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Scott Morrison is new Australian PM after bitter coup
SYDNEY, Aug 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Scott Morrison was installed as
Australia’s seventh prime minister in 11 years Friday after a stunning
Liberal party revolt instigated by hardline conservatives unseated moderate
Malcolm Turnbull.
Former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, an ex-police officer and right-
winger, was the driving force behind the move to oust Turnbull after a party
backlash against his more liberal policies.
But after a torrid week of political intrigue in Canberra it was Morrison,
a Turnbull ally who served as treasurer, who won a party vote 45-40.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, another Turnbull backer, was also in the
running but was eliminated in the first round of voting.
“My course from here is to provide absolute loyalty to Scott Morrison,”
Dutton, who Turnbull accused of bullying and intimidation in the move to
knife him, said in brief comments afterwards.
Turnbull, who has pledged to quit parliament after his near three-year
reign came to an end, survived one attempt to oust him on Tuesday, but
ministers then began defecting, throwing the government into crisis.
His departure from politics will spark a by-election for his Sydney seat,
threatening the government’s wafer-thin one-seat parliamentary majority.
– Thwarted ambitions –
Dutton, who favours slashing migrant numbers and even pulling Australia out
of the Paris climate agreement, was the sole candidate to be prime minister
until Thursday when Morrison and Bishop entered the fray to try to halt his
power grab.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott, an arch conservative widely seen as the
instigator of the move to get rid of Turnbull, said it was now important to
“save the government” with national elections due by the middle of next year.
Turnbull must now pay a visit to the Governor-General to officially inform
him of events and once there will recommend Morrison to form a new
government.
MORE/MR/ 1040 hrs
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Morrison, an evangelical Christian and former immigration minister, who
took credit for “stop the boats” — a harsh policy to halt asylum-seekers
from entering Australia — is further to the right than Turnbull but not as
hardline as some in the party.
The unrest is the latest chapter in a turbulent decade for Australian
politics, which has frequently descended into manoeuvering and backstabbing
that has alienated voters.
No leader has managed to serve out a full term since former Prime Minister
John Howard lost the 2007 election, in a remarkable revolving door at
Canberra’s parliament house.
Dutton needed to prove he had majority backing before launching his tilt at
the leadership, or 43 signatures from within the party’s parliamentary group
— a requirement for him to force a second crack at the top job.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne, another Turnbull ally, blasted
disruptive elements inside his party for bringing on the challenge.
“I think some people should have considered the greater good of the people
of Australia, and the government, rather than their own self-interest and
ambition,” he said.
Complicating matters, Dutton was referred to the solicitor-general over his
eligibility to sit in parliament due to family financial interests in
childcare centres that receive government subsidies — a possible breach of
constitutional rules.
The nation’s top lawyer Friday cleared him to continue in parliament.
One minister was so disillusioned with the push to oust Turnbull that he
took to Twitter to apologise to the Australian people.
“Australia. We owe you an apology. I’m sorry. You deserve better than many
of the things our Federal Parliament has served up to you for the past 10
years,” wrote Nationals MP Darren Chester, whose party is in coalition with
the Liberals.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1040 hrs