Posted on 02/08/2015 1:43:26 PM PST by naturalman1975
8.31am: Half an hour to go. You can read a handy pointer to how a leadership spill works here (although do note the 102 partyroom has been reduced to 101 after one MP called in sick):
8.28am: Tony Abbott will need to channel John Howard’s historic 2001 recovery in the polls if is to emerge victorious, says Mathias Cormann: ‘Abbott has done this before’
8.25am: Chris Kenny is saying on Sky that he is hearing there is strong support for the spill.
8.22am: Tony Abbott spoken briefly while leaving the church service.“We want to put the internals behind us and get on with being the elected government we were elected to be. To clean up Labor’s mess and deliver for the Australian people the economic security, the national security that they deserve. That means a focus on jobs, families and economic growth,” he said.
8.21am: Tasmanian Liberal MP Andrew Nikolic has told ABC TV there is a “clear majority” that will vote against the spill.
Mr Nikolic conceded he had some “disaffected colleagues” but said he believed they were in the minority.
“My view is thank goodness it will be over today, who could imagine another 24 hours of this?” he said.
Asked about today’s Newspoll, which shows just 30 per cent of voters consider Tony Abbott the better prime minister, Mr Nikolic said: “The prime ministership shouldn’t be the play thing of populist politics. Of course we have to take heed of what the people are hell telling us.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
In simple terms, largely because he’s unpopular with the voters, and many in his party think they have a better chance of winning the next election with a different leader, Australia’s genuinely conservative Tony Abbott may be replaced today by somebody else. The main contender is centrist-moderate Malcolm Turnbull - who would still be much better than the left wing Labor party being in office, but would represent a shift away from conservatism to the centre.
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