Malcolm Turnbull Defeats Tony Abbott to Become Prime Minister of Australia
By MICHELLE INNIS

SYDNEY, Australia — Malcolm Turnbull, a former investment banker and lawyer, was poised to become the prime minister of Australia on Monday night after defeating Tony Abbott in a vote of Liberal Party lawmakers.

The vote was the second challenge to Mr. Abbott’s leadership in seven months. He came to power in September 2013.

Mr. Turnbull, 60, is a moderate Liberal whose views, most recently on same-sex marriage, had conflicted with those of Mr. Abbott, 57. The Liberals, despite their name, are the more conservative of Australia’s two major parties.

The new prime minister is likely to be more open to the outside world and less conservative in approach than Mr. Abbott.

Michael Fullilove, the executive director at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, said that “when it comes to foreign policy issues, he is less Manichean, in the sense of being black and white, less prone to seeing the world through a security prism.”

He said Mr. Turnbull was also more alert to the risks of climate change. And while he would have to convince conservative colleagues of the need for a change in government policy, Dr. Fullilove described him as a “force.”

Mr. Turnbull won the support of 54 of his party colleagues, compared with 44 who voted in favor of Mr. Abbott’s retaining the party leadership.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will remain deputy leader of the Liberal Party. Ms. Bishop secured 70 votes, against 30 votes for her cabinet colleague Kevin Andrews. One lawmaker missed the vote for the leadership position, joining the session in time for the vote for deputy leader.

Mr. Turnbull, in his first news conference as Liberal leader, said Australia must embrace the challenges it faces and seize the kind of opportunities that sometimes come from disruption.

He promised a leadership that would consult more closely with cabinet ministers and junior lawmakers and would explain and advocate for economic policies.

“This has been a very important, sobering experience today. I am very humbled by it,” said Mr. Turnbull, who was flanked by Ms. Bishop.

“We need to have in this country, and we will have now, an economic vision, a leadership that explains the great challenges and opportunities that we face, describes the way in which we can handle those challenges, seizes those opportunities and does so in a manner that the Australian people understand so that we are seeking to persuade, rather than seeking to lecture.”

He said Australia must be agile and innovative. “We cannot be defensive,” he said, adding that the country “cannot future-proof ourselves.”

Asked about issues on which he dissented from conservative core values under Mr. Abbott, Mr. Turnbull said the government had already announced its policy on emission targets to take to the Paris climate change conference in December. He dodged a question on same-sex marriage. Mr. Turnbull had supported changes to Australia’s laws to allow gay marriage, but Mr. Abbott ruled out allowing his coalition lawmakers to vote with their conscience on the issue.

Earlier on Monday, Mr. Turnbull had called on Mr. Abbott to convene the Liberal voting session. He resigned as communications minister and said at a news conference at Parliament House in Canberra, the capital, that he would challenge the prime minister for leadership of the party.

“It is clear enough that the government is not successful in providing the economic leadership that we need,” Mr. Turnbull said.

“It is not the fault of individual ministers,” he said. “Ultimately, the prime minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership our nation needs. He has not been capable of providing the economic confidence that business needs.”

At a separate news conference, also convened before the vote, Mr. Abbott said: “The prime ministership of this country is not a prize or a plaything to be demanded. It should be something which is earned by a vote of the Australian people.”

However, Mr. Abbott did not have the support of all members of his cabinet, nor of all of the more junior lawmakers. He lost his office despite pleading with ministers against a change in leadership, which had been the hallmark of the previous, Labor government.

The Labor government was defeated at an election in September 2013 after twice dumping its leaders.

Kevin Rudd was elected prime minister in 2007, only to be replaced by his own party with Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female prime minister. Ms. Gillard was later replaced by Mr. Rudd, just months ahead of the September 2013 election.

Mr. Abbott said on Monday that he was dismayed at the attempt to destabilize his leadership from within his own party. But he had presided over a government that struggled to get its major budget measures through the lower and upper houses of Parliament.

Proposed university overhauls, a paid parental leave plan and a co-payment for visits to the doctor covered by Australia’s Medicare system were either amended or dropped by the government, which could not negotiate the passage of the legislation.

Economic growth has slowed to around 2 percent a year, well under Australia’s long-term rate of around 3.25 percent, and a sharp drop in the price of the country’s mineral and energy exports, including iron ore and coal, has led to falling tax revenues and to concerns that Australia may be heading for its first recession in 24 years. Traditionally, Liberal governments have claimed to be better economic managers than their Labor counterparts.

The government has signed off on two major trade agreements, one with Japan and another with South Korea, but its agreement with China appears to have stalled in Parliament.

Among other difficulties that Mr. Abbott has faced, an Indonesian people smuggler said in June that the Abbott government had paid him to turn his boat back rather than arrive in Australia, an accusation the government did not deny. In July, Mr. Abbott was forced to defend a senior colleague who had taken a helicopter at taxpayers’ expense rather than a hired car. And in September, a Senate report portrayed Australia’s detention center in the Pacific island nation of Nauru as a purgatory.

