This story was updated at 1 a.m. local time.
In a single, tumultuous day that revealed the complexities and peculiarities of Australia's politics, the country found itself with one conservative prime minister dumped and a new one elected.
New South Wales politician Malcolm Turnbull emerged victorious from a meeting of the Liberal Party in Canberra on Monday night, where a vote took place to award him the top job, replacing Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Turnbull beat Abbott 54 votes to 44. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop retained her position as deputy leader.
Turnbull, who had been the minister for communications since 2013 -- a position he resigned to challenge Abbott -- will be Australia's 29th prime minister and its fifth in just over five years. Abbott was just four days shy of holding the position of prime minister for two of them.
"This has been a very important, sobering experience today. I'm humbled by it," Turnbull told reporters after the vote.
"The Australia of the future has to be a nation that is agile, innovative and creative," he said. "It'll be focused on ensuring that in the years ahead, as the world becomes more and more competitive, and greater opportunities arise, we are able to take advantage of that."
#WATCH Malcolm Turnbull addresses the media after winning the leadership of the Liberal Party #auspol #libspill http://t.co/rHH3FPgvSQ— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) September 14, 2015
The events that led up to the monumental vote unfolded quickly on Monday.
At a short press conference earlier in the day, Turnbull, who was briefly the leader of the Liberal Party when it was in opposition in 2008 but was booted after a clash with Abbott over climate change policy, declared he was challenging the prime minister, saying Australia had lost confidence in his leadership.
"We need advocacy, not slogans. We need to respect the intelligence of the Australian people," he said.
Abbott had been hit with unfavorable public opinion polls in recent months, and the vote was the second he had faced in 2015. He responded to Turnbull hours later, saying he was confident he could retain his position and allowed the ballot to go ahead.
At a press conference ahead of the vote, opposition leader Bill Shorten warned Australian voters that the new prime minister would be more of the same. As a past leader of the Liberals, Shorten said Turnbull was "out of touch and arrogant, and he hasn't changed."
Before entering politics, Turnbull, who rose through the ranks as a member of parliament for the inner-city Sydney electorate of Wentworth, worked as a journalist, lawyer and businessman.
Representing an alternative brand of conservatism to Abbott's, Turnbull cultivated an image that conveyed experience with economics and technology and was seen as more socially liberal than some of his party peers on marriage equality and climate change.
His take on these issues once he's moved into the big office? For now, that's anybody's guess. But first, get some sleep.