Australia kicked off the day by swearing in a fourth new prime minister in five years. In a brutal intra-party coup, Malcolm Turnbull last night ousted Tony Abbott, two years into the three-year term he won for his right-wing Liberal party in a general election in 2013. Some Liberals have been grumbling ever since. In February the prime minister survived a previous challenge. A stuttering economy, Mr Abbott’s abrasive style and a looming by-election combined to prod Mr Turnbull, his defeated rival for the party leadership in 2009, into taking him on; the parliamentary party backed Mr Turnbull, 54-44. Opinion polls suggest that Mr Turnbull, who has more moderate views on issues such as gay marriage, stands more chance of beating the opposition Labor Party in an election due in the next year. Australians, for whom voting is compulsory, must be perplexed: the previous Labor administration also defenestrated the prime minister they voted for.