Minister Dan Tehan dodges dumping of Malcolm Turnbull question

While Australians have welcomed new prime minister Scott Morrison to the ranks, the question remains on everyones lips, why did the Liberal party choose to throw out Malcolm Turnbull?

For the past few days Aussies have been on the edge of their seats waiting to hear who would be in charge of leading the country with two leadership spills occurring throughout the week.

Finally on Friday, Morrison was announced as the new Liberal party leader and therefore prime minister after beating fellow colleagues Peter Dutton and Julie Bishop in the fight for the top position.

Later that night Minister for Social Services Dan Tehan appeared on ABC’s 7.30 to discuss the leadership scandal, however, he failed to answer the burning question of why the spill occurred in the first place.

“Can you explain to the hundreds of thousands of Australian voters, watching this program tonight, why your party had to dump Malcolm Turnbull?” host Leigh Sales asked the minister.

Read more: Turnbull’s sympathy for voters: ‘They must be dumbstruck and appalled’

To which Tehan simply replied: “Well, in the end our party room has decided that they want a new generation of leaders. They have elected Scott Morrison to be our new Prime Minister and Josh Frydenberg to be our new deputy leader.”

The minister went on to explain how much of an honour it was to serve in the Turnbull cabinet, also giving thanks for the work of Julie Bishop.

Tactfully dodging Sales’ question, Tehan continued to say how after a difficult week the party was united and ready to act for all Australians.

“In the end our party room has decided that they want a new generation of leaders, who can focus on the Australian people. Make sure between now and the election that is what we are seeking to do,” he claimed.

Not backing down, Sales continued her probing asking: “Don’t you think the voters deserve to understand why you feel the need to go with this new generation of leaders?”.

Followed by: “Why should any Australian give you another chance at the next election?”.

Read more: Scott Morrison confirmed as Australia’s latest prime minister

To which the minister claimed the Liberal party is there for the Australian people and ready to address the issues that matter the most, still tactfully dodging the host’s main question.

“We are united. What we’ve seen this week are obviously very turbulent times, a focus too much on ourselves and not on the Australian people,” Tehan explained.

“But at the end of the week there is one very clear message, that is we are now united and we are now focused on governing for all Australians and delivering for them.”

What are your thoughts on the leadership spill? Are you happy or unhappy about the new prime minister?