Turnbull is new Australia PM
14 September 2015 by News DeskTony Abbot has been ousted as Prime Minister of Australia and Malcolm Turnbull will take his place.
Abbott lost a vote of confidence in the ruling Liberal Party after Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) resigned as Communications Minister and asked the Prime Minister for a leadership ballot.
Turnbull, who won the leadership ballot by 54 votes to 44, will become Australia’s 29th Prime Minister. Julie Bishop was re-elected deputy leader.
Abbott has been under pressure for some months over a range of issues and Turnbull called for the leadership vote following rising concerns over the former PM’s economic credibility.
Turnbull told reporters that his party needed, “a style of leadership that respects people’s intelligence; that explains complex issues, and then sets out the course of action we believe we should take. It is clear that people have made up their mind about Mr Abbott’s leadership. Our party, the Liberal Party has the right values … of free enterprise, of entrepreneurship. What we’ve not succeeded in doing is translating those values into policies”.
Tony Abbot may have paid the price for his own failings but the Australian economy is faring somewhat better. Latest official figures show that the number of people employed in Australia increased by 17,400 to 11,775,800 in August while the number of people unemployed across the country fell to 781,100.