Coalition chaos

WTF?

Well I’m not exactly sure if anybody knows what the hell happened tonight. Some reports are saying the party room backed the amendments, others say that a majority were against, some say Turnbull stormed out, others say there will be a leadership spill on Thursday. If anyone out there knows, please send an email or leave a comment, and enlighten me!

I’ve had enough for one day…

Andrew Bolt has some further information:

Backbenchers are furious at Turnbull for claiming in the press conference just finished that he had the support of a clear majority of members for agreeing to Rudd’s compromise bill.

“The reality is that he didn’t,” one told me. “He lied.”

It’s a mystery how Turnbull could claim support when some 41 of the 74 to speak at the meeting opposed a deal with Rudd. Those against included the respected Andrew Robb, who until his illness was the climate spokesman. It’s this opposition to an ETS that makes Joe Hockey, who supports it, an unlikely starter.

Turnbull is only a 50-50 chance to survive on Thursday, but his opponents are sure they’ll get him on a second challenge if they don’t blast him out at the first.

But does this sink Rudd’s bill? Depends how many Liberals cross the floor and vote for it, defying either Abbott or Andrews. But I wouldn’t be banking on it yet.

Read it here.

Sky News report that Turnbull pulled a sneaky trick by adding the shadow cabinet numbers to the party room ETS supporters, thereby securing the win (i.e. Adding the shadow cabinet to the 33 in favour to make it more than 41).

It’s ironic that Turnbull has resorted to fiddling the figures to push through the ETS, just like the warmists at CRU fiddled the temperatures to keep global warming alive.