Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Ousted in Liberal Party Revolt (VIDEO)

Wow, this was out of the blue.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Malcolm Turnbull Ousts Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott":

CANBERRA, Australia—The party coup to install Malcolm Turnbull as Australia’s fourth prime minister in just over two years has exposed deep unease about the resource-dependent country’s sharply slowing economy and a political system that lets small groups of politicians oust elected leaders.

The 60-year-old former investment banker unseated Tony Abbott as leader of the ruling Liberal-National coalition government late Monday in a party rebellion, as voter surveys pointed to defeat for the ruling Liberal-National coalition at federal elections due next year.

He now faces many of the same challenges as his predecessor, first among them how to revive an economy in which a recession may be imminent after 24 years of avoiding one. Australia’s economy expanded just 0.2% in the second quarter from the first, the slowest pace in four years, as China’s slowing economy translates into less construction of skyscrapers, bridges and railways—hurting demand for raw materials like iron ore.

“We need to have in this country…an economic vision, a leadership that explains the great challenges and opportunities that we face, that describes the way in which we can handle those challenges, seize those opportunities, and does so in a manner that the Australian people,” Mr. Turnbull said.

The latest ouster caps nearly a decade of instability in Australian politics that has splintered both major political parties.

The Liberal-National coalition came to office in a landslide election victory in September 2013, in part because of voter discontent over the leadership contests that roiled the former center-left Labor government. Former Labor leader Kevin Rudd was ousted by his own party in 2010 and succeeded by Julia Gillard, before being returned to power by his colleagues three years later amid dwindling voter support for Ms. Gillard.

Some conservative party elders spoke out against the latest leadership challenge, saying it risked inflaming political divisions within the party and repeating the tumult of Labor rule.

“This act by Malcolm Turnbull is one of gross disloyalty and extreme egotism,” said Jeff Kennett, a former state leader and conservative party elder, on Australian television. “He is without a doubt the Kevin Rudd of the Liberal Party. He has consistently proved himself not to be a team player, but one who pursues self interest.”

Mr. Turnbull said he was mounting the challenge because Mr. Abbott hadn’t been able to provide effective leadership and persuade skeptical voters to accept the overhaul of taxation and rigid labor laws that could unlock growth in the 1.6 trillion Australian dollar (US$1.1 trillion) economy.

But he said he wasn’t expecting to hold snap elections—instead giving voters time to adjust to changes—and wouldn’t shift course on climate policies already agreed by the party ahead of global climate talks in Paris in December...

Still more (and be sure to check that cool graphic on the Liberal Party's "stability to volatility").

Also at the Guardian UK, "Australian leader Tony Abbott ousted by Malcolm Turnbull after party vote," and "Liberal leadership spill: Malcolm Turnbull ousts Tony Abbott to become Australia's 29th prime minister – politics live."