 Speaking in the House of Representatives in February 2010 , Turnbull attacked Abbott 's climate change policy and praised the government 's ETS legislation . He argued that Abbott 's subsidy @-@ based policy would be a " recipe for fiscal recklessness " . Turnbull later announced he would leave Parliament at the end of his term , before changing his mind within weeks . He claimed that his change of mind was the result of his anger at the government 's decision to delay its ETS legislation until 2013 . He denied being interested in regaining the leadership of the Liberal Party , saying " I don 't think there is any likelihood of that I assure you " . Turnbull subsequently gave qualified support to Abbott 's climate change policy , arguing that while it was inferior to an ETS in principle , it was preferable to the government 's approach of delaying action until 2013 . While it was the third leadership spill motion in three years , the Liberal Party did not attempt another spill motion for six years after , until the February 2015 leadership spill motion which was defeated 61 votes to 39 . In September 2015 , Malcolm Turnbull called for another spill , directly challenging Tony Abbott in a rematch between the two , and winning the vote 54 @-@ 44 to return to the position of leader of the Liberal Party , and as a result , displaced Abbott as Prime Minister of Australia . 
