Wouldnt be surprised if he makes the spill a show of hands at the last minute.
Yes, he seemed to leave that open in the interview with Chris Uhlmann on the ABC news at 7pm.
But any action like that would break with convention and blow any residual trust out of the water. My guess is that Turnbull has already foreshadowed this and his supporters will be darkly hinting at it with the risks of dealing with someone unpredictable and untrustworthy with his Captain's calls.
Abbott is not able to bring the team with him and you can't drag them kicking and screaming and you can't rely on desperate bribes either. This is precisely why Oakeshott and Tony Windsor rejected him outright. He didn't have a plan for governing Australia, he just had a list of desperate bribes.
Doing an act like suddenly forcing a show of hands will either ensure that the Cabinet rebels will defy him, or the next attempt will be successful.
He's playing a desperate game of brinkmanship and it's the only thing he understands.
