How the Australian Prime Minister's seat was usurped

With unpopular policies, Tony Abbott lost credibility and let the prime minister's seat fall into the hands of Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Former Prime MinisterAustralia Tony Abbott. Photo:AP

According to the Daily Telegraph, yesterday afternoon, Malcolm Turnbull believed his secret mission was complete. He told Mr Abbott that he no longer had the support of the party. Turnbull resigned as communications minister and asked for a "challenge", which was a surprise vote within the Liberal Party.

In Australian politics, when one or more MPs feel that the leader is taking the party in the wrong direction or simply failing to deliver on promises, they can call for a vote to replace the leader or even the deputy leader. In this country, the leader of the ruling party holds the title of prime minister. So when Tony Abbott lost an internal party vote yesterday, he lost the prime ministership to Mr Turnbull.

Mr Turnbull's campaign to unseat Mr Abbott has been known to colleagues since last week, with whispers that "Malcolm is going to make a move, probably next week".

Mr Turnbull’s camp sees the need for a surprise vote this week as parliament is due for a three-week recess. Mr Abbott is scheduled to make a number of international trips later this year, including a trip to Turkey for the G20 and a trip to New York later this month. His appearances with other leaders are an opportunity to cement his grip on government.

So Mr Turnbull’s camp knows it needs to act now. The Turnbull camp’s message is simple: if Mr Abbott stays in office, the Liberal-National coalition will not win the mid-year election, and Mr Abbott will not sack Treasurer Joe Hockey. The Australian government’s greatest strength has been the economy, but now it is its weakness.

He said the prime minister had failed to lead the economy, lost business confidence, failed to explain to the public the challenges and opportunities facing the country and had developed ineffective policies.

Loss of credibility

According to the BBC, Mr Abbott's government began its term two years ago with many advantages. The government fulfilled its promise to abolish the carbon tax - an environmental tax aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They also abolished the 30% profit tax on coal and iron ore mining.

Tight immigration policies, including turning migrant boats back to Indonesia, have stemmed the flow of refugees.

These moves were popular, but Mr Abbott's frequent mantra that he had "stopped the refugee boats" and "cut taxes" was also wearing thin.

His budget and economic measures have been unpopular with the public, including plans to charge an extra $5 per doctor's visit, cut funding for universities and a proposal to require young people to wait a period before they can receive unemployment benefits.

The rollback has also eroded Mr Abbott’s credibility. In February, he abandoned one of his signature policies, paid parental leave, because it was difficult to fund and unpopular with women voters who wanted subsidised child care.

Mr Abbott also appears to have alienated the public on issues such as same-sex marriage. While many Australians want it legalised, Mr Abbott remains staunchly opposed.

He appears to have misjudged the public's willingness to accept Syrian refugees, announcing that Australia would take in 12,000 Syrians over the next year.

He has also been criticised for being too sympathetic to some MPs. Former Speaker Bronwyn Bishop faced criticism for spending more than $3,500 to charter a helicopter from Melbourne to Geelong to attend a Liberal fundraiser. Ms Bishop remained under Mr Abbott’s wing until she resigned in August.

According to political experts, Mr Abbott has never been particularly popular with the public. He won the 2013 election because most voters did not want to support the Labor Party.

In January, he sparked a storm when he announced he would knight Prince Philip. Mr Abbott later promised to consult his colleagues more.

Many also resented his personal style. Abbott has a reputation for being outspoken, as evidenced by a 2010 visit to Australian troops in Afghanistan, where he was caught using profanity when discussing the death of an Australian corporal.

Within the administration, his aides often advised him to exercise restraint, and to reiterate the administration's achievement of "stopping the migrant boats."

But that was not enough to convince Australians that his agenda was the right one, as it was attacked by Mr Turnbull yesterday. "We need movement, not slogans," Mr Turnbull said.

MalcolmTurnbull, new Australian Prime Minister. Photo:The Australian

According to VNE