Australia needs a leader like Key – Turnbull

Treasurer and Abbott loyalist Joe Hockey is expected to resign before he's dumped in a cabinet reshuffle. Social Services Minister Scott Morrison, who voted for Mr Abbott but declined to run as his deputy, is tipped to replace him.

Mr Hockey will be remembered primarily for his so-called "austerity budget" as the commodities boom evaporated amid the China slowdown. This year he also ushered in the "Google tax" (targeting multinationals who shifted profit from revenue generated in Australia offshore) and the "Netflix tax" (applying GST to services purchased from an offshore provider).

Like Mr Turnbull, treasurer-in-waiting Mr Morrison is regarded as more moderate than his predecessor, at least in fiscal matters (he is also known for his hard line on immigration). His CV includes a stint working in Wellington in the 1990s as head of the Office of Tourism and Sport.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was re-elected as deputy prime minister. In a key development yesterday, Ms Bishop threw her support behind Mr Turnbull.

Earlier this year, in the wake of a stalling economy and his decision to award the first Australian knighthood to the Duke of Edinburgh, Mr Abbott just managed to fight off a leadership challenge.The immediate trigger for last night's coup was the looming Canning byelection in Western Australia. Polls showed the Liberals in danger of losing the usually safe seat.

Rumours of a spill began on Friday. 

At 3.30pm yesterday, Mr Turnbull resigned from the cabinet, saying he no longer had confidence in Mr Abbott, and announced his intention to challenge his leadership.

By 10.40pm, he was fronting to media as the Liberal Party's new leader prime minister-in-waiting

As Communications Minister, Mr Turnbull oversaw the National Broadband Network (NBN), Australia's equivalent of New Zealand's Ultrafast Broadband (UFB) network. It was a project inherited from Labor, and he did scale it back – though not nearly as much as Mr Abbott originally threatened.

At his press conference last night, Mr Turnbull said, "We cannot be defensive ... we have to recognise that the disruption we see driven by technology – the volatility and change is our friend – if we are smart and agile enough to take advantage of it."

Name-check for Key
The new Liberal leader also gave John Key a name-check for "economic leadership," saying "John Key has been able to achieve very significant economic reforms in New Zealand by doing just that – by explaining complex issues and then making the case for them and that is certainly something we should do." 

Labour leader Andrew Little chipped in, "Apart from the sale of state assets, I'm struggling to think what the major economic reform it is that he's explained so well. We've had seven deficits in a row. National debt is rising."