What the Hell Is Going on With the Government and Who Is Our Prime Minister Right Now?

All valid questions. (TL;DR: Current PM is Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison.)

Update: The ballot described below happened and Scott Morrison won. Read about it here. The original story follows.)

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the events in Canberra this week, a quick recap:

Though turmoil within the Liberal Party has been roiling for months—well, years; okay, a full decade—it all came to a head on Tuesday when conservative minister Peter Dutton, bolstered by former PM Tony Abbott, failed to take over as leader following a spill in the party room.

Huh, what’s a 'spill'?

Basically, a spill occurs when a political party declares that its leadership position is now vacant, and the party can vote on a new leader. It is how we went from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard to Kevin Rudd again during the last Labor era of government, and how Turnbull unseated Tony Abbott in 2015.

Okay, thanks. So, what happened after Tuesday?

So much.

Though Dutton resigned as Minister for Home Affairs, he’s been shoring up support for a second crack at the crown, asking PM Turnbull for another spill. More than a dozen other ministers have resigned in suit, aligning themselves with Dutton.

That’s why Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today fronted the cameras to say he would not stand as a candidate in a future ballot for the Liberal Party leadership, also saying, "Australians will be rightly appalled by what they’re witnessing in their nation’s parliament today and in the course of this week."

SHOW ME THE NAMES!!!

Malcolm Turnbull says he won't call a party room without the signatures of 43 Liberals.

"it's important that people are accountable for what they're doing." pic.twitter.com/9WN9XaPYr7

— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) August 23, 2018

Wait, so Malc just quit?

No, not quite. He will only allow a spill if his Dutton can produce a letter with signatures asking for a party meeting from the majority of Liberals.

Should Dutton whip out the letter (with at least 43 signatures), PM Turnbull will hold the party meeting at midday (AEST) tomorrow, Friday 24 August.

However, there’s another twist: PM Turnbull wants legal advice regarding Dutton’s eligibility to sit in Parliament before any party room meeting takes place.

Woah, where’d this storyline suddenly come from?

Earlier in this absolutely insane week, it was revealed there were potentially issues surrounding Dutton’s eligibility, as he may, technically, be benefitting financially from the Commonwealth due to his family’s involvement in some childcare centres that receive Commonwealth subsidies.

Labor attempted to refer Dutton to the High Court today (who are getting pretty used to evaluating these kinds of cases), but their motion failed.

And then, Parliament was adjourned early.

There’s too much going on.

Correct.

To recap: If Dutton produces the letter with more than 43 signatures, the (current) Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, will allow for a new vote on the Liberal Party leadership, and will not recontest the position, and will quit Parliament, if the Government gets legal advice suggesting Dutton is indeed allowed to be in Parliament.

Does that mean Dutton is guaranteed our new PM if he gets the signatures and a meeting is called?

Probably, but not necessarily.

Scott Morrison—the Treasurer who took over the portfolio for Home Affairs after Dutton resigned following his first tilt—will stand as a contender for the more moderate side of the party.

The ABC has confirmed current Deputy Leader Julie Bishop will also stand for the leadership tomorrow, if it comes to that.

If either Morrison and Bishop officially put their hand up, they could become the preferred choice for those who agree Malcolm Turnbull can no longer be PM, but don’t want to throw their support behind Dutton (who, we’ll just casually mention, is facing a lot of suspicion from voters, due to his hardline stance on immigration and Indigenous issues, and is also facing another side-controversy due to his intervention in the granting of visas to au pairs).

No more twists! Please!

Okay, okay.

Remind us one more time: Why don’t we—the voters—get to choose the Prime Minister in this case?

In Australia, we follow the UK’s Westminster system. Through that democratic process, the people vote for local representatives to sit in parliament and, well, represent us. The leader of the political party with the most representatives to form a government becomes Prime Minister.

Therefore, at no point do we, the people, actually vote for the party’s leader (though, in practice, many elections are centered on the personalities and policies of the person who will likely become PM).

Ah, got it. So… when’s the next federal election?

Gotta be before next May, at the latest, but given the Liberal-National Coalition only holds power by one seat, if any of the crossbenchers (such as the independents, or minor party representatives) decide they don’t like the cut of the next PM's jib, we might be heading back to the polls very, very soon.

More news as it develops. And remember to spare a thought for this poor chap:

Header Image: NBC