PM’s staffer apologises over Malcolm Turnbull leak as former adviser calls for him to be expelled from Liberals
Senior cabinet ministers were sent pirated copies of Malcolm Turnbull’s explosive new memoir, amid calls for the former Prime Minister to be expelled from the Liberal Party.
National
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Antibody test by May as COVID-19 toll ‘could be 85 times higher’
- Liam Hemsworth removes all traces of ex Miley Cyrus
Senior cabinet ministers were sent pirated copies of Malcolm Turnbull’s new memoir and his publisher has blamed one of Scott Morrison’s staff.
Nick Louw, a senior adviser to the prime minister, has reportedly apologised for circulating the copies of A Bigger Picture, ahead of its formal release today.
Mr Louw had contacted his lawyers and acknowledged he had circulated the digital version of the book via email and WhatsApp, The Australianreports.
“Louw has now made certain admissions and we are pursuing that and other sources,” Hardie Grant chief executive Sandy Grant told The Australian.
MORE NEWS
IVF ‘very much front of mind’ as Australia’s curve flattens
Influencers are losing work over coronavirus
Sexy item shoppers are buying in lockdown
Mr Turnbull said the only reason for circulating copies in large numbers would be to reduce earnings from regular sales. “This is a matter of principle. Copyright theft costs hundreds of jobs,” he told The Guardian.
It came as furious Liberal Party conservatives have called for a lifetime membership ban on Mr Turnbull, accusing the former prime minister of serving no one “but himself”.
CALLS FOR LIBERAL BAN
In an email seen by News Corp Australia that was sent to NSW state executive members, Christian Ellis from the party’s right faction asked for an extraordinary general meeting to vote Mr Turnbull out permanently.
Mr Ellis said the former prime minister “has shown in the last few weeks how he is not a servant of the Liberal Party but himself”.
“I intend to move for the immediate expulsion of Malcolm Turnbull from the Liberal Party. On top of this, as he may no longer be a member, I will move for a lifetime ban to be imposed on him,” Mr Ellis said in the email.
However, the move is doomed to fail as Liberal Party rules do not allow members to expel or impose lifetime bans, they may only suspend membership.
A state council meeting would be required to temporarily suspend Mr Turnbull from the party, but due to coronavirus social distancing requirements it is not currently possible for a gathering that meets quorum rules to be held.
Mr Ellis would not comment on the motion, but News Corp spoke to several members of the party’s state executive who confirmed they had seen the email on Sunday.
The push to ban Mr Turnbull from the Liberal Party comes as his memoirs, A Bigger Picture, is released publicly Monday.
Leaked details from the book have angered many on the party’s conservative wing.
A senior right faction source said, “Tony Abbott last year received a lifetime service award from the Liberal Party, and this year we move to ban Malcolm.
“I think that speaks volumes,” the source said.
However, the expulsion and lifetime ban is unlikely to go ahead.
Moderate faction sources on the Liberal state executive told News Corp it was unlikely the motion would succeed, pointing out that the Turnbull-aligned moderate faction controls the numbers.
One source likened the expulsion push to “Palestinian boys throwing stones at Israeli tanks”.
Meanwhile on Saturday Mr Turnbull’s publisher Hardie Grant sent a legal letter to an aide in the Morrison Government blaming them for a “massive” breach of copyright as pirated copies of the e-book were sent to dozens of MPs and staffers.
There is no suggestion the Prime Minister was involved, but multiple members of the government confirmed they had been sent a copy of the e-book.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed she was emailed a copy but had not read it.
“I’ve received and deleted. And I would encourage anyone who had received (it) to do the same thing,” she said.
Asked if the email had come from the prime minister’s office as suggested by Hardie Grant, Ms Payne said “absolutely not”. Health Minister Greg Hunt was also asked about the book and said he “certainly” hadn’t read it.
“I can’t see any circumstances under which I’ll have the time to be reading it,” he said.
The Australian noted that Dymocks was already discounting the memoir at $39.99, down from the recommended price of $55.
‘IT’S BEWILDERING’
George Christensen has hit back at Malcolm Turnbull after the former prime minister revealed details of an AFP probe into the Nationals MP.
Mr Christensen hit back at the “smear” in Mr Turnbull’s new tell-all memoir, A Bigger Picture, but added “at least there is acknowledgment that I’d been found to have done nothing wrong”.
“It’s bewildering that anyone would release a book full of gossip and innuendo during a global crisis where people are dying and losing their livelihoods,” Mr Christensen said in a statement.
