Second female MP quits Morrison government as female MPs divided over parliament bullying claims
LIBERAL MP Ann Sudmalis has blamed ego-driven “bullying, betrayal and backstabbing” by a NSW state politician from her own party for her decision to leave parliament.
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LIBERAL MP Ann Sudmalis has blamed ego-driven “bullying, betrayal and backstabbing” by a NSW state politician from her own party for her decision to leave parliament.
Ms Sudmalis will quit at the next election, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s attempts to get more women into parliament.
The MP used parliamentary privilege today to name and shame Liberal state MP Gareth Ward for his “narcissistic revenge” against her.
Mr Ward is yet to comment on the claims.
“Bullying, betrayal and backstabbing have been the hallmarks of one of my state Liberal colleagues, Gareth Ward, over the past six and a half years,” Ms Sudmalis told the lower house.
“Politics is a place where if you do not have great resilience, the actions of others can impact on your mental health.
“It was about ego-driven ambition, bullying and betrayal, and my local position is completely untenable.”
“Politics is a place where if you do not have great resilience the actions of others can impact on your mental health.†- Liberal MP Ann Sudmalis said her decision to leave was not a reflection on @ScottMorrisonMP's leadership. #auspol #7News pic.twitter.com/9HC93XwgFC
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) September 17, 2018
Ms Sudmalis also named Fairfax editor John Hanscombe (Milton-Ulladulla Times) for working with Mr Ward to “misrepresent” her in the media since 2012.
“This is not the first time Gareth has flexed his vengeance on strong Liberal women,” the NSW MP said.
“He doesn’t just get even, he annihilates anyone who opposes him.”
She insisted her decision was not about Mr Morrison, pledging to work hard until the end of her term.
“I will not be distracted by boys who should know better, men who know better and who do nothing, or women who are manipulated by false information.”
Ms Sudmalis holds the southern NSW coastal seat of Gilmore with a margin of just 0.7 per cent and has faced a preselection challenge from local real estate agent Grant Schultz.
Her decision to exit parliament comes after Victorian Liberal Julia Banks also announced she will quit at the election, while Queensland Liberal Jane Prentice is going after losing her own preselection.
Ms Sudmalis said the final straw came when her local electorate committee was rolled and replaced with inexperienced people who were hostile to her.
SCOMO ADDRESSES SUDMALIS QUITTING
Scott Morrison has taken steps to stamp out bullying declaring he must ‘set the standard’, as Liberal MP Ann Sudmalis became the second female MP to quit the party.
The NSW MP withdrew her nomination for the seat of Gilmore this morning in the wake of last month’s leadership spill, as debate about a lack of women in the party builds.
The prime minister put out a statement saying he would ensure there was a new process to weed out mistreatment within the party.
“As party leader, it is my job to set the standard. It is the party’s job to uphold and protect those standards from the grassroots up, to ensure that MPs and candidates are treated with respect and are well supported,” the PM said.
“I have today, through the Federal Director, requested the Federal Executive of the Liberal Party to consider how they will take steps to ensure there is a rigorous and confidential process to deal with concerns and complaints from party members, including Members of Parliament.
“Nola Marino, the chief whip, has managed this process for parliamentarians. This new arrangement will ensure that the organisational wing of the party has the same processes and upholds the same values.
“I want the Federal Executive to include in that report their concrete plans to ensure the party continues to attract and support outstanding men and women who want to represent their party in this parliament.
“I continue to make it clear that I want to see more women in the federal parliament. The Federal and State branches of the Liberal party will work towards that outcome.”
Ms Sudmalis told Fairfax Media her decision to quit was “absolutely not about Scott”.
“He’s a very dear friend and he’s a very good man,” she told the publication.
“I believe he can bring our party together, he’s a visionary, Scott is the man who can pull this country forward.”
Victorian MP Julia Banks was the first MP to announce her decision to quit politics after last month’s leadership spill.
Ms Sudmalis said her decision was about long-running issues in her branch which she said had been stacked with individuals aligned to local state Liberal MP Gareth Ward.
The member for Gilmore, who holds her seat by a margin of just 0.7 per cent, is also facing a pre-selection challenge from local real estate agent Grant Schultz.
Ms Sudmalis told the publication she had sent a letter to Mr Morrison with her decision last week which he had refused to open until yesterday afternoon.
The Prime Minister met with her this morning about the decision but failed to change her mind.
Ms Sudmalis lashed out at “bullying, intimidation, leaking and undermining” in the NSW branch of the Liberal Party as she announced her decision to quit today.
In a statement this afternoon, Ms Sudmalis clarified her decision was about “unfair and unethical” behaviour of a senior liberal in the local branch, rather than about Prime Minister Morrison’s leadership or any of her federal colleagues.
She also hit out at those “undermining” her in the local party branch by clarifying that she voted for Malcolm Turnbull in last month’s leadership spill.
“I have never before said how I voted in the party room for the position of Prime Minister, but as this has been some of the undermining process by those who don’t actually know - let me confirm that I have never voted against a sitting Prime Minister,” she said.
“I did not support the spill motion, I supported Malcolm Turnbull through the entire process. The position of Prime Minister should not be a dispensable position.”
