Installing Joe Hockey as Liberal leader looks like it could well be an intelligent move. He has the similar moderate policies as Mr Turnbull, which is not going to scare the electorate (installing a fundamentalist - I mean that in non-religous sense - like Abbott would most likely be very damaging to the party, Australians tend not to like radicals as leaders). But he comes without the crash-through or crash, abrasive, approach that has seemed to characterise Mr Turnbull's leadership style.
Allowing a conscience vote on the ETS is very sensible indeed, it should see Liberal parliamentarians being able to vote for an ETS that has been hammered out by themselves in consultation with the government, an ETS that seems to be accepted by moderates as a good solution (
The Australian newspaper ran an editorial supporting the ETS:
A good deal, so cool the hot air...
"But the bill, as amended after five weeks' intense negotiations with the Coalition, is as good a deal for business and farmers as they are likely to get").
In the bigger picture, Hockey is a likeable person (I don't think Turnbull could ever be described as likeable), he should be a good alternative in the minds of the electorate to Mr Rudd.