Mr. Turnbull also called for greater cabinet consultation and an end “to policy on the run and captain’s calls,” a reference to Mr. Abbott’s decision in February to award Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, an Australian knighthood.

民調低迷 澳洲總理艾伯特遭逼宮下台

澳洲自由黨前黨魁、曾任通信部長的滕博爾，十三日在黨籍國會議員參加的黨魁選舉投票中以五十五票對四十四票擊敗現任黨魁總理艾伯特，將接替艾伯特出任總理。

自由黨意圖推翻艾伯特已醞釀數月。今年二月，艾伯特首遭逼宮，但在黨魁選舉以六十一票對卅九票保住黨魁地位。當時聯合政府民調低迷、政策反覆、爆發預算政爭，艾伯特的判斷能力因此受到質疑。 其後數月，艾伯特仍是未能逆轉民調提振經濟。

六十歲的滕博爾表示他並未輕率逼宮，情況至為明顯，「政府在提供經濟領導上並不成功」。滕博爾閃電辭去通信部長一職並向艾伯特發出挑戰後，艾伯特宣布召集國會黨團投票，決定正副黨魁人選。

滕博爾將在艾伯特覲見總督遞交總理辭呈後宣誓就任。自由黨的黨魁選舉同時選出與滕博爾同一陣線的外交部長畢夏普續任副黨魁。現今的保守派聯合政府以自由黨為最大黨，自由黨黨魁因此成為當然總理。

艾伯特不是遭自家政黨逼宮下台的第一人，勞工黨前總理陸克文和吉拉德在2010年與2013年也遭遇相同命運。

滕博爾將是澳洲2013年來第四位總理。2013年，陸克文逼迫吉拉德下台，數月後，艾伯特於大選後上台，現又遭滕博爾逼宮下台。近年來，澳洲政黨黨魁因突如其來的「黨內政變」下台已成司空見慣的事。

滕博爾曾是律師、企業家，他表示，政府的訊息未能對外傳達，澳洲需要一個全新、更為開放的政府。滕博爾長期以來一直被看好是艾伯特的可靠替代人選。

投票前，滕博爾說：「許多人催促我採取取這項行動已有很長一段時間。我們要不同的領導風格。」

五十七歲的艾伯特被認為是數十年來澳洲最保守的總理之一，他最近一次和主流民意唱反調的舉動就是封殺同性婚姻合法化法案。六十歲的滕博爾則支持同性婚姻，還希望澳洲改制共和，以總統而非英國女王為國家元首，並支持汙染者必須為碳排放付費政策。

澳洲應在2017年一月舉行下次大選，但預料選舉將提前在明年舉行 。滕博爾表示，若艾伯特繼續執政，自由黨在大選必敗無疑。

【經濟日報】

曾任澳洲通訊部長的滕博爾（Malcolm Turnbull）14日在執政黨的黨內投票中，擊敗現任總理艾伯特（Tony Abbott），將成為澳洲八年來第六任總理。

滕博爾在自由黨的黨內投票中，以54票支持對44票反對，取得勝選，成為澳洲第29任總理，也讓艾伯特的兩年任期畫下句點。

滕博爾14日下午辭去現職，宣稱艾伯特是個失職的領袖，繼而發起挑戰艾伯特領導權的投票。他告訴同僚，若繼續支持艾伯特，結果將是拱手把執政權讓給反對黨。

此外，艾伯特親信安德魯斯想以投票罷黜現任副黨魁畢夏普的企圖也失敗，畢夏普在100票中獲得70票支持，續任副黨魁。

執政黨已因政策失誤和艾伯特的鬥爭式領導，而漸失民心，現年60歲、曾是投資銀行家的滕博爾則成為可望拉抬執政黨聲望的救星。然而，滕博爾接任總理後，勢必得先快速整合黨內勢力，才能在明年選舉前有效運用黨內資源。滕博爾表示，艾伯特無力提供國家所需的經濟領導，也無法提供企業所需的經濟信心。他說：「我們需要不同的領導風格，要能說明挑戰和機會、及如何抓住機會。（我們需要）尊重人民智慧、能解釋複雜議題、擬定我們自認能採取與捍衛行動方針的新領導風格。我們需要的是支持，而非口號。」

為了緩和黨內右翼同僚的疑慮，滕博爾表示，不會尋求推出碳排放交易機制，也不會提高澳洲的減排目標，更不會推翻把同性婚姻合法化付諸公投的決定。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/world/asia/tony-abbott-liberal-party-australia.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/world/20150915/c15australia/zh-hant/

Video：Australia’s prime minister-elect, Malcolm Turnbull, spoke on Monday after Prime Minister Tony Abbott was ousted from power in an internal party ballot.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000003909774/turnbull-on-ousting-abbott-as-premier.html

2015-09-15．聯合報．A13．國際．編譯王麗娟
2015-09-15．經濟日報．A7．國際．編譯劉品佳