quote:

Malcolm Turnbull tells MPs to defy Scott Morrison to save Gladys Berejiklian


Malcolm Turnbull yesterday urged senior Liberal Party figures to defy Scott Morrison by voting against a plan to prevent conservative MP Craig Kelly losing preselection, saying the Prime Minister just wanted to “keep his arse” in his prime ministerial car as long as possible.

The brazen power play was calculated to trigger an early federal election, with Mr Turnbull claiming such a move would help the Berejiklian government avoid facing an anti-Coalition backlash and losing office in March.

Mr Turnbull urged several moderates, including NSW minister Matt Kean who is on the Liberal state executive, to repudiate Mr Morrison by voting against the deal to save Mr Kelly, which would prompt him to become an independent MP.

The ousted prime minister told Mr Kean that if Mr Kelly moved to the crossbench it would “force Morrison to an early election and that will save the Berejiklian government”.

“We should force Scott to an early election because all he’s about is keeping his arse on C1”, Mr Turnbull said, referring to the prime minister’s commonwealth car.

Mr Turnbull told Mr Kean that he and Mr Morrison in government had agreed to go to an election on March 2 — three weeks before the NSW government election — but the Prime Minister was now reneging.

The moderates on the executive should not support Mr Kelly as a “matter of principle” as Mr Kelly was the “most destructive member of the government”, Mr Turnbull told Mr Kean, adding that there was “no bigger climate change denier than Craig Kelly, apart from Tony Abbott”.

Mr Kelly, the member for ­Hughes, led the backbench ­revolt against Mr Turnbull’s ­national energy guarantee, in a rearguard action that forced the policy to be dumped, precipitating the then prime minister’s downfall.

But Mr Kean said he was going to resist Mr Turnbull’s call and vote on principle to save the federal government.

The Australian was told that, at the urging of Mr Morrison, a deal was hatched over the weekend between the three major factions — the moderates, the centre-right and the right — to save Mr Kelly from a likely preselection defeat. The Prime Minister is understood to have asked the state executive to re-endorse all sitting MPs, which would include Mr Kelly, Jason Falinksi, John Alexander and Lucy Wicks.

The moderates, who hold seven spots on the 23-member executive team, were set to ­endorse the preselection cancellation but backflipped last night after urgings from Mr Turnbull and widespread anger within the faction. Sydney powerbroker Trent Zimmerman was among those who backflipped.

Following inquiries from The Australian last night, Mr Turnbull went public to urge moderate-faction Liberals on the party’s state executive to resist cancelling executive NSW preselections.

The ballot on the preselection cancellation was scheduled to be held last night but it was unclear whether it went ahead.

Party lawyers were yesterday analysing the party’s constitution to ascertain whether 90 per cent or 50 per cent of the executive needed to support cancelling preselections for sitting MPs.

Mr Turnbull said Liberal members in the Sydney seat of Hughes should have their say on their local representative.

“Today I learned there was a move to persuade the State Executive to re-endorse Craig Kelly as Liberal candidate for Hughes in order to avoid a preselection — in other words, to deny Liberal Party members in Hughes the opportunity to have their say,” Mr Turnbull tweeted.

“Shortly after, my media adviser was contacted by The Australian and the Daily Telegraph about these discussions, so rather than wait for their version of events to be published tomorrow, I can state that I am strongly of the view that the normal democratic process should proceed. It has been put to me that Mr Kelly has threatened to go to the crossbench and ‘bring down the government’.

“If indeed he has made that threat, it is not one that should result in a capitulation. Indeed it would be the worst and weakest response to such a threat.”

Mr Turnbull intervened to save Mr Kelly’s preselection in 2016. The Australian understands Waverley Mayor and Wentworth Federal Electorate Conference president Sally Betts also spoke to Mr Turnbull about the proposed deal and agreed not to support it.

State executive members Chris Rath, Wayne Brown and Harry Stutchbury are also understood not to be supporting the proposal. One moderates source claimed Mr Morrison would likely now not bring the ballot on. “Craig Kelly brought down a PM — now it’s his turn,” one moderates powerbroker said.

It is understood that in his conversation with Mr Kean, Mr Turnbull said that in order to prevent NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian from losing government, the federal election should be held before the NSW poll. Weekend polls showed support for the Berejiklian government has collapsed since Mr Turnbull lost the leadership, igniting fears that if the state election is held first, the NSW government will face the wrath of voters who are angry about the federal Liberal Party’s dysfunction.

Mr Kelly last week added to the chaos of Mr Morrison’s government by leaving open the option of moving to the crossbench if he lost his preselection.

The Australian spoke to moderates who were angry at the faction’s initial support of the deal, arguing Mr Kelly’s threats to leave the party and sit on the crossbench had been rewarded. They also noted the “hypocrisy” of conservatives, such as Mr Abbott and Mr Kelly, who demanded party democracy only when it suited them. Liberal senator Jim Molan yesterday demanded Mr Morrison also save him from an unwinnable spot on the Coalition’s Senate ticket.

Karneios posted:

How would kelly going independent force an early election, wouldn't he just vote supply and confidence like banks and o'dwyer?

gay picnic defence posted:

wait has O'Dwyer quit as well?

Doctor Spaceman posted:

Amethyst posted:

stfu you inane poser.

MysticalMachineGun posted:

Anidav has clearly gone mad with power. Look at the typos! The lovely poll with no joke option! Mad I say!

tithin posted:

notice the lack of denial

snoremac posted:

I love Turnbull.

Jonah Galtberg posted:

don't

Karneios posted:

How would kelly going independent force an early election, wouldn't he just vote supply and confidence like banks and o'dwyer?

You Am I posted:

Who knows what Kelly will do if he goes ahead with his threats. I reckon he'll be more interested in wrecking the government than being civil about things.

tithin posted:

notice the lack of denial

Jonah Galtberg posted:

don't

JBP posted:

Turnbull owns now he's just doing things to blow up the libs which is fine and you're allowed to be amused and hope he keeps doing it.

JBP posted:

Turnbull owns now he's just doing things to blow up the libs which is fine and you're allowed to be amused and hope he keeps doing it.

Amethyst posted:

expert trolling my man. I know I'm laughing


Turnbull is good hahahahah. Annoyed yet?

tithin posted:

You're a bit too high strung dude. Why so lovely?

Amethyst posted:

I know people don’t normally respond to your posts, but if someone does, they aren’t necessarily in a bad mood.

tithin posted:

Cutting.

For the record I wasn't trolling earlier, you were dismissing the other guys comment seemingly for who he was, not the content.

You and me have anyways gotten on ok, so I dunno why you're being so hostile

Amethyst posted:

I know people don’t normally respond to your posts, but if someone does, they aren’t necessarily in a bad mood.

Jonah Galtberg posted:

In the general sense this is correct but in your case it is always false

Teddybear posted:

Why, exactly, is Craig Kelly such a dipshit? Beyond the usual rightwingery.

Amethyst posted:

I don't think Abbott's sticking around for the money. He sees his life as an epic journey to the restored throne.

quote:

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott took out a new $710,000 mortgage on his family home shortly after going into Opposition, partly to help fund his family expenses after losing his ministerial salary.

But in what appears to be a breach of the parliamentary rules covering MPs' pecuniary interests, he failed to declare the loans to Parliament for almost two years.

The man who claimed in January 2008 that politicians don't get paid enough took out a new loan on his family home in April 2008, four months after losing the election and halving his salary.

Amethyst posted:

I don't think Abbott's sticking around for the money. He sees his life as an epic journey to the restored throne.