Australian politics has worked itself into a frenzy. Prime Minister Tony Abbott, after ridiculing the previous Labor government for its public infighting, faces a leadership challenge from inside his own Liberal Party. A third want a chance to vote him out, and frontbenchers are fending off questions of loyalty as the media hypes up ¡ª if not drives ¡ª developments.
Abbott went into 2013¡¯s election promising a government of ¡°no surprises,¡± luring voters tired of electing one Labor leader only to end up, ultimately, with another. The PM¡¯s critics have had ample fodder to feed off recently, attacking his government¡¯s backflips, gaffes and environmental record, but what finally united Australia¡¯s political spectrum, left and right, against Abbott was his decision to make Britain¡¯s Prince Phillip ¡ª the queen¡¯s husband, no less ¡ª a Knight of the Australian Order without even bothering to consult his Cabinet.
As Abbott¡¯s critics wait to see whether his Cabinet will vote to authorize a leadership challenge ¡ª known locally as a ¡°spill motion¡± ¡ª on Monday, it is worth warning spillists that if this happens, Australian politics risks finding itself in a place Japan is barely crawling out of.
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