Last Friday saw Julie Bishop fail to gain prime ministership after the tumultuous leadership spill that angered the nation.
According to a newly leaked WhatsApp thread shown on ABC‘s Insiders, several Liberal PMs banded together to ensure Bishop’s first round defeat.
The WhatsApp thread was titled, “friends for stability,” and included Liberal MPs Christopher Pyne, Chris Crewther, Anne Ruston, Marise Payne, Simon Birmingham, and Kelly O’Dwyer, to name a few.
Attempting to avoid Mathias Cormann’s rumoured tactic to secure Peter Dutton’s leadership success, they were all encouraged to vote for Scott Morrison, regardless of their “heart tugging [them]” to Julie.
“Cormann rumoured to be putting some WA votes behind Julie Bishop in round 1,” Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher began, writing to the WhatsApp group.
“Be aware that this is a ruse trying to get her ahead of Morrison so he drops out and his votes to Dutton.
“Despite our hearts tugging us to Julie we need to vote with our heads for Scott in round one.”
“Someone should tell Julie,” one PM responded.
“I have… Very respectfully,” Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne said.
Bishop only received 11 votes in her favour after the first round.
Now, Bishop has officially quit as Foreign Minister, and will retire from politics after the next election, after 20 years in Federal Parliament.
Don’t know what’s happening in Canberra? Mamamia Out Loud speaks to the woman who broke the #libspill story, Sharri Markson….
Top Comments
A bunch of politicians deciding to vote strategically doesn't constitute a "betrayal". Is there any evidence that any of them promised to vote for her?
It sounds like Cormann convinced her to run and boosted her chances for success, when in reality he propped her up to dilute Scomo's vote and sent her no real numbers.
That's pretty treacherous and resultingly, has robbed the party of her not inconsiderable talent and popularity amongst the wider electorate.
The majority of the Australian public want the middle players, not the zealots at the right and the LNP has just vomited out their best contenders in that territory.
Any politician who's been around as long as her would know what happens when voters are split between three. She was just as blinded by ego to throw her hat into the ring as the other two. She was never going to win that vote, because the party itself wanted someone from the right.
Yes and in other words Cormann is not the fantastic man they love to portray him as. He of course is the man that allowed the illegally sitting politicians to keep the millions of dollars of illgotten gains from wages and perks they had illegally been paid. Woe be tide if a poor person owed centrelink $10 they would insist on retribution. SO UNJUST ITS PATHETIC.
Doesn't take away from the double dealing.
Under too slim provocation, both parties keep spilling and then hoisting up factional (rather than electoral) leaders, rather than those the voting public actually want.
It fuels voter disenchantment and, thereby, speeds the revolving door.