Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull held a ‘crisis meeting’ on Sunday night amid reports he could face a leadership challenge before the end of the year.
The Cabinet officially met at Parliament House to discuss energy policy over dinner, but the talks were also said to be held to allow the prime minister to shore up his job.
Fairfax reported that supporters of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton say he has the numbers to win and is looking to challenge Mr Turnbull for the top job.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is hosting a ‘crisis meeting’ at the Lodge as rumours swirl that he will be facing a leadership challenge before the end of the year
It is believed that Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is being pressured to call for a leadership challenge
High-profile attendees seen entering the dinner included Treasurer Scott Morrison, Leader of the House Christopher Pyne and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
Nine News reported that one of Mr Dutton’s backers in the Liberal Party said ‘We are going off a cliff under Turnbull’ when asked why the party would contemplate another potentially damaging spill.
‘I think Malcolm Turnbull is terminal and will be very surprised if he is still leader by the end of the year,’ another said.
But not all were complimentary of Mr Dutton’s abilities, one senior Liberal saying, ‘Peter Dutton is one of the most unpopular people in government. It would be electoral suicide to have him as leader.’
Mr Turnbull outlined further changes to his controversial National Energy Guarantee in a video posted to Facebook on Saturday amid increasing pressure from within his own party.
The prime minister said power companies would face default energy prices, as well as tough penalties for providers that failed to bring costs down.
‘There is no single reason for these prices and so there is no single solution, which is why we have been taking action across the board,’ he said in the video.
The video came after Mr Turnbull changed his stance on legislating the Paris emissions reduction targets in his policy after rebel MPs threatened to cross the floor.
Meanwhile, the latest Fairfax-Ipsos poll shows the Coalition’s primary vote dropped from 39 to 33 per cent over the past month following disputes on energy and speculation over the leadership, The Age reported.
But the prime minister waved off any speculation of a leadership spill over the weekend telling reporters that he will be focusing on the National Energy Guarantee.
‘I’m focused on getting energy prices down and I’ll leave you to all of the speculation,’ he told ABC.
The Prime Minister waved off any speculation of a leadership spill telling reporters that he will be focusing on the National Energy Guarantee
And despite the ledership challenge rumours, Mr Dutton tweeted on Saturday reiterating his support for Mr Turnbull.
‘In relation to media stories today, just to make it very clear, the Prime Minister has my support and I support the policies of the Government,’ he said on Twitter.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told Sky News on Friday ‘I’m not aware of any such talk, nobody has raised that with me’ and Mr Pyne said there was some ‘hyperventilating’ from colleagues.
‘The cabinet is 100 per cent united behind Malcolm Turnbull, and in the party room on Tuesday only four people said that they reserved their right not to vote for the NEG,’ Mr Pyne said.
A formal sign-off on NEG is not expected until later this week.