Turnbull leads despite cabinet clear out

Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has declared he's still the leader of the
coalition after a string of frontbenchers resigned on Thursday over the emissions
trading deal.
"I am the leader of the Liberal Party," Mr Turnbull told reporters at a media
conference in Canberra
"I was confirmed as such .... just 24 hours ago."
Mr Turnbull said he was committed to taking action on climate change and the
direction in which he had taken the Liberal Party.
"We must maintain this course of action. It's the responsible thing to do, it is the
honourable thing to do.
"Australians expect their political leaders to act responsibly to take action on
climate change, to protect and safeguard the future of our planet, the future of our
children."
Earlier on Thursday, senior Liberal frontbencher Tony Abbott resigned from the
shadow cabinet.
Mr Abbott said after question time he and Liberals Senate leader Nick Minchin told
Mr Turnbull the coalition should delay a vote on Labor's emissions trading scheme
until next year.
"Malcolm was unprepared to reconsider," Mr Abbott said.
"I indicated to Malcolm at the end of the conversation that given his position I
could no longer support the opposition's policy and therefore could no longer be in
the shadow cabinet."
"This is a very difficult decision for me," Mr Abbott told reporters in Canberra.
"I have always regarded myself as a loyal party man, I have always been someone who
instinctively supports the leader."
A string of senior Liberals have been in and out of Mr Turnbull's office early on
Thursday evening, including senior frontbenchers Joe Hockey, Ian Macfarlane,
Christopher Pyne, Scott Morrison and Steven Ciobo.
Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella has also announced her resignation from the opposition
shadow ministry over the emissions trading scheme.
Ms Mirabella was the opposition's spokeswoman for early childhood education,
childcare, status of women and youth.
She said her decision to resign wasn't easy.
"It is with a heavy heart that I will cross the floor for the first time in my
parliamentary career," Ms Mirabella said in a statement on Thursday.
"This will be a vote against Labor's ETS, not my colleagues."
Mr Abbott said it was not a leadership issue, but a policy issue.
He said over the past six months he had been very active in supporting Mr Turnbull,
some times in difficult circumstances.
"This isn't a leadership issue at all, it is policy issue, although, obviously I
would much have preferred the leadership to have taken us in a different direction
on this issue," he said.
Asked if he was going to challenge for the leadership, Mr Abbott replied: "I am not
going to talk about discussions I might have had with colleagues.
"I can't say what might happen in the future but as far as I am concerned this is a
policy issue not a leadership issue."
Mr Abbott said his office had an "absolute deluge" of critical emails after Mr
Turnbull announced the coalition's support for the amended ETS.
"The phone lines have been in meltdown with people saying that the Liberal Party
would not be doing its job as an opposition simply to pass this thing without
scrutiny ... it demands," he said.
Mr Abbott said it had been a "pretty heavy week" for the party.
"And for someone who has a record of loyalty to the party and to the leader that
I've had, this has been an incredibly momentous decision."
Pressed on whether he supported Mr Turnbull as leader, Mr Abbott said: "I've just
resigned from the front bench and obviously I do not support the policy direction
that he is taking the party on this issue."
Mr Abbott would not speculate whether he and Senator Minchin had the numbers in the
Senate to block the ETS legislation.
"I'm not going to speculate on what the situation might be in the Senate," he said.