legislation. He argued that Abbott's subsidy-based policy would be a "recipe for fiscal recklessness". Turnbull later announced he would leave Parliament at the end of his term, before changing his mind within weeks. He claimed that his change of mind was the result of his anger at the government's decision to delay its ETS legislation until 2013. He denied being interested in regaining the leadership of the Liberal Party, saying "I don't think there is any likelihood of that I assure you". Turnbull subsequently gave qualified support to Abbott's climate change policy, arguing that while it was inferior to an ETS in principle, it was preferable to the government's approach of delaying action until 2013.
See also
- Liberal Party of Australia leadership election, 2007Liberal Party of Australia leadership election, 2007An election for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia was held on 29 November 2007. At the same time an election for the deputy leadership of the party was held, as under Liberal Party rules, all leadership positions are declared vacant after a general election, no matter what the...
- Liberal Party of Australia leadership election, 2008Liberal Party of Australia leadership election, 2008An election for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia was held on 16 September 2008. The successful candidate was Malcolm Turnbull who defeated former leader Brendan Nelson...
- Australian Labor Party leadership election, 2010Australian Labor Party leadership election, 2010A leadership election of the Australian Labor Party was held on 2010. The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, was challenged by the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, for the leadership of the party, and therefore the prime ministership, since the ALP has held a majority in...