Malcolm Turnbull to be Australia’s new PM

In the hastily-arranged late night party leadership ballot, 57-year-old Abbott received 44 votes against Turnbull’s 54.

Mr Turnbull will meet with the Abbott ministry on Tuesday and said ministers could choose to stay on for the remainder of the week.

During his first question time as Prime Minister on Tuesday, Labor forced Mr Turnbull to announce his support for a plebiscite on same-sex marriage and the Coalition’s existing carbon emissions targets. Former PUP senator Glenn Lazarus has high hopes for the new prime minister provided he gets out of his wealthy electorate in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and sees how some Australians are doing it tough. As Abbott’s deputy it was her role to inform the prime minister of Turnbull’s desire to force a leadership ballot.

Turnbull’s return to the helm will likely lead to a major Cabinet reshuffle, with Treasurer Joe Hockey and Defense Minister Kevin Andrews among the ministers who publicly supported Abbott.

Turnbull, whose successful career has included stints as a barrister and an entrepreneur, ruled out an early national election to cement his leadership.

“We anticipate that he will strongly condemn the racist activities and send a message to Australia that bigotry has no place in our society”, Mr Seyit said. “Basically his party has split in half”, Tormey said.

Dr Williams said the biggest hurdle Mr Turnbull now faced was “the most divided Liberal Party in 30 years”, amid the ever-present threat of Mr Abbott mounting a renewed challenge to his position, despite Mr Abbott’s pledge not to.

Dr Williams said the latest in the string of first-term leadership spills was different to the various Rudd and Gillard challenges, as “Tony Abbott was given a lot more chances” than either former Labor leader was.

Unemployment is hovering around a decade-high, wages growth is subdued, while government revenue has been hit by slowing commodities demand from China, Australia’s largest trading partner.

Opinion polls show that Turnbull is more popular than Abbott, but many of those who prefer him vote for the centre-left Labour Party. He was always assumed to have his eye on the top political prize, which he has achieved in a relatively quick 11 years.