Hi all, and congratulations for surviving #LibSpill week.
The votes have been cast, the drama has unfolded, and we have a new Prime Minister: Scott Morrison.
We asked young people to send in their questions through the events, and the key questions we got were:
- Where does everything sit right now?
- How did we get here, and what caused this?
- I didn't vote for this, how is this allowed to happen?
- Is there a limit to how many times they can change Prime Minister?
- Why was Parliament 'adjourned'? Why didn't they have to do their job?
- What would they normally be doing this week?
- Can I have some memes?
- Who is Peter Dutton?
- Who is Scott Morrison?
- When do we get to vote next?
Let's go!
1. Where does everything sit right now?
- Scott Morrison is the Prime Minister
- Josh Frydenberg is the Deputy Liberal Leader
- Dutton came second in the vote, but will keep being a parliamentarian. It has been announced that he will go back to Home Affairs under the new Government
- Julie Bishop came third and has stepped down from the Ministry (she will remain an MP)
- Turnbull has resigned as Prime Minister, and has indicated he will quit parliament 'imminently'
Here's the full list of the new Cabinet:
2. How did we get here and what caused this?
In terms of this week, Buzzfeed Oz Pol has an amazing timeline to see everything that happened this week:
3. Australia didn't vote for Dutton/Morrison, how is this allowed to happen?
Welcome to the Westminster system!!!
Australia didn’t vote for Turnbull either - we don’t actually vote for the Prime Minister. We vote for party members, and those party members decide who their party leader is.
So it’s technically not undemocratic.
Just… next election, if you wanted to you could ask your local member if they promise they will stand by their leader if that's something that is important to you.
4. Is there a limit to how many times they can change Prime Minister?
Nope.
Like we mentioned above, the Prime Minister is just the party leader. And the parties can change their party leader as often as they like.
In 2013 when Rudd took over from Gillard, the Labor party did introduce new rules to make it much harder for a leadership spill to occur. Rudd has recently called on the Liberal party to change their rules as well.
5. Why was Parliament 'adjourned'? Why didn't they have to do their job?
Great question.
On Wednesday, the day before the Liberal Party had their vote for party leader, nearly everyone in the Liberal Party resigned from their portfolios, That meant they had no-one to represent the government in the Lower House.
And then things got preeeetty weird...:
So... yea. The government shut down the Lower House.
The Senate, though, went ahead.
Fun times.
6. What would they normally be doing this week?
This is the last sitting week before September 10. To their credit, they still managed to pass laws about Image Based Abuse and some taxation measures.
But... many people pointed out that issues like homelessness, the environment, poverty and employment - which are pretty important/stressful issues for people - were going unattended.
7. Can I have some memes?
Yea sure.
8. Who is Peter Dutton?
Peter Dutton was a few votes away from becoming our newest Prime Minister and was a key figure in what happened during #LibSpill but not many people know who he is.
A few young people asked us who he is and what he stands for, and we found this little video (warning - explicit language):
Note: It has been confirmed that Peter Dutton, having lost the spill, will return to the Home Affairs portfolio.
9. Who is Scott Morrison
10. When do we get to vote next
Some time within the next 12 months there will be a Federal Election.
Gear up.
Get ready.
