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CANBERRA - Malcolm Turnbull has accelerated the ailing Liberal Party out of the last of the Howard morass, giving notice to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that Australia's political highway is going to become a lot tougher.
The 53-year-old former journalist, lawyer, merchant banker and staunch republican yesterday won
party leadership from Brendan Nelson, ending the constant internal warfare that had rendered the Liberals impotent as an effective Opposition.
With an aggressive, confident and charismatic leader, the Liberals can now rapidly rebuild themselves and take on a Government hammered by global economic chaos and the harsh realities of imposing a reformist and at times unpopular agenda.
The snap contest called without warning by Nelson late on Monday night will not magically transform the Liberals, who are still debating the legacy of former Prime Minister John Howard's 11 years in power.
But Turnbull's ascension has closed the Howard era by turning the party over to a new generation, which is already reviewing its policies totake account of a rapidly changing world.
It is likely to achieve this without the instability that marked Nelson's leadership in the wake of last November's crushing election defeat: there is no other obvious challenger in the wings, and the Liberals need time now to consolidate and rebuild in time for the 2011 election.
Nelson, who was offered but declined a seat in Turnbull's yet-to-be-announced shadow ministry, recognised the damage the party had suffered from unrelenting criticism of his leadership and continual speculation of a challenge by either Turnbull or former Treasurer Peter Costello.
Costello, who pledged support for Turnbull after yesterday's vote, has denied any ongoing ambitions and has repeated his intention to quit politics.
Congratulating Turnbull on his 45-41 vote victory - almost a mirror image of his own post-election win - Nelson said his decision on the sudden leadership spill was necessary.
"My view was that it was not in this country's interest to continue to have the kind of speculation existing to continue to distract ... Australians away from the main issues that concern all Australians," he said.
Turnbull recognised his first priority was regrouping and rebuilding the Liberals, who have languished in the polls since Rudd's victory.
He pledged to use the networking and consulting skills honed over a lifetime of almost unbroken success that made him a multimillionaire and one of Australia's most influential figures, to reunite the party.
"Ours is a great party, a party whose values are as important to the prosperity and security of Australia in the years to come as they have been in years gone by," Turnbull said.
"This is a land of opportunity. Australia and Australians can do anything. But we need to have confidence, we need to have leadership, we need to have the opportunity to do well."
Since the election, Newspolls has shown the Liberal-led Coalition trailing Labor by between 10 and 14 percentage points. The most recent Morgan poll puts Labor at 58 per cent, and the Coalition at 42 per cent, in the two-party preferred vote that decides Australian elections.
Turnbull's election provides the Liberals with a chance of eroding Labor's lead.
Unlike Nelson, who needed a convincing victory to crush corrosive speculation over his future as leader, Turnbull just needed an outright to secure the time and opportunity to cement himself into the job.
He is also taking over after much of the post-election blood has been spilt, and as the party recognises the need to get its act together rapidly, a fact publicly recognised by Turnbull.
"Brendan has led the party through very difficult times," Turnbull said. "He's done that very well and we owe him a great debt of gratitude."
And the political stars continue to align themselves for Turnbull.
His election comes as the mood of the country turns against Labor in the states, a dark brooding that battered the party in the Northern Territory, ousted Labor in Western Australia, hammered its candidates in New South Wales local government elections, and which now hangs over Labor administrations in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
The global finance crisis has also handed Turnbull a powerful cudgel that he will use to full advantage, starting immediately after the spill with a reminder that he had not been a child of privilege and that his family had paid its dues on Struggle Street.
"We are suffering from a global collapse in confidence and instead of having a Government which spoke passionately about what we can do and why we are different, we've had a Government all year that's talked this country down," he said.
With a powerful, charismatic style contrasting with a comparatively pallid Rudd, Turnbull will also be hammering the Government in key, vulnerable areas such as climate change, emissions trading and social welfare.
