Turnbull calls Abbott a flip-flopper and says he's full of "Bulls*it"

Malcolm Turn has just posted on his blog about the Coalition's objection to the ETS. In it he says Abbott has changed his position plenty of times and that lowering emissions without cost is "bullshit" and that Abbott knows this. Looks like the disunity in the party is just starting, not coimng to an end as they would like us to believe.

While a shadow minister, Tony Abbott, was never afraid of speaking bluntly in a manner that was at odds with Coalition policy.

Tony Abbot quits, Malcolm Turnbull doomed.

UPDATE: 9:45pm - Judith Adams and David Bushby have resigned as whips.

Breaking News: 5:30pm - Tony Abbot has quit the shadow treasury in response to Malcom Turnbull's deal with the Government on the ETS. Mr Abbot has quit so he can cross the floor and vote against the legislation. He is expected to put himself up for leader in a vote with Tony Smith as his deputy. Fellow shadmow minister Sophie Mirabella has also resigned while the Liberal Ledaer in the senate Eric Abetz is also expected to resign.

This is the end of Turnbull's reign as Liberal Party leader. He won't be able to recover from this. As mentioned earlier Abbot is expected to put his hand up but I don't know why anyone would to lead the Libs to the next election, they will lose in a landslide.

Andrew Robb as next Liberal Party leader?

That's the latest coming out of Canberra. It might work for a while but he won't win the next election. In fact nobody in the Coalition can barring a major stuff-up from Rudd and Co. I can't see anyone challenging Turnbull until after the election loss and he may in fact resign after the loss.

Turnbull claws back a little bit of ground.

Malcolm Turnbull has clawed back a little bit of public support in the past 2 weeks according to the latest Newspoll conducted for The Australian. The bad news for Mr Turnbull is he trails both Peter Costello and Joe Hockey as preferred Liberal leader. Costello got 36% of the vote with Abbot on 20%, Turnbull on 16% and Tony Abbot on 10%.

The Coalition has jumped 2% on primary votes to trail Labour 43%(steady)-39%. The 2PP has stayed at 55%-45%, a swing of 2.3% to Labor on the 2007 election. If this result was repeated on election day Labor would pick up around 14 extra seats (assuming a universal swing)

Galaxy Poll: How 'green' is Turnbull

A galaxy poll of 1100 voters has found that, of those who answered the question 63% thought that the Liberal Party would more to tackle climate change in Government with Turnbull as leader than with Dr Nelson as leader. 37% thought they would do less.

The phone poll, commisioned by GetUp also found that 40% said they did not know if Turnbull would be 'greener'.

Simon Shike of GetUp said "The results of the poll suggest Malcolm Turnbull now has to clear the muddy waters surrounding his stance on climate change."

More here

Nielsen Poll in Wentworth - 52-48 to Labor

According to the latest Nielsen poll published in the SMH, Malcolm Turnbull will lose his seat if the results were repeated on election day. Turnbull is on 45% of the primary vote with Labor candidate George Newhouse on 36% and the Greens' Susan Jarnason on 17%. Danielle Ecuyer and seven other candidates have only 2 per cent between them. Almost nine in 10 respondents planning to vote for the Greens or other minor candidates intended to give their preferences to Mr Newhouse.

The Wentworth poll used the names of the candidates as well as their parties, and was conducted from last Monday to Wednesday night. Therefore it did not measure the full impact of Wednesday's revelation in the Herald that Mr Newhouse's nomination might be invalid because of allegations he failed to resign in time from a part-time State Government post. The Liberal Party has threatened a challenge to force a by-election if Mr Newhouse wins. Mr Newhouse says he has advice showing his nomination is valid.

Nielsen's polling director, John Stirton, said the poll's 3 per cent margin of error and the tumult over Mr Newhouse meant the contest was too close to call. "This poll probably represents a best case for Labor with a week to go."

Preference deal adds to woes in Turnbull's battle

MALCOLM TURNBULL's chances of hanging on to the seat of Wentworth were dealt another blow yesterday when Labor formalised a preference deal with the Greens.

The Greens have agreed to preference Labor in 50 key seats across the country, including Wentworth, in a deal that will significantly boost Labor's chances of winning the election.

In return, Labor will preference the Greens in the Senate, dramatically increasing the chances of Bob Brown's party winning extra spots and seizing the balance of power.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald