This might not be the last act for ousted MP Bronwyn Bishop

BRONWYN Bishop is probably not going to leave the stage quietly. And this could be very bad news for Tony Abbott.

Member for Mackellar Bronwyn Bishop joins the March for ANZACS with the Narrabeen RSL sub branch at Narrabeen .pic John Grainger

ANALYSIS

BRONWYN Bishop, daughter of an opera singer, was never going to leave the stage until the final act was played out.

The unresolved question for the Liberal Party is whether that parting scene came Saturday evening when she was dumped as candidate for the seat she has held since 1994, or if there is an aria to come.

To be specific, these are matters most pressing for Tony Abbott, who now is without a range of electoral and internal party defences he had when he was buddies with Mrs Bishop. They now are deeply estranged.

Mrs Bishop worked the Mackellar/Warringah branches in a way Mr Abbott could not. She created a party base which made Mr Abbott look good.

Now she will be working against him, certainly within the Liberal Party. And Mr Abbott is running short of friends.

His seat now is surrounded by factional rivals and moderates who might not always feel obliged to come to his aid out of friendship.

They include Mrs Bishop’s replacement in Mackellar Jason Falinski; Paul Fletcher in Bradfield; Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney, and Malcolm Turnbull in Wentworth. In a small gap of this encirclement is Labor’s Tanya Plibersek in the seat off Sydney.

Tony Abbott might indeed build up his proficiency on a surfboard, because the forces are there which could drive him into the sea.

Member for Mackellar Bronwyn Bishop joins the March for ANZACS with the Narrabeen RSL sub branch at Narrabeen on Sunday morning.

The Bishop revenge threat against her former mate could assist Prime Minister Turnbull by occupying his predecessor and limiting any damage he might inflict during an election campaign. Mr Abbott most probably will be well behaved in the election lead-up, but a bit of

insurance wouldn’t hurt.

The counter is that a public Bishop-Abbott brawl could become a distraction from what already is a hard slog for the Coalition.

Her capacity to bring on the political biff should not be underrated, and nor should her resolve.

Bronwyn Bishop’s political career — in the Senate and then in her seat of Mackellar on Sydney’s plush north — has been spectacular.

There have been high points, such as the breakthrough she made for the possibility of a woman becoming Prime Minister. It looks silly in hindsight but was well promoted at the time.

However, the low points dominate — her sacking as Aged Care Minister and

her record as one of the worst Speakers of the past 25 years.

What cannot be denied is her resilience. Few politicians have had the stamina, self-belief and defiance of Bronwyn Bishop when others have counted her out.

She is no pushover. Never has been.

There is no love lost between former PM Tony Abbott and soon-to-be former MP Bronwyn Bishop.

Bronwyn Bishop and Tony Abbott in happier times.

And not so happier times. Bronwyn Bishop and Tony Abbot on the backbench in the House of Representatives. Picture: Gary Ramage

In this preselection bout she faced high-profile attacks from the shock-jocks, from a meandering Dick Smith, from both the right and moderate wings of the Liberal Party, from voters who believed, at age 73, she had been there too long.

And from Tony Abbott, the neighbouring MP she had protected on the ground but who, she is convinced, had ratted on her over the $5000 helicopter ride, the burka ban and other matters.

She voted for Malcolm Turnbull last September and Mr Abbott endorsed another preselection candidate for Mackellar.

Non-stop Bronwyn did not retreat. Broadcaster Alan Jones’ effusively endorsed candidate went nowhere with embarrassing swiftness; Mr Abbott’s man was dispensed with soon after.

That left Mrs Bishop and eventual winner Jason Falinski.

Mrs Bishop will be around until the election, probably to be held on July 2. This gives her time to consolidate a potential reprisal against Mr Abbott.

The estrangement issues are well covered in Niki Savva’s book The Road to Ruin, but it is one thing to see these matters in print, another if they come from her mouth on camera.

The drama of Mackellar might still be in search of a coda.

Originally published as This might not be the last act for ousted MP Bronwyn Bishop