Treasurer Scott Morrison has contested the leadership of the federal Liberal Party against Peter Dutton and deputy leader Julia Bishop, winning the final vote against Peter Dutton 45 to 40.
Josh Frydenberg was also elected as the deputy leader in an “overwhelming majority”, according to chief government whip Nola Marino as she reported the results of the spill.
The federal Liberal Party held a party room meeting at 12:20 after a petition with 43 signatures was presented to Mr Turnbull. During the meeting, Liberal MPs voted to spill the leadership 45 to 40.
Mr Turnbull convened the meeting after he received advice from the solicitor general that Mr Dutton was ‘not incapable’ of serving in parliament.
The Prime Minister said he would resign from parliament following the leadership spill, thereby triggering a by-election in his Sydney electorate of Wentworth.
Malcolm Turnbull spoke to the press on Thursday and announced that he would stand aside and allow a leadership ‘spill’ at midday if he received a letter containing the signatures of a majority of the party room.
Mr Turnbull said that before a meeting was held he would meet with the solicitor-general to get advice about Peter Dutton’s eligibility to sit in parliament.
“It’s important that before the party meeting is held, we have access to the advice of the solicitor-general on the eligibility of Mr Dutton to sit in the parliament. We expect that advice to be available first thing in the morning,” Mr Turnbull told reporters.
It was announced late on Thursday that Mr Turnbull had received the letter with the required 43 signatures and announced the leadership contest.
The second ballot was called following a tough few days for the Prime Minister following the first leadership spill on Tuesday.
Then PM Malcolm Turnbull called a snap leadership ballot after days of speculation that the MP for Dickson and Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton was gunning for the top role.
The Prime Minister won the ballot 48-35 and following the vote Mr Dutton resigned from the ministry.
Following the vote multiple frontbenchers resigned including Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar.
Less than 24 hours ago, Scott Morrison confirmed his support for the Prime Minister during question time saying that he had always supported Malcolm Turnbull.
“The prime minister has always enjoyed my support, Mr Speaker, and I’ll tell you why. Together as a team, the prime minister and I have ensured that we have turned the corner on debt, we are bringing the budget back into balance, we have together been stewarding economic policies that have seen the single greatest increase in employment on economic record in this country for jobs,” he said.
Scott Morrison was one of small group of frontbenchers to stand up and pledge their loyalty to Turnbull in question time on Wednesday and only announced he would run after Turnbull said he would stand aside.
Scott Morrison will now be the 30th Prime Minister of Australia and the sixth different PM in just over a decade.
