Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop has vowed to support prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, despite the dire results of Monday morning’s Newspoll results.
Turnbull has now matched Tony Abbott’s 30 poll losing streak, which Turnbull used as an excuse to oust Abbott as leader three years ago. The poll, published exclusively in The Australian, found that Bill Shorten’s Labor Opposition continues to sit ahead of the Government with a two-party preferred vote of 52-48. Labor’s primary vote has also increased by two points to 39 per cent, while the Coalition rose to 38 per cent.
Speaking on Sunrise, Bishop said that she didn’t think Turnbull was going to meet the same fate Abbott, despite the disappointing results.
“That’s not the test for the leadership of the Liberal Party,” she explained to hosts David Koch and Samantha Armytage. “The test is who retains the confidence of the majority of the members of the Liberal Party room, and that’s Malcolm Turnbull.”
Armytage told Bishop that she thought the PM must be regretting using the 30 Newspoll loss as a mark, noting that she thought all the focus was going to be on what happens to him next. Again, Bishop said that the Newspoll isn’t the test.
“He promised that he would deliver strong economic management and that’s what he’s delivering,” Bishop added. “Since he became prime minister we’ve had 17 consecutive months of jobs growth and we’re on track to see the creation of a million new jobs since we came to government.”
She said that there were more Australians in jobs than ever before, noting that it “doesn’t happen by accident”.
“It happens as a result of government policies that create an environment so that business is confident to invest,” Bishop said. “People start new businesses, people get jobs.”
Koch didn’t accept Bishop’s answer, telling her that the Liberal Party set the 30 Newspoll bar and that the electorate had lost confidence in Abbott. Bishop denied that Abbott’s loss was the case of him being ousted as PM.
“That wasn’t the trigger as far as I was concerned,” she said. “There had been problems for quite some time. It had nothing to do with Newspolls and the test is who has the confidence of the Liberal Party and that is Malcolm Turnbull.”
In 2015, Turnbull famously quoted the Newspolls as a reason for going after Abbott’s job.
“The one thing that is clear about our current situation is the trajectory,” Turnbull said of Abbott’s losing streak in 2015. “We have lost 30 Newspolls in a row. It is clear that the people have made up their mind about Mr Abbott’s leadership.”
Bishop said that she thought Turnbull would retain the confidence of the party because he is continuing to deliver as prime minister.