Renegade Coalition ministers keep faith with embattled PM Malcolm Turnbull in a torrid Question Time
MALCOLM Turnbull has asked the group of disloyal ministers who supported Peter Dutton’s leadership bid to pledge not to challenge or vote against him in any future spills.
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MALCOLM Turnbull has asked the group of disloyal ministers who supported Peter Dutton’s leadership bid to pledge not to challenge or vote against him in any future spills.
Since Tuesday morning’s leadership spill, 10 junior and Cabinet ministers have offered their resignation to the Prime Minister for supporting Mr Dutton in the spill.
Mr Turnbull is understood to have said he would not accept their resignations and would keep them in his ministerial team on the condition they pledged their loyalty to him.
As of last night, the Prime Minister had accepted the resignations of three of the 10 — Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who expressed her disapproval of Mr Turnbull’s leadership in a strongly worded letter, Mr Dutton and disgruntled Queensland Senator James McGrath.
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JAMES MCGRATH
TUESDAY: Offered his resignation as Assistant Minister to the PM
Some of the other ministers are understood to be highly unconformable with Mr Turnbull’s request because they are loyal to Mr Dutton and will be likely to vote for him when another party room meeting is called.
This led to a delay in some deciding whether to remain in Mr Turnbull’s team or move to the backbench.
Only Cabinet ministers Steve Ciobo, Michael Keenan and Greg Hunt are understood to have given the Prime Minister the loyalty pledge he requested in return for remaining in their portfolios and on his team.
CONCETTA FIERRAVANTI-WELLS
TUESDAY: Successfully resigned as Minister for International Development and the Pacific
WEDNESDAY: Told Miranda Live Malcolm Turnbull was to blame for the leadership challenge
MICHAEL KEENAN
TUESDAY: Offered resignation as Federal Human Services Minister
STEVE CIOBO
TUESDAY: Offered his resignation as Trade Minister
WEDNESDAY: When asked by Labor in Parliament if he had confidence in the PM said: “Yes, of course. How much clearer can I make it?”
GREG HUNT
TUESDAY: Offered his resignation as Health Minister
WEDNESDAY: Told Question Time “I believe deeply and strongly in the record of this government”
The ministers who offered their resignations, but which were not accepted, include Mr Keenan, Mr Hunt, Mr Ciobo, Michael Sukkar, Zed Seselja, Angus Taylor and Alan Tudge.
Mr Sukkar and Mr Seselja refused to commit to supporting Mr Turnbull in the future and, as such, their roles in his outer-ministry hang in the balance.
While they sat in their usual positions in Parliament yesterday during Question Time, their jobs remain in limbo.
MICHAEL SUKKAR
TUESDAY: Offered resignation as Assistant Treasurer
ANGUS TAYLOR
TUESDAY: Offered resignation as Law Enforcement and Cyber Security Minister
WEDNESDAY: Told Parliament he supported the government’s priority to keep Australians safe
One conservative MP, aware of the request to the ministers, told The Daily Telegraph Mr Turnbull’s demand was like North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s bid to be the supreme leader for life.
In Question Time Labor asked each of the disloyal ministers whether they still had confidence in the Prime Minister, his government and its policies to remain in their job.
Mr Hunt emphatically responded “yes, I do” before listing the government’s achievements in his portfolio of health.
“I support what we have done with record funding for health, record bulk billing, record funding for hospitals and record funding for mental health,” he said.
Mr Keenan said “the answer, of course, is yes”.
The Human Services Minister said Labor’s question gave him the opportunity to “go through the achievements that we’re actually doing within my portfolio”. “Because we’re managing the budget well, because we’re managing the economy well, because we have created one million jobs, that means there’s less people in the welfare system,” he said.
Mr Ciobo gave the shortest answer: “In words the Australian Labor Party can understand: Yes.”
The Trade Minister then delivered a blistering attack on Labor’s policies.
Mr Tudge, whose resignation was believed to be unresolved, said that he had “given the Prime Minister my assurance that he has my support”. But he then clarified that the support was for “keeping our borders secure”.
“In the last few decades, the greatest policy failure that we have seen from any Australian government has been the dismantling of Australia’s successful border protection system that the Howard government put in place,” Mr Tudge said.
Mr Taylor, who was understood not to have pledged his loyalty to Mr Turnbull, focused his response on his support for the priorities of the government.
“The first priority of this government and this Prime Minister is to keep all Australians safe and secure. I strongly support that priority. I strongly support that priority,” he said.
Originally published as Renegade Coalition ministers keep faith with embattled PM Malcolm Turnbull in a torrid Question Time
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