Leadership spills of the federal parliamentary leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia were held on 21 and 24 August 2018 and were called by the incumbent leader of the party, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. It was nicknamed "spill week" in the media.
Turnbull called the first spill in a regularly scheduled party room meeting of the Liberal Party on 21 August, amid media reports that Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton was considering a challenge.‘It’s happening, for sure and certain’: Ray Hadley confirms challenge against Malcolm Turnbull; www.2gb.com/; 17/8/18Malcolm Turnbull survives Liberal Party leadership spill 48-35 over Peter Dutton; www.smh.com.au; 21 August 2018 Dutton submitted himself as a candidate for the leadership, but was defeated by Turnbull, who won the ballot 48 votes to 35. Dutton then immediately resigned from the ministry.
Dutton requested a second spill motion two days later. Turnbull refused to call the spill without first receiving a list of signatures representing the majority of his party room, and referred Dutton to the Attorney General's office to test his eligibility to sit in Parliament.Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will not face off against Peter Dutton if spill motion is carried; thewest.com.au; 23 Aug 2018 He declared that if Dutton had the numbers to carry a spill motion, he would take it as a vote of no confidence and not stand to contest the leadership. Dutton secured the numbers for a spill and Turnbull did not re-contest the leadership, opening the way for supporters Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop to stand against Dutton.
Dutton, Treasurer Morrison and Foreign Minister Bishop contested the ballot. Bishop was eliminated in the first round of voting, and in the second round Morrison defeated Dutton by 45 votes to 40, thereby becoming the leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister of Australia. A ballot for the deputy leadership of the party also occurred and was won by Josh Frydenberg, who was subsequently appointed Treasurer in the Morrison government.
Background
The Liberal-National Coalition won office under the leadership of Tony Abbott in the 2013 Australian federal election. The Abbott government was brought down by an internal party room challenge, launched by Malcolm Turnbull in September 2015, in which Turnbull won 54 votes of the Liberal Party room to 44 and the Turnbull government became the executive government of Australia.
Turnbull cited Newspoll results and "economic leadership" as reasons for mounting his challenge against Abbott. Under the slogan "jobs and growth," Turnbull led the Coalition to the 2016 election in which their majority in the House of Representatives was reduced to one seat.
Turnbull's ousting of Abbott had divided the Liberal Party rank and file and tensions continued in the parliamentary Party.NSW Liberals groan as Malcolm Turnbull tells gathering party is not ruled by factions, new PM praises Tony Abbott; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; 10 October 2015Jeff Kennett attacks Malcolm Turnbull for 'self-interest' and lack of courage; The Sydney Morning Herald; 9 March 2016Kevin Andrews says remarks about challenging Turnbull for leadership 'hypothetical'; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; 5 April 2016 The Government reached the 30-consecutive-Newspoll-losses benchmark Turnbull had used to unseat Abbott, in April 2018.Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull hits 30 straight Newspoll losses; www.theaustralian.com.au; April 18, 2018 The government suffered by-election losses in July 2018.Malcolm Turnbull's authority diminished after by-election failures; www.abc.net.au; 30 July 2018 Dissent from conservative MPs over issues such as energy prices and immigration levels grew during Turnbull's final months. On 21 August, Turnbull announced a leadership spill ahead of his 39th consecutive Newspoll loss.
Leadership spills have become a common feature of Australian federal politics in the twenty-first century (particularly in the 2010s and the late 2000s). As of 2025, only Liberal Prime Ministers John Howard and Scott Morrison, and Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have served full terms since the 1983 election, with their terms ending in 2007, 2022 and continuing respectively.
Turnbull had been a Minister in the Howard government and first led the Coalition in Opposition upon challenging his predecessor Brendan Nelson for the role of Opposition Leader in a 2008 spill. After extended poor Newspoll results against the Rudd government, he lost the leadership in the wake of the Utegate affair and a Party dispute over climate policy.
Tony Abbott defeated Turnbull for the Leadership in a 2009 spill, and led the party to a narrow loss in the 2010 election and to government in the 2013 election. Abbott included Turnbull in his Cabinet, from where Turnbull launched his leadership challenge in September 2015, becoming the first Liberal since William McMahon to assume the Prime Minister-ship by challenging an incumbent .
As of January 2018, voters were split in polls for preferred leader of the Liberal party between Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop. Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton each had around 5% support. In April 2018, Dutton outlined his desire to lead the Liberal party in the future, and Morrison also revealed prime ministerial ambitions.
Peter Dutton had been a Minister during the Howard government in 2004 and to the Cabinet in the Abbott government in 2013
Given the poor performance by the Liberal National Party of Queensland (the Queensland branch of the Liberal Party) in the Longman by-election on 28 July 2018, Dutton, who holds the neighboring seat of Dickson, was viewed as a leader who could strengthen support for the Coalition in regional Queensland.
