Tony Abbott slams Turnbull government’s second Budget in leaked tape

MALCOLM Turnbull is facing more dissent from within Liberal Party ranks after audio leaked of Tony Abbott slamming the government’s latest Budget.

MALCOLM Turnbull is facing more dissent from within Liberal Party ranks after audio leaked of Tony Abbott slamming the government’s second budget to party faithful.

The former prime minister reportedly told a branch meeting in Melbourne on Monday night that government ministers did not believe in the “second-best”, “taxing and spending” budget they were selling.

Fairfax Media reports Mr Abbott told the meeting that the party was “at a bit of a low ebb”.

He can be heard saying in a tape obtained by the publication that: “If you listen to some senior members of the government — because of the reality, the unfortunate reality, of the Senate — we have had to bring forward a Budget which is second-best, a taxing and spending budget.”

“Not because we believe in these things, but because the Senate made us do it,” he said.

“Well, a party that has to do what’s second-best because the Senate made us do it is a party which needs some help.”

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott appearing on the Ray Hadley Radio show. Picture: CH 7

Mr Abbott was also reportedly questioned about whether he had plans to regain the leadership.

He told the meeting, which was organised by fellow conservative Liberal MP and assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar, that he was not speaking out to “change the personnel” but because he believed the party had to “move the direction a little bit”.

“Our first responsibility is to fight so that the existing government, the existing cabinet and the existing prime minister are as good as they possibly can be,” he said.

Senate powerbroker Nick Xenophon said Mr Abbott was being “a huge pain in the arse”.

Senator Xenophon, who controls three crucial crossbench votes the government relied on to pass its school funding reforms recently, told reporters at Parliament House the government had taken into account the “political reality” of dealing with the crossbench.

“Is Tony Abbott’s interventions making it difficult to negotiate with the Government?” he said.

“How can I put this succinctly? I need to put this in the cut through language that Tony Abbott is renowned for. I think Tony Abbott’s being a huge pain in the arse right now.”

Treasurer Scott Morrison, who handed down the budget in May, downplayed Mr Abbott’s comments as just “background noise”.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison says Mr Abbott’s comments are ‘background noise’. Picture: AAP

Mr Morrison used the term “background noise” more than a dozen times.

“The Government is not interested in the background noise of politics,” he said.

“The Australian people are turning down the background noise in Australian politics, the personalities, all of those sorts of things.

“I expect there will continue to be background noise here and there but Governments don’t focus on the background noise.”

The tape leak comes as conservative Coalition MPs’ ongoing frustrations with the government’s direction boiled over last week.

Earlier today, The Australian reported Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was also facing ­renewed pressure from the “country” Liberal caucus who’ve warned that the party’s standing in the bush is under threat from the Nationals and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

Liberal senators and MPs from the group, convened by South Australian MP Rowan Ramsey, told The Australian there was a “disconnect” with the Turnbull cabinet, which contains five Nationals MPs and no country Liberals.

South Australian MP Rowan Ramsey is the convener of the group of Liberal MPs. Picture: Dylan Coker

The country Liberal bloc, comprised of more than 20 politicians, includes conservative and marginal seat holders such as Andrew Hastie, junior ministers Dan Tehan and Angus Taylor, former health minister Sussan Ley, Assistant Agriculture Minister Anne Ruston, and Queensland MPs Scott Buccholz, Warren Entsch and Ted O’Brien and veteran senator Ian Macdonald.

Mr Hastie, who holds the marginal West Australian seat of Canning, said he wanted the group of MPs to be known as the “Geebungs”, in reference to a Banjo Paterson poem in which city and country polo players engage in a vicious match and are all killed.

WA MP Andrew Hastie. Picture: Colin Murty/The Australian

Queensland MP Scott Buccholz. Picture: Supplied

Mr Turnbull met the group in the weeks after the budget.

“The Liberal Party has a proud tradition of representing rural, ­regional and remote Australia and that needs to be reflected in everything the Liberal Party does, including at the most senior table in the parliament,” South Australian Liberal Tony Pasin said.

“The current imbalance of five Nationals party members as cabinet ministers and none from the Liberal Party’s regional caucus is in my view disproportionate and untenable, which is a view I’ve held since the last election and one I’ve expressed many times to the Prime Minister.”

Tony Pasin with wife Fiona and kids Bella and Aria. Picture: Frank Monger

But the Prime Minister has signalled a midyear Cabinet shake-up is unlikely.

Ahead of his trip to the G20 meeting of world leaders in Germany, Mr Turnbull told Fairfax Media his current ministry was working well.

“The cabinet is doing a great job, it really is ... I run a very traditional cabinet government, I don’t know anyone that would argue with that,” he said.

“The cabinet system works, it is very collaborative, my ministers are my leading advisers. I give them, they have considerable authority but we make the big decisions collectively, as it should do.

“It is very traditional, conservative cabinet government, very much in line with the best example of John Howard’s day.”

Read more at The Australian.