Liberal Spill 2015:

Yesterday, Malcolm Turnbull was sworn in as the 29th Prime Minister of Australia, after he defeated Tony Abbott in an overnight leadership spill to become the new leader of the Liberal party (Allard 2015).

Tony Abbott is ousted as PM (Source ABC News Lukas Coach)

Following his demise, Mr Abbott addressed the public saying, "Poll-driven panic has produced a revolving-door prime ministership which can't be good for our country (Allard 2015)".

And he is right to some extent. The revolving-door of prime ministers needs to stop. Turnbull's appointment as Prime Minister has only served to further highlight the instability currently plaguing Australian politics.

It has been eight years since John Howard was in office yet he remains the last Australian prime minister to serve a full term (Taylor & Hoyle 2015). Mr Howard served as prime minister for 11 years, standing behind the motto; "Disunity is death," (Taylor & Hoyle 2015).

That statement rings true for Australian politics at the moment. Disunity and selfishness in federal politics has led to the overthrow of Australia's fourth prime minister in two years (Taylor & Hoyle 2015) .

In Australia, unlike in America, the political system gives a small group of ministers the power to oust a leader that has been elected through popular vote (Taylor & Hoyle 2015). This is based on the similar design of the British parliamentary system, a key difference being that in the United Kingdom, leaders have a five year election cycle versus Australia's three year cycle (Taylor & Hoyle 2015).

Not only does Australia have one of the world's shortest elections cycles, it has now created a habit of ousting a leader before they complete their term. Tony Abbott completed the shortest term as Prime Minister since the 1960's (Taylor & Hoyle 2015).

Australian politics are becoming too dictated by the media cycle and to focused on the short term (Handley 2015). Voters are no longer a primary focus. Long term plans are being overlooked and this will lead to negative effects in the future (Handley 2015). Too much time is being wasted on messy ministerial changeovers and in-party bickering. A weak government with weak policies is the result.

If the Australian public is continue to be made irrelevant but their politicians, the doubt facing the integrity of our political system will only grow. Australians can only hope that the appointment of Malcolm Turnbull will mark the return of stability and a renewed focus on long-term politics.

References

Allard, J 2015, 'Bad polls, not media, to blame for Tony Abbott's demise says former PM John Howard', The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 September, viewed 15 September 2015, 
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bad-polls-not-media-to-blame-for-tony-abbotts-demise-says-former-pm-howard-20150915-gjn8am.html

Handley, K 2015, 'Politics, spills and craft beer', ABC News, 17 September 2015, viewed 23 September 2015,
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/09/17/4314066.html

Taylor, R & Hoyle R 2015, 'Australia's political upset raises alarm over instability', The Wall Street Journal, 15 September, viewed 15 September 2015,
http://www.wsj.com/articles/australias-political-upset-raises-alarm-over-instability-1442302718