 Hockey attempted to resolve his dilemma by declaring that as leader he would allow a conscience vote on the ETS legislation. Abbott rejected Hockey's declaration, and reneged on his earlier indication that he would withdraw his candidacy for Hockey. Abbott stated: "It now seems pretty clear we could change the leader to Joe and these offensive bills could still go through the Parliament". On Hockey's candidacy, Turnbull claimed that Hockey had pledged his opposition to the spill motion. However, it was expected that if the spill motion succeeded, Hockey would stand for the leadership against Turnbull and Abbott. Hockey was generally expected to win the ballot and become leader. To the end, Turnbull refused to stand aside as leader, insisting he would defeat the spill motion. Hockey later alleged that Turnbull had promised he would not stand against Hockey if the spill motion was successful. Turnbull denied that he had given, and therefore broken, any such undertaking.
