At least 10 ministers have offered their resignations as a leadership crisis in Australian politics deepened Wednesday with another challenge against Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appearing inevitable. The embattled leader narrowly survived a move to unseat him by his populist Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton on Tuesday with a Liberal party ballot voting 48-35 in his favour.
It came to a head after months of poor opinion polls and a revolt by fellow Liberal politicians on Monday against his plans to embed carbon emissions targets in law at a time of soaring power prices. Despite Turnbull's win, it laid bare that dozens of his own MPs do not want him as their leader, and Dutton worked the phones and blitzed the airwaves Wednesday to shore up more support for another widely-expected crack at the top job. Dutton quit his cabinet position after his failed leadership bid, with at least nine other ministers also offering to go, according to a tally by broadcasters ABC and Sky News. They include the health minister and trade minister. Turnbull has so far only accepted two resignations -- Dutton and International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. Buoyed by his support, Dutton, seen as a more hardline conservative that the moderate Turnbull, attempted to soften his perceived tough guy image, earned as home affairs and immigration minister, and to lay out his policy agenda. The former police officer, who admits he rarely smiles, made no secret of still wanting to run the country.
AFP