Tony Abbott under fire: Liberal MPs publicly call for leadership ballot - Women's Agenda

Tony Abbott under fire: Liberal MPs publicly call for leadership ballot

Liberal MP Dr Dennis Jensen has become the first politician to openly call for Prime Minister Tony Abbott to step down and allow the party to install a new leader.

After a week of rumours about the possibility of a leadership spill, the calls for a new leader have finally found a public voice in Jensen.

“I believe in being up front and honest about it,” he told Fairfax Media on Tuesday.

“I thought it was time to strike to start things moving.”

He also said he knows that a number of other Liberal MPs share his view.

Jensen’s controversial public announcement led to some of these MPs expressing their discontent openly as well. Queensland MP Mal Brough said the prime minister no longer had his unconditional support, saying the federal government’s recent mistakes had contributed to the loss of a surprising number of LNP seats in Queensland’s election over the weekend.

Queensland MP Warren Entsch then followed suit, calling for a party room ballot to be conducted as the first order of business when parliament reconvenes next week.

“It needs to be resolved. And I suspect it will be, one or way another,” he said.

Another Queensland colleague Bert Van Manen said the party desperately needed a change of direction, regardless of who ends up leading the party. He described the week since Abbott’s Prince Philip knightmare as a “fairly rapid decline”.

Brough has also confirmed he is considering directly challenging Abbott and sparking a leadership spill. While he does not expect to win a party room ballot, he hopes his challenge will lead Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to throw their hats into the ring.

Members of Abbott’s front bench have also contributed publicly to the discussion, but in support of Abbott’s leadership.

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey spoke to ABC Radio this morning and said Abbott would not be replaced and implied he had broad support in the party room.

“There’s a 102 people in the party room. Now we’re heard publicly from a few of our very upset backbenchers. We understand they are upset. It’s tough governing. You don’t bring down a prime minister because of a knighthood for Prince Philip,” he told Michael Brissenden on AM this morning.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told ABC’s 7.30 last night that Abbott had his support and the support of the party.

“Julie Bishop, Malcolm Turnbull andScott Morrison have been very clear in their support of the PM and I think people going out to sabotage the PM so that he can’t get out a clear message just is outside the bounds of what the what Australians see as a fair go,” he said.

He said the MPs who had openly called for a spill were purposefully attempting to sabotage the prime minister, saying Abbott was not being given a fair go by his colleagues.

“I sat in Parliament through the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd years and I don’t want our party to go through that. I want the PM halfway through his first term, elected by the public, to have a fair go.”

Despite these offerings of support from the front bench, Jensen was resolute. He told the ABC last night there was nothing Abbott could do to save his leadership.

So if Jensen is right, who will replace Abbott?

Mal Brough has confirmed he is considering directly challenging Abbott and sparking a leadership spill. While he does not expect to win a party room ballot, he hopes his challenge will lead Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to throw their hats into the ring.

Bishop announced yesterday she would not directly challenge the prime minister to the leadership.

“I am not campaigning for the job of prime minister, I am not ringing the backbench asking for support. I am not counting any numbers, I will not challenge the leader,” she said.

However The Australian Financial Review and Guardian Australia have reported this morning that she has not ruled out putting her hand up to contest the leadership if someone else were to instigate the spill.

Speculation about the possibility of Bishop replacing Abbott in a leadership spill have fed widespread commentary that this government is becoming increasingly reminiscent of the Rudd-Gillard era it has criticised so doggedly.

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