Australian politics
 
New prime minister could accommodate Peter Dutton in government and does not rule out return of Tony Abbott

Scott Morrison has emerged victorious from the Liberal party’s vicious civil war to take the prime ministership, appointing his new deputy Josh Frydenberg as his treasurer.
After beating Peter Dutton by 45 votes to 40, Morrison used his first news conference after securing the top job to present himself and Frydenberg as next-generation leadership, to apologise implicitly for the debacle of the past fortnight, and to send a message to voters that we are “on your side”.
The new prime minister was at pains to point out that neither he, nor Frydenberg, were active in the coup against Malcolm Turnbull – an attempt to separate them from their predecessors on both sides of politics who have torn down leaders in a catastrophic cycle of destruction in Australian politics over the past decade.
As well as attempting to reassure the voting public, Morrison also sent a message to Dutton, the leader of the coup, that he was prepared to accommodate him “playing a role in the government I intend to lead”. He also didn’t rule out returning Tony Abbott to the cabinet.
Dutton, while declaring he had “no regrets” about the events that cleaved the party in two and plunged the government into paralysis, reciprocated by telling reporters Morrison’s election to the leadership was “a healing point for the Liberal party”. He said it was now time to “start a new chapter”.
Mathias Cormann – another key figure in the conservative strike against Turnbull – also pledged on Friday to bury the hatchet, and help Morrison heal the internal divisions. Despite being one of the critical figures in unseating Turnbull, Cormann said he had no regrets, although he said he had “agonised” over the decision.
With much of the government still reeling after the events of the week, Morrison will be sworn in as prime minister on Friday night, and will deal with the Nationals and with a ministerial reshuffle over the coming weekend.
The Nationals leader Michael McCormack confirmed on Friday night the Nationals would have five cabinet positions, and the same level of ministerial representation, despite one of their number, Kevin Hogan, decamping to the cross bench as a consequence of the strike against Turnbull.
Hogan says he will sit on the cross bench, but is guaranteeing confidence and supply. He says he will continue to attend meetings of the Nationals party room.
The incoming prime minister faces several pressing challenges, including a looming byelection in Turnbull’s seat of Wentworth, which imperils the government’s one-seat majority in the House of Representatives. He will have to form relationships with the crossbenchers horrified by the move against Turnbull.
He will also need to work out which Turnbull policies to keep and which to dump – a question he avoided answering directly on Friday – as well as managing the internal dynamics of a riven party.
Morrison would not answer whether the national energy guarantee – the policy that was the catalyst for the leadership boilover – would remain government policy.
He also dodged a question about whether he intended to adjust current immigration levels, but signalled that while Australia needed to determine “who comes here”, it was not desirable to pit one group in society against another.
He said the job for him and Frydenberg was to ensure “that we not only bring our party back together, which has been bruised and battered this week” but also the parliament, and the country.
Morrison nominated dealing with the drought as his immediate policy priority. He said the government had to ensure “that we do what is necessary to help our regional communities, our farmers, and all those affected”.
Turnbull stepped down immediately following the leadership spill, and the former deputy leader, Julie Bishop, also lost her position when she ran for the top job on Friday. Bishop was eliminated in the first round of the ballot.