Dutton had also been seen as a leading figure among the conservative wing of the Liberal Party, which had clashed with Turnbull and his more moderate supporters over the National Energy Guarantee (NEG), particularly with targets to reduce carbon emissions in compliance with the Paris Agreement, among other issues in mid-2018. Conservative supporters of Dutton included Tony Abbott, who was ousted by Turnbull as party leader and prime minister in September 2015. In the days prior to the leadership spills, Turnbull was forced to make concessions on the NEG in an attempt to satisfy the more conservative members of his party, most notably abandoning the emissions reduction targets, despite the possibility of winning votes for the NEG from Labor. Tony Abbott characterized Turnbull's concessions on the NEG as a "conversion of convenience".
On 19 August 2018, Dutton declared that he supported Malcolm Turnbull and the policies of the government. However, support had been growing for a conservative Liberal Party member, often Dutton specifically, to challenge Turnbull since 2017, especially when Turnbull performed poorly against the Labor Party in opinion polls. In the weeks leading up to the poll, Dutton made contradictory remarks regarding his intentions. He refused to rule out his interest in becoming prime minister during a Hack interview, and claimed that he would resign from cabinet if he ever found himself unable to agree with a government policy during a 2GB interview. The day before this, The Daily Telegraph had published an exclusive story stating that Dutton would challenge for the prime minister-ship.
A poll commissioned by GetUp! on the Monday prior to the spill found that nearly half the Australian electorate would be less likely to vote for the Coalition if Dutton became prime minister. On the same day, Network Ten reported that Dutton might be ineligible under Section 44 of the Australian constitution, due to an "indirect pecuniary interest", similar to Bob Day's case. That evening, Luke Howarth told Craig Laundy that he planned to ask Turnbull to step down from the leadership the following day.
In the hours leading up to the spill itself, newspapers reported speculation that Greg Hunt might challenge Julie Bishop for the Deputy Leadership of the Liberal Party in the event that Dutton won the vote. However, due to Dutton failing to gain the support of the party, Bishop was the sole contender for the Deputy Leadership.
First spill (21 August)
A regularly scheduled Liberal party room meeting was held at 9:00 am AEST on 21 August. Shortly after it began, Turnbull declared the party leadership vacant, forcing a leadership spill be held, likely acknowledging the speculation that Dutton had intended to challenge Turnbull for the leadership. Dutton nominated for the ballot. The position of deputy party leader, held by Julie Bishop, was also declared vacant.
Shortly after the secret ballot, party whip Nola Marino announced that Turnbull had won the challenge, with 48 members of the federal Liberal Party caucus voting for him, while 35 voted for Dutton. Bishop retained her role as deputy leader unopposed. Senator Arthur Sinodinos was absent for the vote due to illness.
Jonathon Duniam refused to announce who he voted for, and conflicting media reports attributed him as voting for either Turnbull (Fairfax) or Dutton (News Corp). There were also conflicting reports on Ian Goodenough's vote. News Corp included Duniam and Goodenough as voters for Dutton, whereas The Sydney Morning Herald'''s list included Sussan Ley and Craig Kelly as Dutton voters. Kelly confirmed that he had voted for Dutton.
+ Reported supporters Turnbull (48) Dutton (35) Uncertain FrontbenchersNSWMalcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison, Marise Payne, Paul Fletcher, Craig Laundy, David Coleman, Alex HawkeConcetta Fierravanti-Wells, Angus Taylor —VICKelly O'Dwyer, Mitch Fifield, Dan Tehan, Josh FrydenbergGreg Hunt, Alan Tudge, Michael Sukkar,—QLDJohn McVeigh, Jane PrenticePeter Dutton, Steven Ciobo, James McGrath, Karen Andrews—WAJulie Bishop, Mathias Cormann, Christian Porter, Michaelia Cash, Ken Wyatt, Melissa PriceMichael Keenan—SAChristopher Pyne, Simon Birmingham, Anne Ruston——TAS———ACT—Zed Seselja— BackbenchersNSWJohn Alexander, Jason Falinski, Julian Leeser, Ann Sudmalis, Lucy Wicks, Trent ZimmermanTony Abbott, Craig Kelly, Jim MolanSussan LeyVICJulia Banks, Russell Broadbent, Chris Crewther, Sarah Henderson, Jane Hume, Scott Ryan, Tony Smith, Tim WilsonKevin Andrews, James Paterson, Jason Wood—QLDTrevor Evans, Ian Macdonald, Stuart RobertScott Buchholz, Luke Howarth, Andrew Laming, Ted O'Brien, Amanda Stoker, Bert van Manen, Ross Vasta, Andrew Wallace,—WASlade Brockman, Steve Irons, Nola Marino, Linda ReynoldsAndrew Hastie, Ben Morton, Dean Smith, Rick WilsonIan GoodenoughSALucy Gichuhi, Rowan RamseyDavid Fawcett, Nicolle Flint, Tony Pasin—TASRichard ColbeckEric Abetz, David BushbyJonathon DuniamACT———
Aftermath Peter Dutton Despite initial conflicting reports over whether he would retain a cabinet position, Dutton resigned from his role as Minister for Home Affairs and became a backbencher. Treasurer Scott Morrison was later announced as the acting Home Affairs Minister.
On 22 August, Dutton spent several interviews discussing his policies if he were to be elected leader of the Coalition, including scrapping the GST on electricity, which Scott Morrison described as "an absolute budget blower". Dutton also floated the idea of having a royal commission into electricity companies.