Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has been tipped to contest the leadership. Photo / Dean Purcell.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has been tipped to contest the leadership. Photo / Dean Purcell.
The Liberal leadership is shaping up to be a threeway contest with Julie Bishop poised to make a run for the top job.
A senior Liberal source told news.com.au that the Foreign Minister would throw her hat in the ring in the event of a leadership spill tomorrow.
There has been growing pressure on the Foreign Minister to declare herself as the third candidate for the top job, with members of cabinet "strongly" encouraging her to run, 7 News reports.
The other candidates vying to replace Malcolm Turnbull are former home affairs minister Peter Dutton and Treasurer Scott Morrison.
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard has also weighed into the leadership crisis, saying she could "understand why people would want to go and live in New Zealand given the leadership of the current prime minister".
Speaking at RMIT University, she declined to comment on the looming federal election and said her only advice for Dutton and other challengers was to "drink a lot of water" and "make sure you eat some veggies and get some sunlight".
With things in Canberra moving a mile a minute, it's yet to be seen whether Bishop actually takes up the call to stand for the top job, but a spokesperson for her office said she is "considering her options".
News.com.au contacted the Foreign Minister's office for comment, but they could not be reached this afternoon.
This in itself marks a shift from her previous position. When asked about her leadership ambitions in recent media interviews, Bishop emphasised her loyalty to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Two nights ago, 7.30's Leigh Sales asked the Foreign Minister whether she'd run if it meant saving the party.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has been tipped to contest the leadership. Photo / Dean Purcell.
"That's such a hypothetical. I mean, it's got so many hypotheticals built into it," Bishop responded, the day after she was re-elected to her position. "No. I've just been elected as deputy leader of the party. I don't take that for granted, and I will do my very best to act out that role as deputy in support of the Coalition delivering good government for the Australian people."
Sales pointed out that the polls suggested she'd be their only chance at survival.
"Peter Dutton made it clear in April that he wanted to be prime minister," replied Bishop. "I think that was a signal to colleagues that he wants the job. I've got a job. I'm getting on with my job of delivering good government for the people of Australia, and supporting the Turnbull government in doing that."
A News Corp Australia poll showed Bishop is the preferred leader for the party with 34 per cent of votes, followed by Turnbull at 30 per cent, Tony Abbott at 17 per cent and Peter Dutton at 10 per cent.
But despite her popularity with the public, the path to the leadership in the party wouldn't be easy.
Commentator Chris Urquhart noted Ms Bishop's moderate position, the questioning of her loyalty and coming from Western Australia — when the marginal seats need to be won on the other side of the country — as major hurdles for her.
There are also reports that Tony Abbott will stand in tomorrow's ballot.
According to Herald Sun reporter Rob Harris, Liberal MPs said he had "used Dutton all along".
But according to Sky News, Abbott has said he will not be running.
DUTTON GAINING GROUND IN 'SUICIDE NOTE' PETITION
Dutton's supporters have said he has 40 signatures in his favour in a petition that's been circling Parliament House since last night.
Sky News' Laura Jayes is reporting an extra eight members support the petition, but don't want to be on a public list, arguing the ballot is supposed to be secret.
The former home affairs minister needs 43 signatures for Turnbull to call a party room meeting.
For clarity: I have not been bullied or intimidated into signing the suicide note to call a leadership spill. People have politely asked me, and I declined. The people of Australia and Goldstein have been very clear what they want, and I hear them. #LiberalAndProudOfIt
It follows reports Dutton's camp pulled the petition from circulation for the time being, in the hopes that the government's chief whip Nola Marino would call the meeting.
Marino has said she will not be asking for one.
Earlier this evening, Liberal MP Tim Wilson described the petition as a "suicide note" for the party.
TURNBULL TO RESIGN IF SPILL MOTION TAKES PLACE
Turnbull has revealed he will resign as Prime Minister tomorrow if a spill motion is carried against him.
"I will treat that as a vote of no confidence and I will not stand as a candidate in the ballot," he said.
Turnbull told reporters this afternoon he was waiting for a letter with the signatures of the majority of the Liberal Party to call a meeting on the prime ministership challenge.
He said once he received that — if it existed — he would call a meeting at noon tomorrow.
Former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton needs 43 signatures for Turnbull to call a party room meeting and there are reports that number has quickly climbed over the past 24 hours.
Deputy leader Julie Bishop, left, earlier stood by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as he faced a leadership takeover. Photo / AP
Turnbull also questioned Dutton's eligibility to sit in parliament when he fronted the media at Parliament House at 1pm today after a tense morning and a mass exodus of 13 of ministers.
"The reality is that a minority in the party room supported by others outside the Parliament have sought to bully and intimidate others into making this change of leadership that they're seeking," he said.
"It is described by many people … as a form of madness, and it is remarkable we're at this point where only a month ago we were being avid readers of polls, and we were just little bit behind Labor."
Turnbull said the public would be "crying out" for an election because Australians would be "rightly appalled" by what they were witnessing in Parliament this week.
When questioned if he would ask his supporters to back Treasurer Scott Morrison for the job if a spill was carried, Turnbull refused to answer, but said he would not give in to bullies.
"I mean, politics is a tough business," he said.
Peter Dutton needs 43 signatures for Malcolm Turnbull to call a party room meeting. Photo / AP
"You have got to judge the political actions by their outcomes. I think what we're witnessing - what we have witnessed at the moment is a very deliberate effort to pull the Liberal Party further to the right.
"What began as a minority has, by a process of intimidation, persuaded people that the only way to stop the insurgency is to give in to it.
"I do not believe in that. I have never done that. I have never given in to bullies, but you can imagine the pressure it's put people under."
Turnbull said he had sought advice from the Solicitor-General on the eligibility of Dutton to sit in parliament and expected to receive that first thing tomorrow morning.
"[If a spill motion] is carried and there is a new leader of the Liberal Party, that person will have to obviously satisfy the Governor-General that they can command a majority on the floor of the House of Representatives," he said.
"In the case of Mr Dutton, I think he'll have to establish that he is eligible to sit in the Parliament.
"I don't want to elaborate on this anymore than I need to, but this issue of eligibility is critically important. You can imagine the consequences of having a Prime Minister whose actions and decisions are questionable because of the issue of eligibility. Are they validly a minister at all?"
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, left, resigned today while Treasurer Scott Morrison, right, will have a go at the leadership in the event of a spill for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Photo / AP
That eligibility centres on claims Dutton may have breached the Constitution and been ineligible to sit because of his interests in two childcare centres his wife operates and the government subsidies they receive.
Turnbull's prime ministership was effectively over earlier today after a mass exodus of his ministers and a new challenger in Morrison putting his hand up for the top job.
It is understood the Treasurer will run against Dutton's for the Liberal leadership, with Turnbull's announcement a vote could happen tomorrow now allowing Morrison more time to get the votes he needs.
The House of Representatives has been adjourned until September 10, meaning there will be no question time this afternoon.
