Illustration: Simon Letch Turnbull conveyed the aura of a leader intent on capitalising on the emphatic mandate that the Australian people had delivered to him. The contrast with his predecessor, Tony Abbott, captured on Four Corners, speaking to a forlorn group of Christian activists about Judeo-Christian culture was stark. Abbott's rhetoric in the wilderness is esoteric, pompous and marginal, with no resonance outside the pseudo-intellectual ghetto populated by the alt right. They revel in their alienation from the mainstream like the communists of old. Of course, this costly, hateful campaign was Abbott's legacy to his riven party. While ostensibly about same-sex marriage, it was really a ramshackle compromise to allow the Liberal Party to avoid a schism between the progressives and reactionaries inside its ranks. It was merely a delaying tactic. Yet, even Abbott seemed resigned to defeat by last week. He sought to deflate expectations among reactionaries by asserting that a 40 per cent "no" vote was effectively a victory for the shrinking, sanctimonious clique who have assumed the mantle of defending Western civilisation from the depravity of the rest of us.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull addresses the media after the result of the same-sex marriage postal survey was announced. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Despite his own disingenuous and contemptible attempts to link gender variance, defective parenting and other risible distractions to same-sex marriage Abbott failed dismally. He is the biggest loser out of this rout. He can now live with the shabbiness of the tone and content of his campaign. He stooped to conquer and lost emphatically. His own reputation and the dignity of the office he once held have been seriously diminished. He is like the champion boxer who has slid from the main arena to the tents on sideshow alley. LGBTQI community and pro-marriage equality advocates celebrate the verdict of the postal vote on same-sex marriage in Sydney. Credit:Anna Kucera In neither of his incarnations as Liberal leader has Turnbull been able to match Abbott's grasp of the internal dynamics of the Coalition or to decisively fuse the disparate wings of the "broad church" into one harmonious congregation. He has never been acceptable to an intractable rump of religious and social conservatives within the Coalition.

Initially, energy policy and pervasive denial of the reality of climate change estranged Turnbull from his backbench and the National Party. But his tribulations have never been entirely of his own creation. Celebrations on Oxford Street, Sydney. Credit:Lousie Kennerley Ever since the corrosive feud between John Howard and Andrew Peacock in the 1980s, which created the conditions for the right-wing insurgency of the Joh For PM putsch, the Coalition has fared better under unabashedly conservative leaders who can accommodate the moderates in the party rather than under a moderate leader seeking to placate the hard right. Turnbull's tenuous legitimacy is contested both inside and outside the party. The simmering mutiny of Abbott, Eric Abetz and Kevin Andrews is aided by a strident but increasingly irrelevant cabal of intractable Turnbull haters on the opinion pages of News Corp papers, Sky News with its boutique audience, and the faux intellectuals at Quadrant magazine. However, the abandonment of James Paterson's odious bill, designed to undermine the clear intent of the people, reveals that conservatives are confounded that they are strangers in their own land. Turnbull should ruthlessly sweep them aside. Their weight inside his party is not matched by wide support in the country. The irony of hearing all the self-appointed Outsiders and Tribunes of the average person suddenly bleating that they are a vulnerable minority is exquisite. Welcome to my world. You have had your say. Now step out of the way.

Even before their comprehensive repudiation by the country on marriage equality this week, many had already concluded that the Old Pretender, Tony Abbott, had effectively destroyed his career through his petulant and self-indulgent forays into the culture wars. Increasingly desperate, they have begun casting their net widely to encourage Young Pretenders like Andrew Hastie, the WA MP, to seize the leadership. Despite his manifest lack of maturity, political judgment or any relevant policy experience Hastie has become the darling of The Outsiders, who have been courting him assiduously. Labor would devour him in two sitting weeks and numerous MPs would simply walk out of the party. But ideology, not realism, is their long suit. While Hastie's military prowess warrants respect he is not the solution to the Liberals woes. After a national vote, which repudiated muscular Christianity as the panacea for a major social issue, what compelling message or trait does he bring to the current crisis? He is out of step with the majority in his own state Moreover, some Liberals suspect Hastie would rather join Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives. If he does, his career will end. Indeed, I suspect he will struggle to hold his seat of Canning unless Julie Bishop leads the Liberals to the next election. What an exquisite irony. The Alpha male warrior may need a woman to protect him from the voters. Loading The result of the postal vote is an overdue affirmation to a vulnerable minority of Australians that we belong among our fellow citizens and that the disgusting slurs levelled at us had no resonance with sane, mainstream Australians. We should pause to relish this moment and be grateful for the innate decency of our fellow Australians. But the battle is not over.

Catherine McGregor is a Fairfax Media columnist.