
PM tried to 'silence me': ex-Liberal MP.
A former Liberal MP says she would have exited parliament quietly if not for Scott Morrison's attempts to "silence" her.
Julia Banks quit the Liberal Party after the leadership coup against Malcolm Turnbull in late 2018, sitting as an independent until an election the following year.
Ms Banks has blamed the prime minister's behaviour - describing it as "menacing" and "controlling" - for her decision to quit the party and leave politics.
The former corporate lawyer said Mr Morrison tried to portray her as a "weak petal" who had not coped with the mental strain of the leadership spill.
Former Liberal MP @juliahbanks says Prime Minister Scott Morrison “wanted me silenced” when she left the Liberal Party. Watch the full interview on 7.30 tonight. @latingle #abc730 #auspol pic.twitter.com/KYE4FQbtGB
— abc730 (@abc730) July 4, 2021
When the prime minister gave a press conference and took questions about Ms Banks' decision not to recontest the next election, he responded by expressing concern for her welfare.
"He wanted me silenced, he wanted me to be quiet, he wanted me out of the parliament; I mean, he wanted me out of the country," she told the ABC TV on Monday night.
"At that time, I thought, I'm challenging him and that was his response. His response was to drag me through this sort of sexist spectrum.
"A narrative that I was this weak, over-emotional woman, to the bully bitch. That narrative was played all the way through that three months."
Ms Banks says she was also told the prime minister's office was "backgrounding" against her, giving off-the-record briefings to journalists.
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