Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was expelled from his positions as both prime minister and head of the Australian Liberal Party. In a Sept. 14 leadership ballot, Malcolm Turnbull defeated Abbott with 54 votes as opposed to Abbott’s 44. The Australian political system is similar to Canada’s, where the prime minister is not directly elected and is instead the leader of the party with the most seats, allowing the Liberal party members themselves to vote Abbott out of office.
Abbott was plagued with poor opinion poll performance, throughout his term as prime minister. In addition, a number of Abbott’s policies were met with controversy. Abbott’s reversal of former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s climate change policy, which involved taxing carbon, brought international condemnation on Australia and was poorly received by the public. More pressingly, the public also thought that Abbott was performing poorly in handling the Pacific’s region’s refugee crisis, as Abbott introduced a strict policy that refused the acceptance of refugees traveling by boat. Abbott’s weak economic record was also negatively viewed by the public.
The former prime minister’s poor poll performance was the Liberal party’s principal justification for the ousting of Abbott. The Liberal party was consistently behind the Labour opposition in polls. Many Liberal party officials doubted the ability for the Liberals to win an election with an unpopular leader like Abbott in charge.
Abbott didn’t comment on his ousting from power, other than a brief note thanking Australia for allowing him to lead the country. Turnbull, in his inaugural speech, praised the Abbott government for its strong leadership but also discussed how the new prime minister envisioned his leadership would change Australia. Abbott pledged to protect Australian freedom and liberty and to preserve the market. Turnbull was Abbott’s minister of communication before resigning the position to initiate a leadership challenge. Compared to the more conservative Abbott, Turnbull is more moderate, believing in some actions against climate change and supporting gay marriage. Turnbull also wants to make Australia an independent republic, severing all ties with its ex-colonizer Great Britain.
The ousting of a prime minister is a fairly frequent occurrence in Australia. The prime minister before Abbott, Labour leader Kevin Rudd, was ousted by Julia Gilard. Rudd then, in 2013, managed to oust Gilard. The frequent changes in Australian political leadership ensured that Australia has had four separate prime ministers since 2013.
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The Ontarion publishes independent, student-produced news, opinion, and commentary for University of Guelph students so that they can make informed decisions in their lives. To do this, The Ontarion provides learning opportunities and training in journalism, media production, leadership, board governance, and other aspects of nonprofit news.
The Ontarion is the University of Guelph’s independent student newspaper. It began in 1951 as part of the Ontario Agricultural College and then began to represent the entire University of Guelph once it amalgamated in 1964. The Ontarion incorporated in May 1970 as The Ontarion, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation registered with the province of Ontario.