Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Sunday he would bring forward by 24 hours a party vote on whether to oust him, as Australia faced a possible leadership change for the fourth time in five years.

Abbott has been fighting for his job after poor poll ratings and a series of policy backflips spurred some MPs from his conservative Liberal Party openly to attack him, calling for a leadership "spill" on Tuesday.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Saturday that he expected a challenge against his leadership to fail and stressed his government would not repeat the "chaos and instability" of previous administrations.

With dismal ratings in opinion polls and a backbench disgruntled by policy backflips, two of Abbott's MPs have said they will call for a challenge to his stewardship of the nation at a meeting of the governing Liberal Party on Tuesday.

Party critics of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott launched a dramatic bid Friday to unseat the unpopular conservative leader after less than 18 months in office, but he vowed to fight on.

The move comes after Abbott's much-ridiculed decision to award Britain's Prince Philip a knighthood sparked two weeks of turmoil in his Liberal Party, exposing discontent over months of policy failings and plunging poll figures.

Australia will continue to plead for the lives of two men on death row in Indonesia, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Friday, vowing not to give up hope that their executions could be stayed.

Lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who face death by firing squad, have admitted the outlook is bleak after they lost a legal bid to have their cases reviewed on Wednesday. 

Defiant Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Thursday said he was "very confident" he will still be in charge next week after a top Liberal figure fueled speculation he may be toppled.

Abbott has been under growing pressure following months of fading poll numbers and policy backflips, which was brought to a head by his decision to make Britain's Prince Philip a knight late last month.

Al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste arrived home in Australia on Thursday saying he had dreamt of returning to his family on each of the 400 days of his detention in Egypt.

"I can't tell you how ecstatic I am to be here," said the award-winning correspondent who was deported on Sunday from Cairo, where he was held for allegedly aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was fighting for his job Wednesday after backbenchers publicly called for a Liberal Party vote on his leadership following months of tensions stoked by fading poll numbers and policy backflips.

A handful of MPs late Tuesday openly revolted against the conservative leader after Abbott's recent controversial decision to make Britain's Prince Philip a knight helped bring simmering tensions to the surface.

An explosion in an electrical transformer room at a shopping center in the west Australian city of Perth has left two men dead and two others badly burnt, authorities said Tuesday.

Western Australia police said a 30-year-old man died at the scene while three other men were taken to Royal Perth Hospital with serious injuries.

Australian journalist Peter Greste on Monday described his release from a Cairo prison as a big step forward for Egypt and but said he felt "incredible angst" for two colleagues still in jail.

"This is a massive step forward... I just hope that Egypt keeps going down that path with the others," Greste told Al-Jazeera in his first interview since leaving prison and flying to Cyprus on Sunday.

Egypt's release of Australian journalist Peter Greste removes a stumbling block for President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi as he seeks to shore up international support following a widely condemned crackdown on the opposition.

Secret police raided a Cairo hotel room used by Greste and fellow Al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed in December 2013, setting off a nightmare for the journalists and a public relations disaster for the government.