The Sauce: Ex-Liberal preselectors back Scott Morrison in racism row

Two former Liberal preselectors have backed Scott Morrison amid accusations the PM tried to sway votes against a preselection rival in 2007 because the candidate was Lebanese.

Two former Liberal preselectors have spoken out in support of Prime Minister Scott Morrison amid allegations he tried to sway votes against a preselection rival in 2007 due to a candidate’s Lebanese heritage.

The Prime Minister is being accused by his former preselection rival Micheal Towke of having told preselectors at the time that a candidate of Lebanese heritage could not hold the seat of Cook. The PM has vehemently denied the allegations.

Now two preselectors involved in the hotly contested candidate selection process at the time claim they are also in the dark about the claims.

Sutherland Shire councillors Hassan Awada and Kent Johns were both among the 170 or so preselectors to choose a candidate to contest the seat following the departure Bruce Baird.

Awada, who is a Lebanese Muslim, told The Sauce that he would have expected to have heard of any race issues during the preselection process.

Sutherland Shire councillor Hassan Awada. Picture: Britta Campion

“You would think if it was an issue that someone would have told me about it,” he said.

“It is a complete surprise. I would not be standing by him if it was true.

“It sounds like someone is trying to be opportunistic to me.”

Awada said Morrison later reached out to him to enlist his support to help him “build bridges” with the Lebanese Muslim community.

“We started a program where we would go visit mosques once a year,” he said. “It was still going up until a few years ago.”

Towke reportedly claimed that preselectors had told him that Morrison had in 2007 told them “a candidate of Lebanese heritage could not hold the seat of Cook, especially after the
Cronulla riots”.

The PM’s former preselection rival Micheal Towke.

Former Sutherland Shire mayor Johns, who was also a preselector at the time, said he too had no recollection of any claims of racism being levelled against Morrison.

Johns, a moderate and president of the Sutherland Shire Five Ways Branch, said he met with both Towke and Morrison separately on several occasions in the lead-up to the preselection.

The PM and his wife Jenny even visited Johns and his wife Melanie Gibbons — a NSW MP who recently missed out on becoming the federal candidate for Hughes — at their Grays Point home.

“I also had several lunches with Towke, we used to meet at a cafe at Sylvania Shopping Centre,” he said. “I think I met with him on three separate occasions. There were never any concerns raised.”

Given that Towke is now claiming a federal Cabinet minister has texted him to declare “I believe you”, we expect a few more plot twists yet.

PAY RISE

Another public servant has joined the “600 Club” — bureaucrats earning more than $600,000 a year — with health boss Susan Pearce last week gaining membership.

After a request from then-acting premier Paul Toole (Premier Dominic Perrottet was on paternity leave), the Remuneration Tribunal agreed to give Pearce a pay rise to put her in line with “the majority of other secretaries”.

The pay bump means Pearce will now earn $614,000 per annum, up from the default $576,700 she would have received without the special request.

Health Secretary Susan Pearce has joined the ‘600 Club’. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Gaye Gerard

In awarding the pay rise, the tribunal report noted how well Pearce had performed during the pandemic, and how the health system in the future required “the highest level of expertise which Ms Pearce is uniquely placed to provide”.

Pearce’s predecessor Elizabeth Koff also received $614,000.

While no one would dispute the responsibilities that come with being the head of the health department, the pay rise is a slap in the face for frontline health workers who have been putting their own lives at risk and have been pushing for better pay.

Nurses are seeking a 4.75 per cent pay rise for this year after receiving just 0.3 per cent in 2020 “during peak Covid”, NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association general secretary Brett Holmes said.

“We would congratulate Susan on her impressive pay increase as we seek our own pay increases for our members,” he said.

SORRY STATE

It’s hard not to feel sorry for Resilience NSW boss Shane Fitzsimmons.

The once-lauded former head of the NSW Rural Fire Services, who steered emergency workers through one of the state’s biggest ever fire emergencies as a voice of authority during daily televised appearances, could not have looked more miserable if he tried at
last week’s flood response inquiry.

After moving to head up the bizarre disaster prevention agency set up by Premier Gladys Berejiklian (surely the remit of the NSW RFS and NSW State Emergency Services?), Fitzsimmons’ latest public appearances have been all about explaining what his big-budget department actually does.

Hint: Not flood response.

Resilience NSW boss Shane Fitzsimmons. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard

Several government sources alleged Berejiklian announced the formation of Resilience NSW without the knowledge of her most senior ministers, one of whom privately vowed to disband it when she left.

There were also rumours senior Liberals hoped Fitzsimmons would take on a role as head of the agency to help set it up before moving to a lower house seat once one became vacant.

However, a ministerial source close to Fitzsimmons claimed it was a case of wishful thinking among some of his colleagues, with the ex-fire boss expressing “little interest” in entering politics.

Another rumour was that Fitzsimmons was being slated to become the next NSW Governor.

It is clear he takes great pride in all that he achieved with the NSW RFS.

Internal Department of Premier and Cabinet emails exchanged between human resources staff ahead of Fitzsimmons’ appointment in April 2020 show how he wanted to be referred to as “commissioner” of the agency rather than “head” upon taking on the new role.

“Sorry, it’s complicated,” the department’s chief “people officer” wrote.

“I think in the ExCo minute/Admin Order it says ‘Head of Resilience NSW and Deputy Secretary blah blah.

“But SF (Fitzsimmons) wants to be called ‘Commissioner of Resilience NSW’.”

But given his agency is not actually a response department, upon being asked by Labor MP Walt Secord “who dropped the ball” on the flood response in northern NSW, Fitzsimmons was quick to declare the single controller as the SES, “unequivocally, without question, without confusion”.

It must be hard for him to not be frustrated, especially after the slick machine that was the RFS.

It will be interesting to see if the agency survives in the long term.

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