ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja remains an assistant minister in the Coalition government despite offering Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull his resignation after backing Peter Dutton in Tuesday's leadership spill.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Senator Seselja was among several assistant ministers who supported Mr Dutton in the shock ballot won by Mr Turnbull 48-35.
Fairfax Media understands the ACT senator voted for Mr Dutton believing he was best able to speak to conservative voters lost since the last leadership change in 2015, and bring them back to the Coalition.
His support for the former Home Affairs minister also reflected a belief the Coalition had meandered too much on policy, including the national energy guarantee that brought on the party's ruction, it is understood.
Senator Seselja's fears of losing the Liberal party's conservative voters stretch back to Mr Turnbull's victory over Tony Abbott in a move seen then as a return to more moderate policies.
Mr Dutton's backers believe numbers are shifting his way from the Prime Minister after the last ballot, and that another leadership vote is likely before Friday.
A petition circulated Parliament House on Wednesday night calling on Mr Turnbull to call a party room meeting for another leadership spill.
Senator Seselja, a staunch conservative in the Liberal party, was reported by Newscorp on Wednesday as part of a regular dinner catch-up with Mr Dutton, Senator Mathias Cormann, Michael Sukkar of Victoria and Tasmanian senator Jonathon Duniam on Wednesday last week as talk of Mr Turnbull's leadership swirled through parliament.
Six days later Senator Seselja, who Mr Turnbull made assistant minister for science, jobs and innovation in a December reshuffle, joined the pro-Dutton camp in the spill. Mr Turnbull did not accept his offer to resign later, making him one of a group of ministers and assistant ministers staying on despite voting for Mr Dutton.
Senator Seselja's vote on Tuesday creates a trend of support for conservative leadership candidates in Liberal spills after he backed Mr Abbott and did numbers for him in the 2015 party vote that elevated Mr Turnbull to the Prime Minister's office.
Following the ballot he said he was "very disappointed" Mr Abbott was toppled and warned the party should not forget its conservative supporters across the nation.
"It's critically important that the Liberal party continues to strongly represent conservative Australians," he said.
Senator Seselja said then he would "back Tony Abbott 100 per cent" going into the leadership challenge and later was dealing with the setback of Mr Abbott's ousting and the prospect of the Liberal party facing division.
Mr Dutton is openly doing the numbers for another leadership tilt while his close friend Senator Cormann has given his backing to Mr Turnbull.
Treasurer Scott Morrison declared support for Mr Turnbull and questioned Mr Dutton's understanding of economic policy on Wednesday, rubbishing his plan to cut GST from household electricity bills as an "absolute budget blower".
Mr Turnbull said the cabinet ministers who made up some of the 35 MPs who voted for Mr Dutton in Tuesday's spill had given him unequivocal assurances of continuing loyalty and support.
