Craig Kelly’s ‘selfish, petulant act’ a slap in the face for PM
Malcolm Turnbull saved him and Craig Kelly’s thanks was relentlessly to undermine, then knife him. Scott Morrison saved him and now Kelly is causing needless mayhem in a year the PM is considering calling an election, writes Miranda Devine.
Opinion
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What a selfish, petulant act for Craig Kelly to desert his party for the crossbench.
He has cost the government its one-seat majority during a historic health and economic crisis, threatened its ability to legislate the country into full recovery and put at risk its re-election prospects.
All for nothing but his ego.
The Liberal Party has given Kelly everything, not least one of the safest seats in NSW.
The past two prime ministers have intervened in local preselections to rescue him from legitimate challenges after he spent more time on Sky News than tending to his electorate.
Malcolm Turnbull saved him and Kelly’s thanks was relentlessly to undermine and then knife him.
Scott Morrison saved him and now Kelly is causing needless mayhem in a year the PM is considering calling an election.
It wasn’t that Kelly was the most outstanding candidate in Hughes, just that his media alliances gave him protection, as long as he parroted the desired talking points.
But there’s a limit to this kind of racket, even in a safe seat.
Maybe his heart is in the right place, but he does no favours to the causes he champions. He stomps all over legitimate conservative arguments and hands ammunition to the enemy with his grandstanding.
Professor Thomas Borody’s ivermectin triple therapy, for instance, has been shown in clinical trials in the US to be a promising treatment for COVID-19, especially in its early stages. But in Kelly’s clumsy hands it ends up being portrayed as fringe quackery.
There really is nothing altruistic or principled about Kelly’s move. He knew there was no PM to save him next preselection so he just wants to go out in a blaze of glory.
He also avoids pressure from Liberal colleagues to deal with allegations involving a senior staffer.
At least the PM will avoid a messy preselection.
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