Some Liberal MPs this week pointed to Labor’s Crean leadership experience and say they just wanted to “end the agony”. Some who changed their support from the original safe option of Brendan Nelson as leader said they did so at the last minute because they realised a vote in his favour now would only be tested again in a month or two.

The Opposition Leader has decided he cannot place Joe Hockey in the workplace relations role because he held the portfolio during the Howard years. Mr. Turnbull is also likely to dump key Brendan Nelson supporters and reward several ambitious backbenchers who backed him in this week’s leadership ballot with posts in the outer ministry.

The Sunday-night special, “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!,” will feature the comedian performing duets with Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello and John Legend. “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart will also exercise his vocal chords alongside “The Colbert Report” host. In addition, Toby Keith will be on hand to perform.

Unlike his predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull has a real prospect of leading the party back into office. The decision to call a party meeting at short notice for a leadership vote, which backfired spectacularly for Brendan Nelson, typified the misjudgements that characterised his brief tenure in the top job.

Malcolm Turnbull and ill-fated former Labor leader Mark Latham share certain characteristics: a touch of brilliance, strong performances in parliament and some fatal character flaws. Like Latham, history and the electorate may still judge that Turnbull came to the leadership of the Liberal Party too early.

Mr Turnbull, 53, a former merchant banker and republican campaigner, was today elected the 12th leader of the Liberal Party. He praised Dr Nelson for leading the party through difficult and challenging times and said he was owed a debt of gratitude.

It is understood that Brendan Nelson is trying to end the damaging speculation regarding the Liberal leadership issue. However, one source predicts that treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull has the numbers to take the top job. Mr Turnbull only narrowly lost the leadership to Dr Nelson last year, and his supporters are now counting numbers for him.

For whatever reasons, Brendan Nelson’s poll figures are dismal, his impact nowhere to be seen, and under his leadership, the Opposition is going backwards. Senior Liberals need to learn from history and not make the same mistake they made with Howard in 2006: someone needs to tell him that it is time to go.

Malcolm Turnbull has broken his silence on the Liberal leadership, declaring “Brendan Nelson is our leader” but failing to rule out a challenge. Returning to Parliament today amid the lingering controversy over Peter Costello’s memoirs, Mr Turnbull said it was not his practice to comment on the leadership.

The situation in June 2006 is not unlike that which has played out during the past few weeks. The guessing game of whether Peter Costello would stay in politics or go, whether he would be a leadership candidate or whether he was simply preparing to launch his book, ‘The Costello Memoirs’, and resign, kept sucking oxygen from Brendan Nelson’s leadership. Even after a contracted interview yesterday, there was uncertainty about Mr. Costello’s intentions.