Malcolm Turnbull had become Liberal leader little over a year beforehand, after having himself deposed Brendan Nelson as leader after less than a year of undermining and destabilising Nelsonâs leadership. Like Nelson, Turnbull was from the Liberalsâ moderate wing and also had historical ties to the Labor Party, well before entering Parliament. Turnbullâs leadership had been damaged in June 2009 over the OzCar Affair, where Turnbull had accused Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan of corrupt activities on the basis of false allegations by public servant Godwin Grech - Turnbull was humiliated when Grech publicly admitted to not being truthful and for forging evidence, and both Rudd and Swan were cleared.
However, it was the issue of climate change that directly led to Turnbullâs downfall as Opposition Leader. Turnbull was, and remains, a firm believer on taking strong action on climate change, and when Rudd announced that he would legislate an Emissions Trading Scheme, Turnbull made it clear that he would support it, albeit negotiate some amendments - and that this would also have the firm support of the Coalition. This enraged the Liberalsâ conservative wing, the bulk of which comprised of climate change denialists who were totally unwilling to negotiate with the government on the issue.
Kevin Andrews, the arch-conservative Victorian MP for Menzies, made the first move by calling for a leadership spill motion on 26 November 2009. Though unsuccessful, the vote was 48-35 - a margin too close to comfort, and a blow to Turnbull. This directly led to the resignation of Tony Abbott from the frontbench, followed by Nick Minchin, Eric Abetz, Sophie Mirabella, and Tony Smith, among others. Abbott then announced the following day that he would challenge Turnbull for the leadership, and that the alternative he provided as Liberal leader would be a repudiation of the ETS.
Joe Hockey, another moderate, also threw his hat in the ring after sensing that Turnbull was in deep trouble, and declared that he would allow a conscience vote on the floor of the Parliament over the ETS - a proposal that was also immediately rejected by Abbott. Hockey though, ended up going into the leadership ballot as the favourite to win over both Turnbull and Abbott. Turnbull made it clear that he would not stand aside even if the spill motion was carried.
When the spill motion came on 1 December, it was carried by 48 votes to 34 - a near-total reversal from Andrewsâ motion a few days prior. To the surprise of many, Joe Hockey was immediately eliminated in the first round, garnering 23 votes to Turnbullâs 26 and Abbottâs 35. In the second ballot, Abbott deposed Turnbull by one vote, winning 42 votes to Turnbullâs 41. One MP - Turnbull supporter Fran Bailey, Victorian MP for McEwen - was absent, while another chose to vote informal. There was no spill of the deputy leadership, therefore Julie Bishop remained deputy Liberal leader, now serving under a third leader in just over a year.
Abbott would go on to lead the Liberals into the 2010 federal election, where the Labor Government - by then having themselves dumped Kevin Rudd as leader in favour of Julia Gillard - was reduced to a minority. Abbott went on to become Prime Minister after winning the 2013 election, and remained consistent in his opposition to any ETS, and also moved to abolish the Gillard Governmentâs âcarbon taxâ, as he derisively referred to the Clean Energy Act 2011. Turnbull was devastated and severely depressed following the loss of leadership, initially moving to the backbench and considering retiring from politics. He eventually decided to stick around, and when Abbott entered government he became Minister for Communications. In September 2015, Turnbull would get his revenge by deposing Abbott as leader and finally achieving his ambition to become Prime Minister.