Ms Sudmalis said she had tried to keep her decision private until after the Wentworth by-election but it had not been possible.
She said Mr Morrison was “a good man” and a friend as she announced her exit.
Her decision will likely reignite debate about the lack of women in the Liberal Party ahead of the crucial October 20 by-election in Wentworth, where the local party members voted last week to select a male candidate.
The party must retain Mr Turnbull’s former seat or Mr Morrison will lose his one-seat majority in the lower house.
In leaked messages from a secret WhatsApp chat group for female Liberal MPs published today, Ms Sudmalis had suggested the Liberal Party consider gender quotas or “active anti-bullying” measures earlier this month.
The messages, published in The Australian today, also show a split among the female MPs over whether claims about bullying within the party should have ever been made public.
Julie Bishop and other senior MPs such as Kelly O’Dwyer, Marise Payne, Michaelia Cash, Melissa Price, Nola Marino and Bridget McKenzie are reportedly part of the group chat called ‘Coalition Women’.
The series of messages from September 4 and 5 show female MPs urging their colleagues to lend “moral support” to Liberal women who had spoken out against bullying — Julia Banks, Lucy Gichuhi and Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer — and another female MP responding that the public airing of bullying claims wasn’t doing the party “any good”.
VIEW THE CHAT CONVERSATION HERE
“Ladies Lucy, Julia and Kelly need our moral support — the question is how,” West Australian Liberal senator Linda Reynolds wrote in the chat on September 4, a day after Senator Gichuhi threatened to name and shame bullies in Parliament.
“I see this as a much wider issue of respect in parliament not one of ‘drying your eyes princesses’, this is an issue for all parties,” Senator Reynolds said.
“Instead of justifying a race to the bottom on standards of behaviour that are unacceptable in any other workplace, we should seek to lead the way in respectful behaviour while encouraging far more robust debate on issues in the party room, in public and in the parliament. “The question is how!?”
Ms Sudmalis responded that the party could consider quotas.
“While we think add the idea quotas?,” she said.
“Preselection rules, active anti-bullying by State directors when they are told it’s happening locally? This is not a new phenomena but it’s clearly time to make a stand!”
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop then added that she had been asked to speak at a women’s forum on the topic and said: “Perhaps I’ll have some insights.”
She then told a Women’s Weekly forum in Sydney that she had experienced “appalling” behaviour in her time in politics.
Liberal Senator Amanda Stoker, who replaced George Brandis when he retired earlier this year, then responded that bullying claims should not be aired through the media.
“Hi ladies. While I’m very supportive of all the ladies on the team, I don’t think this public airing of bullying claims is doing our women, or our leadership team, any good,” she wrote on September 5.
“Of course if there’s a complaint of bullying to be made, it should be particularised and fully investigated — but our avenue for doing that is through the whip’s offices, not through the media or in the chamber.”
Her response reportedly ended the discussion on the WhatsApp group.
NSW Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells told The Australian she did not believe the party had a problem with bullying.
“For many of my colleagues, especially those who have only been here a short time, the last few weeks have been very difficult,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells said.
“Politics can be ruthless, robust and very challenging.
“Over my years of involvement, I have stood up for my values and beliefs but I have not experienced bullying.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today there was a “range of different views” about what had taken place during the leadership spill which ousted Malcolm Turnbull, while adding that “intense lobbying” took place at such times.
He said he expected his team to now focus on the needs of the Australian people, not “dust being kicked up here in Canberra”.
“I have no truck with bullying in any workplace. That’s my standard. That’s the one I live to and expect my team to,” he told the Nine Network’s Today Show.
“I also expect us to not focus on the dust being kicked up here in Canberra but to look through that dust to the real needs of the Australian people who are our primary focus.”
Mr Morrison added that when his leadership team had spoken to MPs who had raised concerns about bullying, those individuals “actually referred to what was happening back in their state divisions of the Liberal Party”.
“It wasn’t about what was actually happening here in Canberra,” he said.
“I have been raising that with the party organisation itself.”
Mr Morrison said he thought there had been “some mixed messages” about events during the leadership spill.
DUTTON FACES HIGH COURT REFERRAL THREAT
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Morrison is also facing the embarrassing possibility a number of his MPs may cross the floor this week to refer Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to the High Court.
Julie Bishop told The Australian today she would not back a Labor bid to refer Mr Dutton over his financial interests in a company that operates child care centres which receive federal government funding.
The former Foreign Affairs Minister last week said she would make up her mind when a vote was called after Malcolm Turnbull called for Mr Dutton to be referred, prompting two other unnamed Liberal MPs to also indicate that they may cross the floor to vote with Labor.
Labor’s chances of succeeding if two MPs crossed the floor have been vastly improved by Mr Turnbull quitting politics and costing Mr Morrison his one-seat majority in the lower house.
The reality of the threat to Mr Dutton, and the potential for Labor to block legislation, became clear today when Mr Morrison almost lost a vote in the House of Representatives.
Speaker Tony Smith was forced to use his casting vote to block Labor amendments to trade legislation on the Trans Pacific Partnership because the Coalition was unable to win the vote outright.
Mr Smith cast his vote to break the 71-71 votes tie between Labor and the Coalition.
Originally published as Second female MP quits Morrison government as female MPs divided over parliament bullying claims