When a stony-faced Mathias Cormann opened his mouth and said "it's with great sadness..." it was over for Malcolm Turnbull.
The Finance Minister has been the prime minister's most effective and competent ally, shepherding laws through a difficult Senate and deftly fending off Labor attacks.
But Senator Cormann looked uncomfortable standing next to Mr Turnbull in the prime minister's courtyard on Wednesday, even as he professed his loyalty.
He looked even more unhappy on Thursday.
"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 judgment he no longer enjoyed the support of the majority of members in the Liberal Party party room," Senator Cormann said in Canberra.
"And that it was in the best interests of the Liberal Party to help manage an orderly transition to a new leader."
The West Australian senator, who appeared upset, praised Mr Turnbull for his successes.
"I believe that Malcolm Turnbull has been and is a great prime minister. I believe that he will go down in history as having secured amazing achievements for Australia," Senator Cormann said.
So why dump him?
"I can't ignore the fact that a majority of colleagues in the Liberal Party party room are of the view that there should be a change," Senator Cormann said.
"We are very conscious of the seriousness of the decision that we've made."
Senator Cormann and ministers Mitch Fifield and Michaelia Cash tendered their resignations and all backed Peter Dutton to take the leadership.
They did not say why they thought he would be a better choice for Australians than the man elected as prime minister in 2016.
"I'm not here to run a campaign for Peter Dutton," Senator Cormann said.
Mr Dutton's supporters have been pushing for Senator Cormann to publicly step away from Mr Turnbull for days, and now without his support, the prime minister's leadership is effectively over.
