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Photo:
Malcolm Turnbull talks to Liberal colleagues in Parliament on Thursday morning. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Malcolm Turnbull is technically still the Prime Minister, but he no longer has the trust of the Liberal party room.
And all this after his challenger failed in his bid for the leadership.
How did this happen?
Tuesday morning
The Prime Minister opens the Liberal party room meeting by calling a leadership spill, surprising most of his colleagues.
Mr Dutton challenges, but the PM narrowly wins 48 votes to 35.
The challenger resigns from his Cabinet position as home affairs minister.
Tuesday afternoon/evening
Photo:
Peter Dutton moved straight to the backbench after his failed leadership bid. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Frontbenchers and Dutton supporters Michael Sukkar, James McGrath, Angus Taylor, Zed Seselja, Michael Keenan, Steve Ciobo, Greg Hunt, Alan Tudge, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells offer to quit the ministry.
The PM declines all resignations except Senator Fierravanti-Wells, whose highly critical resignation letter accuses the party of moving too far away from its conservative base.
Wednesday morning
The PM insists the frontbenchers who offered to resign are back in his camp and maintains he has the support of most of his party room.
Key conservative Mathias Cormann holds a press conference alongside the PM and publicly declares: "I support Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister."
Photo:
Mathias Cormann (left) appeared with the PM on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday, he resigned. (ABC: Matt Roberts)
A series of Cabinet ministers and Dutton supporters are seen going into and out of the PM's office.
Wednesday afternoon/evening
Senator Cormann visits the Prime Minister to tell him that five Cabinet ministers have switched support to the Dutton camp since Tuesday's meeting and advises him that "he no longer enjoyed the support of the majority of members in the Liberal Party party room".
The Finance Minister offers to resign but is rebuffed.
The Dutton camp starts circulating a petition and collecting signatures, calling for a party room meeting to resolve the leadership.
Mr McGrath, the Assistant Minister to the PM, goes to see Mr Turnbull to insist he accept his resignation from the ministry.
Thursday morning
Mr Sukkar and Senator Seselja also formally resign and add their names to the petition.
Mr Dutton tells the Prime Minister he has the numbers and wants to challenge him for the leadership again, but Mr Turnbull refuses the request to call a party room meeting.
Photo:
After failing in his Tuesday morning leadership challenge, Peter Dutton told the PM he had the numbers first thing on Thursday. (ABC News: Matthew Abbott)
Senator Cormann goes to see the PM again to reiterate what he told him on Wednesday and advise him to call a party room meeting to settle the leadership.
The senator and Cabinet ministers Mitch Fifield and Michaelia Cash hold a press conference to publicly reveal that they no longer support Mr Turnbull as Liberal leader.
That prompts a number of other ministers to quit, meaning 10 of the 11 Liberal frontbenchers who initially offered to resign have now forced the PM's hand.
Thursday afternoon
Photo:
Labor MPs waved and shouted as Liberal MPs left the House of Representatives after a shocking early adjournment. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
With the make-up of the Government in flux, Christopher Pyne moves a motion to adjourn Parliament early, which is upheld.
An hour later, Mr Turnbull fronts the media and says he will only call a new party-room meeting once he sees a letter with signatures of a majority of the party room supporting Mr Dutton. He says that meeting will happen at midday on Friday if he receives the letter.
Topics: politics-and-government, federal-government, government-and-politics, liberal-national-party-queensland, liberals, turnbull-malcolm, australia
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