"As a caller just wrote to me, and forgive the language, but I mean we all talk the language of the playground, and he said: 'People don't want to vote for Turnbull, and they don't want to vote for [Labor leader Bill] Shorten. We've got a shit sandwich.' And I think that's most probably it." Will Tony Abbott quit Parliament or retire to the backbench in dignified silence. Or will he cause problems for Malcom Turnbull? One talkback caller, Geoff, asked Jones: "Are we going to get all these Green lefty bloody policies rammed down our throat? That's what bothers me, you know." Another caller, Sally, lamented: "I'm gutted by what's happened to Tony, but I'm more disgusted with Julie Bishop, how she got up and said, 'My friend of many years, Malcolm Turnbull. I said, 'Oh, you've lost me.' " Jones said Australia had a "lot of thinking to do" following the events of Monday night.

"Tony Abbott was doing a magnificent job in very, very difficult circumstances and getting results, but unlike the others, he doesn't pump up his own tyres." Conservative radio host Alan Jones, not holding back. Jones also spoke to conservative commentator Andrew Bolt, who said "many, many, many" Liberal voters were "absolutely appalled at what's going on". "They've panicked at the polling," Bolt said. "They rewarded people who leaked and betrayed Tony Abbott, and they've elected a guy who, when he was last leader of the opposition, had none of the communication skills he's now promising he has and can use to save the Liberals. It's a huge call." Bolt said many people in the Liberal Party regarded Mr Turnbull as "Malcolm Turnbull first, party second".

Bolt: "Malcolm Turnbull I think still has trouble accepting advice from people he thinks aren't quite as smart as he is, and that is going to be a huge challenge for him, when it comes to healing the Liberal Party. Huge." Jones: "I've got young people around here this morning in the corridor, just said to me, 'I could never vote for Malcolm Turnbull. He just thinks he's too good for me.'" Bolt: "Well that is something he will really struggle with, but the point for that is, when you're a Liberal voter, what option do you have?" Jones: "Well I was just about to ask you that question. What choice do people now have? Hobson's choice."