Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull tells Liberal Party faithful he will quit Wentworth on Friday
OUSTED prime minister Malcolm Turnbull told local Liberal Party members at the Wentworth Federal Electorate Conference on Monday night that he would quit the seat of Wentworth on Friday triggering a by-election as early as October 6.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
FORMER Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has told his local Liberal Party members he would quit the seat of Wentworth on Friday.
Mr Turnbull addressed the Wentworth Federal Electorate Conference on Monday night where he said he had written to voters in the electorate to tell them he was quitting. It means the earliest a by-election can be called is October 6.
Mr Turnbull and his wife Lucy arrived at the Eastern Suburbs Rugby Club in Bellevue Hill at about 7.30pm flanked by several Australian Federal Police officers.
He thanked the members for their 14 years of support and explained he was resigning because parliament was not a place for former PMs.
“Aa former prime minister is best out of it than in it, and recent events probably undermined the value of that observation, so accordingly on Friday I will resign from the House of Representatives,” he said.
“A by-election will be held on the normal timetable, obviously we still have to have a meeting, so obviously that is a matter for the speaker — but if that is the case it will be held in early October. In that case, there would only be two weeks where the government is down in the House of Representatives.
“I can tell you that it is, you definitely can manage the House of Representatives with 74 seats on the floor and I have done so for many weeks, like during the Citizenship crisis, and even for one week which was more challenging with 73 seats.”
Mr Turnbull didn’t talk about the plotters, such as Tony Abbott and Peter Dutton, who he claims sabotaged his leadership.
“I won’t dwell on the events of last week. They have been described — including by me — as a form of madness — I can’t really elaborate much more than that,” he said.
“My prime ministership has come to an end, the circumstances have appalled most Australians, but again I won’t labour the point I think you’re very familiar with what happened.”
RELATED NEWS:
SCOMO: THE MAN WHO STOPPED DUTTON
SHARRI MARKSON: TURNBULL CRASHED THE PARTY
THE HORROR SHOW THAT CAN’T CONTINUE
Sounding as if he was campaigning or to dictate his legacy he reminded his supporters of his government’s achievements.
“We were able to achieve an enormous amount of reform. Huge social changes like same sex marriage. I was the first prime minister to support same sex marriage,” he said.
“We were able to deliver substantial economic reform. We were able to deliver tax cuts for small and medium businesses.
“Last year, 2017, saw the strongest jobs growth in Australia’s history, over 400,000 new jobs.
The only political foe he criticised was the Labor Party over their claims the Coalition had cut health funding.
“They got away with Mediscare in 2016 election, and we have been assiduous in rebutting their scares, we did it very effectively in the Bennelong by-election and we have to keep doing it, it’s a bit like whack a mole, but you have to be persistent,” he said.
Mr Turnbull said it had been an “extraordinary privilege” to be the Member for Wentworth.
“Everything I have done there, I have done because of you,” he said.
“I want to thank you all for all your support over many years for the Turnbull government.”