Australian leader Tony Abbott ousted by Malcolm Turnbull after party vote

The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, has been ousted after losing a dramatic late-night party ballot to his communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

The move, capping a tumultuous period in the nation’s political life, means that Turnbull is now set to be sworn in as Australia’s fifth prime minister in five years.
Turnbull secured 54 votes from his parliamentary colleagues, giving him a narrow edge over Abbott’s 44 votes, after promising a new style of leadership that respected voters’ intelligence and restored traditional cabinet government.

In Australian politics, members of a political party can attempt to ambush a leader with a sudden request to “spill” – or declare vacant – the leadership. As in the UK, the prime minister is not directly elected by voters but is the leader of the party or coalition that can command a majority in the lower house of parliament.
Abbott had pleaded with his party colleagues not to repeat the mistakes of their Labor predecessors who, when in government, switched from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard in 2010 before returning Rudd to the prime ministership shortly before losing the 2013 election.
Turnbull, an urbane former investment banker and lawyer who defended Peter Wright in the Spycatcher case, brought long-simmering leadership tensions to a head on Monday by quitting Abbott’s cabinet and formally launching a challenge.
Abbott, whose standing in opinion polls has been damaged by a series of unpopular budget cuts, policy U-turns and gaffes, said he would fight the leadership challenge because Australia needed “strong and stable government” and the prime ministership was “not a prize or a plaything to be demanded”.
Abbott’s closest backers had sought to build momentum in the five hours between the challenge was announced and the party meeting, with a series of ministers appearing before the media to declare their support for the prime minister. They had argued a leadership change would anger the Liberal party’s conservative voter base.
But the show of support was not enough to hold back the push for a switch of leader.
Turnbull promised to lead a “thoroughly Liberal government” that would explain the challenges facing Australia and “not lecture”.
“I’m very humbled by the great honour and responsibility that has been given to me today,” he said.