Mathias Cormann, Mitch Fifield and Michaelia Cash have withdrawn crucial support for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The trio made the annoucement at a press conference at 9.40am, during which they called for a leadership meeting.
They said they continued to support Turnbull up until Wednesday, when it became clear that his position was untenable.
Cornmann said Turnbull no longer enjoyed majority support in the party room. He said a stream of colleagues had approached him calling for change.