“I have consulted with our party’s senior leadership and it is clear that there are several seats where preferential counting must continue before this meeting can take place.”

Following Peter Dutton’s eviction from parliament, Sussan Ley is now acting leader of the Opposition. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

How will the Liberals choose the party leader?

“[The candidate] has to be somebody who’s been elected as a Liberal candidate, who is successful and has a seat in the House of Representatives.”

In Queensland, the two parties merged to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland in 2008, while in the Northern Territory they amalgamated as the Country Liberal Party in 1974.

How long will the process take?

“It would be only fair if they wait, a minimum of a week to possibly two weeks, to see for sure who members of parliament from their party are going to be,” Graeme Orr, a professor and an expert on the law of politics at the University of Queensland, told SBS News.

“In which case, the party room would simply endorse that candidate. And if there was maybe one seat still undecided … they might go ahead with that. But I think they will wait until the return for the election so they know how many members they actually have,” Smith said.

Who are the candidates?

He said there will be some “who’ll be trying to pull the Liberal Party in a more populist nationalist approach”.

(left to right) Angus Taylor, Sussan Ley, Andrew Hastie and Dan Tehan are among those being considered as potential figures to replace Peter Dutton, but none have officially declared themselves as candidates. Source: AAP, Getty

What’s next for Peter Dutton?

He also noted being defence minister as a career highlight and described serving as the party leader as “the greatest honour”.