New captain of economic ship

New Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Tony Abbott has not been capable of providing the economic leadership needed. Photo / AP

He successfully 'stopped the boats' and now Scott Morrison has been given the job of stopping the rot in the economy.

In promoting Morrison to Treasurer new Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has put his faith in someone to turn around the nation's fortunes, something he felt was lacking in previous Treasurer Joe Hockey and deposed leader Tony Abbott.

"Ultimately, the Prime Minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership ... he has not been capable of providing the economic confidence that business needs," Turnbull said before his successful leadership challenge a week ago.

Morrison has been in the social services portfolio for less than a year. His move from the immigration and border protection portfolio allowed him to get experience in a key budget area - the welfare spend. In June he secured the unlikely support of the Greens for tighter rules around the aged pension assets test and abolition of the seniors supplement. The two measures combined reap A$4 billion in budget savings.

Many inside and outside the Liberal Party have tipped Morrison to be a future leader. His tough stance on asylum seeker boats made him one of the Abbott Government's few standout performers in its first year. Boat arrivals were reduced to one, compared to 300 in 2013 under Labor. But Morrison drew criticism over the secrecy surrounding his tough border controls.

Morrison takes over at a time of sluggish growth, which is keeping the jobless rate close to a 13-year high. The budget also remains in deep deficit.

Hockey is off the front bench and will quit Parliament "in due course", Turnbull said. Hockey released a statement saying: "I advised the Prime Minister that I did not wish to continue as a minister ... I will have more to say in due course, but for the sake of my young family - to whom I owe so much - I have decided to bring my parliamentary career to a close."

In the other major move, Kevin Andrews was dumped, making way for Marise Payne as Australia's first female Defence Minister, as Turnbull more than doubled the number of women in Cabinet.

Others out of the cabinet include Eric Abetz, Michael Ronaldson, Ian Macfarlane and Bruce Billson. Christopher Pyne is the new Industry and Innovation Minister. New Employment Minister and Minister for Women Michaelia Cash and and Small Business Minister Kelly O'Dwyer will be in cabinet. Julie Bishop retains the Foreign Ministry, while Andrew Robb keeps trade, Sussan Ley keeps health and Greg Hunt keeps environment. Peter Dutton retains Immigration.

In the first popular test of Turnbull's leadership, Liberal candidate and former SAS captain Andrew Hastie has won the Canning byelection. With 52 of 56 polling places returned, he held 54.95 per cent of the two-party preferred vote to Labor's Matt Keogh who had 45.05 per cent, a swing of 6.86 per cent to the Opposition. The byelection was triggered by the death of Don Randall, who held the West Australian seat with a 11.8 per cent margin. There had been predictions of a closer contest before Turnbull's leadership coup.

- AAP