2009 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill

2009 Liberal Party of Australia
leadership spill

← 2008 1 December 2009 February 2015 →
 
Candidate Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull Joe Hockey
First ballot 35 (41.7%) 26 (31.0%) 23 (27.4%)
Second ballot 42 (50.6%) 41 (49.4%) Eliminated
Seat Warringah (NSW) Wentworth (NSW) North Sydney (NSW)
Faction Conservative Moderates Moderates

Leader before election

Malcolm Turnbull

Elected Leader

Tony Abbott

A leadership spill for the Liberal Party of Australia was held on 1 December 2009. The incumbent leader Malcolm Turnbull was defeated by Tony Abbott on the second ballot; Joe Hockey also stood as a candidate. Abbott thus replaced Turnbull as Leader of the Opposition, and would lead the party to the 2010 federal election.

The spill was the culmination of a dispute within the Liberal Party over its response to the Rudd government's proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS). Turnbull supported the introduction of an ETS and sought to negotiate amendments to government's proposed legislation. Abbott came to represent many Liberal MPs who were climate change deniers or otherwise opposed the ETS. After Turnbull survived a spill motion (a motion to declare the leadership vacant[1]) against his leadership in late November 2009, Abbott declared his candidacy and a subsequent spill was moved on 1 December. Hockey—a moderate who had been a supporter of Turnbull's position on the ETS—also stood. While Hockey had been expected to win, he was knocked out in the first round of voting. Abbott subsequently defeated Turnbull in the second round, 42–41. Julie Bishop, who voted for Turnbull, was re-elected unopposed as the party's deputy leader.

  1. ^ Macquarie Dictionary Online. Macquarie Online Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2010.