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International desk: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has appealed for unity after surviving a challenge to his leadership from a senior government colleague.<\/p>\nInternational desk: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has appealed for unity after surviving a challenge to his leadership from a senior government colleague.<\/p>\n
Mr Turnbull had called the surprise vote himself in a bid to resolve speculation that his leadership was under threat.<\/p>\n
In a party room ballot in Canberra on Tuesday, he defeated Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.<\/p>\n
The prime minister won the vote 48-35, Liberal Party MPs said.<\/p>\n
Following the result, he told colleagues: “It's really important that we put our differences behind us and get on with the job of looking after Australians.”<\/p>\n
Why was there a challenge?<\/strong> He faced a revolt from conservative MPs over a key climate change policy. That led to him abandoning the plans on Monday in an attempt to blunt conflict within his government.<\/p>\n The PM has also been under long-term pressure due to a series of bad polls and a by-election loss in Queensland.<\/p>\n Polling has suggested the government will suffer a heavy loss in the next general election, which will be held before May next year.<\/p>\n So what happened on Tuesday?<\/strong><\/p>\n In a bid to clear the air, Mr Turnbull called for a snap vote on the leadership in a party meeting.<\/p>\n Mr Dutton, a leading figure from the party's conservative wing, was nominated as challenger, confirming media reports that he had been gathering support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" International desk: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has appealed for unity after surviving a challenge to his leadership from a senior government colleague. Mr Turnbull had called the surprise vote himself in a bid to resolve speculation that his leadership was under threat. In a party room ballot in Canberra on Tuesday, he defeated Home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":46680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n
\nSpeculation over Mr Turnbull's future as party leader had escalated in the past few days.<\/p>\n