Leaked texts calling PM a ‘psycho’ were sent around in act of ‘vengeance’, Joyce says
Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce says the leaking of texts calling Scott Morrison a ‘complete psycho’ was an act of malice and vengeance.
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Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has weighed in on the Liberal Party’s text message mess, arguing the issue was not the fact that a cabinet minister had called the Prime Minister a “complete psycho” but that they had chosen to release the messages.
Dismissing former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s observations on the matter of those of an “angry man”, Mr Joyce said the leak was driven by malice.
“It is done with vengeance and it is done with the purpose of creating hurt and that’s really a question for the person who released them … their motivations and the context in which they decided to release the text messages,” he said.
“No doubt between you and other people in the ABC, there are text messages about Ita Buttrose. Mr Turnbull is an angry man.
“He goes on the program and cans the government which once elected him as Prime Minister for Australia and that, for many people on either side of the political fence, it is a worry.
“They say, ‘Why wouldn’t you be loyal to the country that you led and the government that you led that gave you that great honour?’”
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Mr Joyce said he did not agree with the assessment that the government was in “plenty of trouble.”
“No, (the text scandal) is indicative of a person who won’t put their name to it and won’t stand behind it and decide to release it anonymously, whether it was through them or a third party or them releasing somebody else’s details,” he said.
“They’ve done it for the purpose of creating hurt. They have done it out of malice and vindictiveness and for the purpose of creating damage.
“Now as I said before, everybody has at times a bad day in the office and I’m sure if the person who actually wrote it said, ‘I wrote it at the time. I was upset and I’ve changed my views’, I think people see through it and they say it is not so much what was written, it was the motivation of the person who leaked it. They’ve leaked it out of malice and they won’t stand behind it and say it was them.
“The reason that person is doing it is clear. You are doing this for the purpose of malice, for the purpose of vindictiveness and for your own personal grudge and therefore, it is to be disregarded.”
On Thursday night, Mr Turnbull sensationally claimed he was not surprised that a cabinet minister described Scott Morrison as “a complete psycho” and “a fraud” in leaked text messages.
Stoking long standing anger towards him within the Liberal Party, the former Prime Minister also declared the factional warfare in NSW ranks ahead of the election was “crazy” and the Prime Minister was in “plenty of trouble”.
The war of words follows the leaking of text messages between former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and unnamed cabinet minister where she called Mr Morrison a “horrible, horrible person” and the mystery MP who leaked the messages called him a “fraud” and a “complete psycho.”
Speaking on the ABC’s 7.30 program, Mr Turnbull said the brutal character assessment was no surprise.
“I wasn’t surprised by the content. I was a little bit surprised they found their way into the public domain,” he said.
“Clearly, whoever authorised [Network 10 journalist] Mr [Peter] van Onselen to release that did not have Scott Morrison’s best interests at heart,” he said.
Ms Berejiklian has issued a statement declaring she “does not recall” sending or receiving the messages but failed to unequivocally deny she was part of the conversation.
In a moment of high drama, Mr Turnbull then threatened to expose the mystery cabinet minister on national television, before laughing off the threat with a reference to the board game Cluedo.
“Everybody has a theory about who the Cabinet Minister is. Have you got a theory about who might be the texting Minister,’’ 7:30 host Laura Tingle said.
“Yes. I will name the culprit,’’ Mr Turnbull deadpanned.
“Right?,’’’ Tingle replied.
“It was Colonel Mustard in the library with a smartphone,’’ he said.
Does former prime minister @TurnbullMalcolm know who leaked the text messages about Prime Minister Scott Morrison? #abc730#auspolpic.twitter.com/f7Y0FnGOKW
— abc730 (@abc730) February 3, 2022
Mr Turnbull then declared the NSW Liberal Party was at war over bitter factional divisions and suggested the Prime Minister may be holding up party preselections.
“Yeah, there is clearly factional warfare going on here,” Mr Turnbull said.
“Look, the reality is that these preselections are being held up deliberately. And it’s crazy.
“The Constitution is there. The party members are entitled to vote in preselections. And the party should get on and whether it’s the Prime Minister or the Premier or people on the committee, the executive, should get on and hold the preselections in accordance with the party rules.
“It’s pretty straightforward. The way they’re holding it up … I can understand why a lot of members will be getting very fed up.
Asked how much trouble the Prime Minister was in ahead of the election, Mr Turnbull said “plenty.”
“Well, I mean, what is it, it’s eight points behind in Newspoll. Election is in three months or so. It’s in plenty of trouble, for sure,’’ he said.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton then joined the program defending Scott Morrison as a man who “puts the interests of this country first and foremost”.
“Most Australians see they’ve got a Prime Minister who is human like the rest of us, doesn’t get everything right, but dedicates himself each day to get us through the realities of Covid,” Mr Dutton said.
Host Laura Tingle then confronted the Defence Minister bluntly asking if the mystery cabinet minister who called the Prime Minister a “psycho” was him.
“Speaking of conflict, Mr Dutton, we have seen text messages leaked against the Prime Minister this week. Malcolm Turnbull suggested that it was Colonel Mustard responsible. Were you responsible for the leak?’’ she said.
Does former prime minister @TurnbullMalcolm know who leaked the text messages about Prime Minister Scott Morrison? #abc730#auspolpic.twitter.com/f7Y0FnGOKW
— abc730 (@abc730) February 3, 2022
“No. And I’m a Queensland Cabinet Minister, Laura. I know you follow politics carefully, but I’m in Queensland and I’m not a New South Wales Cabinet Minister.”
Network Ten journalist Peter van Onselen has revealed the mystery MP is a federal cabinet minister. He has never said the leaker was from NSW.
“There’s doubt about all aspects of this,’’ Mr Dutton continued.
“I’d love to know what you say about me to your colleagues in your private text messages. To be honest, I don’t really care. But the reality is that people say things that are exaggerated or heated at a particular point in time.”
Mr Dutton then defended the Prime Minister’s Covid record, revealing that at one stage the national security cabinet was prepared to deploy the army to “turn people away from hospitals.”
“There was no rule book for this. When we were first as a national security committee on Covid, we were preparing for morgues at public hospitals, for defence personnel to be deployed to turn people away from hospitals,’’ Mr Dutton said.
“We had supply chain issues. We would have had tens of thousands of more deaths than we had today and without JobKeeper, hundreds of thousands of businesses in this country would have closed. They’d be in receivership today. People would have lost their houses.
“I’ve known Scott Morrison for my time in parliament. I see him daily in leadership meetings and the national security committee, in Cabinet, in the expenditure review committee. I can tell you he puts the interests of this country first and foremost. And I think the petty discussions put to one side, most Australians see they’ve got a Prime Minister who is human like the rest of us, doesn’t get everything right, but dedicates himself each day to get us through the realities of Covid.”
Originally published as Leaked texts calling PM a ‘psycho’ were sent around in act of ‘vengeance’, Joyce says
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