Former ALP president Warren Mundine to run for Liberals at next election
Scott Morrison has defended his decision to tap Labor’s former national president Warren Mundine to run in the ultra-marginal seat of Gilmore, which is now facing a four-way contest.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accused the Liberal Party’s former candidate for the seat of Gilmore, Grant Schultz, of attempting to “manipulate” his way into parliament.
In an awkward press conference with his handpicked candidate, Warren Mundine, the Prime Minister said he was “not going to reward behaviour that sought to undermine a sitting Member of Parliament”.
Mr Schultz nominated against sitting member Ann Sudmalis who later withdrew, claiming that she had been bullied and undermined from rivals within the party.
Ms Sudmalis’s withdrawal left Mr Schultz as the only candidate, leaving local preselectors with no option - until Mr Morrison signalled his intention to draft Mr Mundine, who is a former national president of the Labor Party.
“I have been around the Liberal Party a long time,” Mr Morrison said. “You don’t get to bully your way into a federal seat in the Liberal Party, that is not how it works.”
.@ScottMorrisonMP: The division had actually asked Grant Schultz to step aside, to allow new nominations to be called so we could have that sort of preselection. He chose not to do that.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) January 23, 2019
MORE: https://t.co/wZN0irY7Gb #newsday pic.twitter.com/BZSYm7sBmT
Mr Schultz has announced he plans to run as an independent candidate after his Liberal preselection was overturned by the party’s state executive.
Mr Mundine stressed that he had strong family connections to the electorate, with multiple generations of ancestors born in Kiama and Moruya. He also stated that he expected to be moving into the electorate shortly.
Divisions between Mr Morrison and Mr Mundine over the date of Australia Day were also apparent in the press conference.
Mr Mundine, who formally entered the race for the NSW south coast seat on Tuesday, admitted he still wants the date shifted from January 26 despite strong statements against the idea by Mr Morrison.
But Mr Mundine said there were “a hundred different things” he would like to deal with first, including youth suicide, juvenile detention and incarceration rates among indigenous Australians.
LABOR ROLLS OUT ATTACK AD
Labor wasted no time in targeting former national president Warren Mundine, launching a political ad after it was announced he would run for the Liberal Party.
The ad says Mr Mundine was “handpicked” by Prime Minister Morrison for the NSW south coast seat “even though he lives hours away on Sydney’s north shore”.
It also notes that Mr Mundine wasn’t a Liberal party member until he was parachuted into the seat and claims that he “wants to build a nuclear power plant in Jervis Bay”.
Mr Mundine has been a big supporter of nuclear energy and has stated reactors could be put in a number of places.
The seat - which is held by the Liberals on a margin of just 0.73 per cent - could now be a four-way contest at the election with Nationals leader Michael McCormack confirming the party is considering running a candidate.
“The fact is when these seats are available because the incumbent is no longer standing, they are subject to part of the Coalition agreement which allows for three-cornered contests,” the Deputy Prime Minister said this morning.
Mr Morrison concurred, saying he welcomed the Nationals entering a candidate, and declaring that it would be a “friendly and cooperative” campaign between the Coalition partners.
Mr Morrison last night said he was proud to have Mr Mundine contesting the ultra marginal seat, singling out the indigenous leader’s “no excuses” attitude.
“I am very pleased that Warren Mundine has joined our new team of candidates and wants to be part of a government that will keep our economy strong,” Mr Morrison said.
“Warren has demonstrated his leadership ability over many decades, including the role he has played in reforming our welfare system, and has a deep understanding of what matters to Australian families and the pressures they face.”
“I think Warren Mundine’s a top bloke,” Mr Morrison said, adding that Mr Mundine had “a lot to offer” and that they had been friends “for some time”.
The party’s state executive last night used special powers to overturn the decision by the local branch which had already selected real estate agent Grant Schultz as the candidate.
Sources told The Daily Telegraph that federal Minister Alex Hawke, the head of Mr Morrison’s centre right faction, called state executive members yesterday demanding they endorse the PM’s preferred candidate.
Mr Morrison’s last minute intervention in the preselection process is set to be met with a raft of recriminations.
SCHULTZ ‘FEELS SORRY’ FOR MUNDINE
Dumped candidate Mr Schultz immediately announced he would run for the seat as an independent at the election, accusing Mr Morrison of acting like former ALP powerbroker Eddie Obeid.
“To turn their backs on the democratic principles of this party is quite frankly extraordinary and without precedent in this party’s history,” he told his local paper.
Mr Schultz warned this morning Mr Mundine had been “played” and said the Liberals “better watch out”.
“It’s very unfortunate for Warren Mundine,” he told Sydney radio 2GB this morning.
“I don’t know him personally, he seems like a great bloke - he’s passionate, he’s driven. In these circumstances, it’s done him no good whatsoever.
“I feel quite sorry for him. I feel he’s been played if nothing else to be honest. It’s not the way to go into policy.
“Country people are pretty parochial, they’re very proud, they can be fairly tolerant of being let down in things and ignored by the city based politics which is so embedded. But there comes a point where they get sick of that and when they do, you better watch out.
“Don’t take country people for granted. I never have, I never will and that’s why I’m here today.”
Mr Schultz said he was “quite unhappy” about the party’s decision yesterday but would not shy away from running for the seat as an independent.
“There’s no denying I have an enormous task ahead of me,” he said. “It’s become somewhat more complex. Whether it’s become harder, time will tell. The response I’m getting from people in the Gilmore electorate has been very, very positive.”
NSW Liberal president Philip Ruddock said the state executive had made the decision because “the party should be able to consider the best candidate to represent voters, their aspirations and concerns in each community.”
The Telegraph understands Mr Morrison told Mr Ruddock in December he was hoping to convince Mr Mundine to run, which prompted the party to hold off giving Mr Schultz the final sign off.
Yesterday the NSW executive fast-tracked Mr Mundine’s application to join the Liberals and approved him as the candidate for Gilmore, which won the required 90 per cent support.
Mr Mundine was the ALP’s national president from 2006 to 2007, before he quit the party in 2012.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott appointed him to chair the indigenous Advisory Council.
Labor leader Bill Shorten said Mr Mundine was “unsuccessful” in the Labor Party.
“Oh well, he was unsuccessful in the Labor Party so it’s a free country, you can run for whatever party will have you,” he said.
The Labor leader criticised the selection as out of touch.
“The Liberal Party replaced a woman with a man and a man who wants to put nuclear reactors into Australia, including Jervis Bay,” he told reporters in Queensland.
“I just don’t think they get how everyday Australians think.”
Mr Mundine has previously backed nuclear power and noted there were a “number of places” a reactor could be built.
News Corp has contacted Mr Mundine for comment.
‘I WANT TO SEE MORE FEMALE CANDIDATES’
The Prime Minister was also asked about his efforts to boost the number of women in the Liberal Party given Mr Mundine would replace outgoing Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis, if selected.
“Look, Ann Sudmalis has done a great job, and I want to see more female candidates,” Mr Morrison said.
“That’s why I’m pleased to see the great, strong field that’s already emerging where Kelly O’Dwyer is not going to contest the next election.
“I’m absolutely confident we’ll see another great female candidate enter there.”
CREDLIN RELUCTANT TO RUN
It’s understood Sky News host and Tony Abbott’s former chief of staff Peta Credlin will not be putting her hand up to run in Kelly O’Dwyer’s seat of Higgins.
The Australian reports sources close to Credlin say she is reluctant to run with polling showing the Coalition on track to lose the election and after just one year of hosting her own show.
She hasn’t ruled out a career in politics in the future.