Post-election recriminations in the government continue as Peta Credlin says prime minister ‘broke the Liberal party’s heart’

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Liberal moderates have hit back at a coordinated push by the conservative wing to undermine the authority of Malcolm Turnbull before the final votes from Saturday’s election have been counted.



As the prime minister emerged from his Sydney home on Tuesday morning, key Turnbull supporters warned colleagues the rolling public recriminations since Saturday night risked consigning the Coalition to opposition.

The government Senate leader, George Brandis, who has been reaching out to the new Senate crossbenchers, including Pauline Hanson, issued a clear warning. “Stability is always better than instability, discipline is always better than indiscipline, playing a team game is always better than self-indulgence,” he told the ABC.

Scott Ryan, a key Turnbull supporter and the minister for vocational education and skills, told Guardian Australia: “Right now, the most appropriate thing to do is await the results of the counting from the AEC.”

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The Victorian Liberal backbencher Russell Broadbent dismissed a push by some colleagues to call a special party room meeting to consider what the prime minister would be permitted to offer crossbenchers in the event the Coalition ended up in a minority government haggle.

“It’s Malcolm’s prerogative as leader of the party to negotiate. Tony Abbott did not come to the Coalition party room in 2010 to negotiate conditions with Andrew Wilkie and other crossbenchers,” Broadbent told Guardian Australia.

“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

Conservatives have been emboldened since Saturday night to publicly question the substance and strategy of the campaign, the prime minister’s policy priorities including the marriage equality plebiscite, and the limits of his personal authority to enter agreements with the crossbench in the event the Coalition pulls up short.

Abbott’s former chief of staff Peta Credlin also unleashed on Turnbull on Sky News. “Malcolm Turnbull, you are the man that broke the Liberal party’s heart … Arthur Sinodinos, James McGrath, Scott Ryan – they’re the ones that were at least in the Senate and kept their seats,” Credlin said.

“Wyatt Roy, Peter Hendy – that collective brains trust that sat there and undid Tony Abbott, I don’t think have been giving the prime minister great advice,” she said. “I feel justified in putting this out there because, you know what? Everyone’s had a crack at me and the advice I gave the prime minister – Tony Abbott – but at least he won an election.”

Abbott did win the election in 2013 against Labor. He did not win the election in 2010, when Credlin was also his chief adviser, because he was outflanked by Julia Gillard in the subsequent minority government negotiation.

Members of the New South Wales branch of the Liberal party are also fuming at the way the campaign organisation was run from Canberra.

They say they were blindsided by swings of more than 10% against the party on election night, saying they could not believe what they were seeing when presumably safe seats starting falling to Labor.

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They listed the seats: Lindsay (-4.6%), Macquarie (-6.9%), and Macarthur (-12.2%). “Losing Lindsay was the biggest shock,” a senior party official said.

They say they were outplayed by Labor on multiple fronts – the campaign run from Canberra was plagued by poor decision-making, and was not responsive to changes in the electorate.

A number of Coalition MPs are concerned the Liberal party organisationally is now completely outgunned by Labor’s marginal seats campaign apparatus which is supplemented heavily by the trade union movement and by progressive campaign organisations.

There is a view inside the government that Labor’s ground game secured government for Labor during the state election in Victoria, and has now brought Labor close to government federally. “We have nothing to compete with it,” one senior Liberal said.

Another MP on Monday dismissed a recent argument from Cory Bernardi that the problem was the Coalition is no longer conservative enough. “Who needs the Labor party when you’ve got Andrew Bolt and the Delcons [delusional conservatives]?”



The Australian Electoral Commission resumed the bulk of counting on Tuesday, and it is likely more results will be known by the end of today.

On Monday the prime minister held a hook-up with his Cabinet colleagues and with the wider ministry for the first time since the election.

Turnbull has also been in regular contact with Nick Xenophon, who has positioned himself as parliamentary kingmaker by signalling he would countenance a minority agreement with either leader than went beyond confidence and supply.

Turnbull was stopped by reporters outside his Sydney home on Tuesday morning. The prime minister was asked about the Labor leader Bill Shorten’s call on Monday for him to resign given he couldn’t command support from his party.

“He would say that, wouldn’t he?” Turnbull said. “He obviously couldn’t think of anything else better to say.”

Turnbull also said he remained optimistic that the Coalition would emerge from the drubbing delivered by the voters on Saturday with a workable majority. “All the votes have been cast – that’s the good news. I will press on now.”