Mr Turnbull said he was warned by the Australian Federal Police that Nationals MP George Christensen could face questioning by police in the Philippines amid concerns over his frequent visits to the nation where he stayed in “seedy” hotels.
Mr Turnbull writes in his new tell-all memoir that the AFP called a meeting with him as Mr Christensen was about to leave for the Asian nation on official business. The AFP warned the Nationals MP could be detained in the country’s capital, Manila, for questioning.
The former prime minister writes then AFP commissioner summed up months of police inquiries in a one-on-one meeting.
“Colvin described how Christensen had an unusually complex online presence and had been spending substantial sums in Manila bars and nightclubs as well as making many small payments to women there,” Mr Turnbull writes, according to Nine newspapers.
“Against the advice of our embassy in the Philippines, he had been staying in seedy hotels in Angeles City, which was not only recklessly unsafe but made him vulnerable to being compromised.”
Mr Turnbull writes the AFP believed Mr Christensen might stay on in the country after his official business was over.
He claimed Philippines authorities were “aware of their concerns” and local police could “counsel him on his imprudent behaviour”.
He writes Mr Christensen’s conduct was “especially sickening” because the Member for Dawson said he would withdraw his support from the Turnbull Government, before changing his mind.
Mr Turnbull was also bothered by the fact Mr Christensen claimed to be a devout Christian.
“For a member in a marginal seat to be spending nearly a third of the year overseas, on full pay as an MP, staying in a seedy part of Manila and hanging out in bars and nightclubs beggared belief,” the former prime minister writes.
“The hypocrisy made me sick.”
Mr Christensen allegedly warned Mr Turnbull about anything he might write in his memoir, although his publisher Hardie Grant never received any legal warning.
“He sent me a message on one of those immediately dissolving messages on Signal, which said: ‘remember two words: parliamentary privilege; and two more years of it’,” Mr Turnbull told Nine newspapers.
Mr Christensen was dubbed the “Member for Manila” for spending almost 300 days in the Philippine capital between 2014 and 2018. He branded media coverage of his visits as a “vile smear” and insisted he had done nothing wrong.
An AFP evaluation found Mr Christensen had not committed crimes under Australian law.
MORRISON DIDN’T DESERVE TO WIN: TURNBULL
Malcolm Turnbull has made a series of explosive claims about the 2019 election, including that he doesn’t believe the Scott Morrison-led coalition deserved to win.
The former prime minister also criticised Mr Morrison’s portrayal as the “daggy dad” from the suburbs during the election campaign as cringe-worthy, in his soon-to-be-released tell-all.
“He’s a professional politician who understands marketing and messaging better than most,” Mr Turnbull writes in A Bigger Picture, The Australian reports.
“His cringe-worthy ‘daggy dad’ persona is more exaggerated than it is conflated, but in net terms it probably helped,” he wrote.
Mr Turnbull continued: “All that aside, however, the truth is that Labor lost the election that the coalition, after the August coup, did not deserve to win.”
He also described former colleague Christopher Pyne as a “gossip” who revelled in “salacious” information. “He was a superb raconteur and while very efficient as a minister, his circumspection had its limits,” Mr Turnbull wrote in the memoir.
“When it came to gossip, he was the soul of indiscretion, especially if it was amusing or salacious.”
Mr Turnbull also takes aim at his former cabinet colleagues, including Mr Morrison, for their roles in the coup that led to his resignation in August 2018.
The Australian reports that in the book, Mr Turnbull accuses Mr Morrison of double-dealing in his bid to succeed him when he has to be “propped up” as treasurer.
Peter Dutton, a coup leader, was a “narcissist” and “self-delusional” for thinking he could be prime minister, Mr Turnbull added.
‘PAIN AND HUMILIATION’
In A Bigger Picture, Mr Turnbull opened up about having deep depression and suicidal thoughts in the wake of his prior Liberal leadership loss to Tony Abbott back in 2009.
“I remained in a torment of indecision as to whether to stay in parliament … and without realising it, I slipped into a deeper depression,” Mr Turnbull writes in his memoir, describing the leadership loss as causing excruciating pain and humiliation, according to The Australian.
“I’d never given thought to my mental health before – mental health was something others had to worry about,” he wrote.
“For he first time in my life, suicidal thoughts started to enter my mind, unbidden and unwanted.”
Mr Turnbull sought treatment, including being prescribed antidepressants.
A Bigger Picture is out now via Hardie Grant Books. Anyone with personal issues is urged to contact Lifeline 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au