Within the next three hours, the seventeen-month reign of Australia’s conservative PM Tony Abbott may come to a crashing close, terminated not by policy differences but by populism and personality. Could Twitter be about to claim its first prime ministerial scalp?
The contrasting characters of Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull could not have been more cunningly scripted had Jeffrey Archer invented them: one a staunch monarchist (whose act of awarding an Aussie knighthood to Prince Philip on Australia Day exactly two weeks ago led directly to this morning’s party room spill), the other the former frontman of the (failed) 1999 Republican referendum. One a fervent climate change sceptic (Mr Abbott once described climate change as ‘crap’), the other a firm believer who once claimed ‘I will not lead a party that is not as committed to effective action on climate change as I am’.
Turnbull, who briefly led the party in opposition before being toppled in 2009 by Abbott, represents an electorate in Sydney’s trendy eastern suburbs (think Islington) where the key concerns are climate change, gay marriage and bicycle paths.
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