PM Abbott survives leadership challenge

Canberra

AUSTRALIA'S Prime Minister Tony Abbott thwarted a leadership challenge, but failed to end speculation that his position is under threat after almost 40 per cent of his Liberal Party colleagues voted against him.

Liberal lawmakers voted by 61 to 39 against a motion that would have declared his job vacant and allowed candidates to run against him. Internal support for the prime minister has dwindled 17 months after he won office amid the government's slumping poll ratings and concern about his leadership style.

"Apart from keeping his job, this is probably the worst possible result for the prime minister," said Haydon Manning, a politics professor at Flinders University in Adelaide. "A very solid block has just voted against his leadership. It seems a matter of when, not if, he leaves."

While the Cabinet publicly rallied behind the prime minister, Monday's vote has weakened Mr Abbott, 57, and increased pressure on him to reset his policy agenda. An opinion poll released on Sunday showed the government trailing the Labour party by 14 points, with Mr Abbott the most unpopular Liberal-National coalition prime minister on record.

With the federal budget due in three months, Mr Abbott must now seek to quell public anger sparked by last year's spending cuts, while repairing a deficit forecast to hit A$40.4 billion (S$42.8 billion) this financial year.

"This matter is behind us," Mr Abbott said in a televised statement after the vote. "The focus now is once more on jobs, families, a stronger economy and a secure nation."

The strength of the opposition to Mr Abbott in the vote, in the absence of a publicly declared challenger, further undermines his authority, Prof Manning said.

"It's hard to see where Abbott can improve his lot from here," he said. "It was basically a vote in the confidence of his prime ministership; and there's obviously no real confidence in it."

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, tipped in local media as potential successors, " didn't need to go for it today because they can just sit back and watch Abbott's leadership fall apart", he said.

Discontent came to a head after Mr Abbott bestowed a knighthood on Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, on Jan 26, Australia's National Day. Some Liberal colleagues said that exacerbated a backlash in a Queensland state election on Jan 31 that saw the governing Liberal National Party lose a massive majority.

The government has made the worst start in opinion polls for a party returning to office in almost 30 years. Voters have deserted the coalition after it backtracked on election pledges not to cut funding for education, health and the public broadcaster, and amid concerns about Mr Abbott's judgment.

Support for the coalition fell three points to 43 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, compared to Labour on 57 per cent, according to a Newspoll published in TheAustralian newspaper on Monday. Dissatisfaction with Mr Abbott's performance rose 10 points to 68 per cent, the worst rating for a coalition prime minister since Newspoll records began three decades ago.

Asked who would be best to lead the Liberal Party, 25 per cent backed Mr Abbott compared with 64 per cent for Mr Turnbull. The survey of 1,178 people was conducted from Feb 6-8, with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. BLOOMBERG