Senior minister Mathias Cormann, Michaelia Cash and Mitch Fifield have abandoned Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, clearing the way for Peter Dutton to claim the leadership.
"It's with great sadness and a heavy heart that we went to see the Prime Minister yesterday afternoon to advise him that in our judgement he no longer enjoyed the support of the majority of members in the Liberal Party party room," Senator Cormann told the media a short time ago.
Earlier this morning, Peter Dutton spoke to the Prime Minister to request a second party room meeting be held to vote on the Liberal leadership.
The former Home Affairs minister said he believes he has the numbers to beat Mr Turnbull this time, after losing Tuesday's ballot by 13 votes.
"Earlier this morning I called the Prime Minister to advise him that it was my judgement that the majority of the party room no longer supported his leadership," Mr Dutton said in a brief media appearance.
"As such, I asked him to convene a meeting of the Liberal Party at which I would challenge for the leadership of the parliamentary Liberal Party."
He did not say whether the Prime Minister accepted his request.
SBS News understands the prime minister will not agree to a meeting before he is presented with a final petition signed by a majority of Liberal MPs.
Peter Dutton believes he has the numbers to beat Malcolm Turnbull in a second leadership challenge. Source: AAP
The move comes as a Nationals MP has pledged to quit the government and sit on the crossbench if there is another leadership spill, in a move that could threaten the Coalition's one-seat majority in the House of Representatives.
"The constant rotation of prime ministers by both the Labor Party and the Liberal party, I cannot condone," the Page MP said.
He's one of several MPs to express frustration at the latest leadership crisis to dominate Canberra.
Nationals MP Kevin Hogan says he'll move to the cross bench if there's another leadership spill. Source: AAP
More resignations
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's attempt to stop the exodus from his frontbench appears to be failing.
Assistant Minister James McGrath, a former Turnbull loyalist, quit for the second time last night and insisted the Prime Minister accept his resignation.
"Like Peter Dutton has said, we must do everything in our power to stop Bill Shorten ever becoming Prime Minister," Senator McGrath posted on Facebook.
Michael Sukkar and Zed Seselja have also insisted the Prime Minister accept their resignations after declaring their support for his challenger Peter Dutton.
Since losing Tuesday's leadership ballot by 13 votes, Mr Dutton has been working the phones trying to secure the extra seven votes he needs to roll Mr Turnbull.
Late Wednesday, several MPs confirmed they had signed the petition, with one MP telling SBS News they were confident of getting the required numbers.
But others say only a handful of signatures were on the petition as of last night.
"There's been rumours swirling," NSW MP Trent Zimmerman told the ABC.
"You'd almost think there is almost a lot of fake Vladimir Putin news happening."
Senior ministers Mathias Cormann, Michaelia Cash and Dan Tehan were also forced to correct rumours they had resigned on Wednesday evening.
Peter Dutton smiles during question time on Wednesday. Source: AAP
Elibility questions
Mr Dutton is also being scrutinised for public funding given to his child care centres in Brisbane, which could make him ineligible to sit in parliament.
Section 44 of the constitution bans from parliament anyone who has "any direct or indirect pecuniary interest with the public service of the Commonwealth" - a section which led to former senator Bob Day being disqualified in 2017.
It's been confirmed the government had now sought advice from the solicitor-general on Mr Dutton's eligibility.
Mr Dutton has described the investigation as a "spurious and baseless campaign".
Mathias Cormann, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison. Source: AAP
'Dirty tricks'
Former prime minister Tony Abbott said Mr Turnbull could be playing "dirty tricks" against a leadership rival.
"Whether these are dirty tricks from a Labor party which is desperate not to have Peter Dutton as its opponent, or whether this is just one last throw from a despairing incumbent, I just don't know," he told 2GB radio.
Mr Dutton launched a charm offensive on Melbourne radio in a bid to let voters know who he is, revealing his idea for a royal commission into electricity and fuel prices.
But his plan to exclude household electricity bills from the GST copped a belting.
"That would be a budget blower, an absolute budget blower," Treasurer Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
He said it would deprive the states and territories of $7.5 billion over four years.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott and former minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton on the backbench. Source: AAP
Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen said Mr Dutton's "crazy" proposal would mean cuts to health and education.
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