Podcast: Kennett, Bracks recall dealing with three kingmakers — and whether Jeff dropped the f-bomb
Victoria was in limbo after the 1999 election, but three independent MPs emerged as kingmakers. Now some of them have revealed what it was like dealing with Steve Bracks and Jeff Kennett — including whether the former Liberal leader dropped the f-bomb.
National
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An independent MP who held the balance of power in 1999 has broken his silence about dealing with Steve Bracks and Jeff Kennett — including whether the former Liberal leader once called him a f***wit.
Russell Savage, who held the seat of Mildura between 1996 and 2006 and now lives in Queensland, said he hated being one of three kingmakers after the bombshell state election and found the whole experience “uncomfortable”.
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He said the major parties offered him a role as a minister or as Speaker if he backed them to form minority government, neither of which he felt capable of doing at the time.
Mr Kennett and Mr Bracks recalled key moments of the negotiations, which dragged on for a month while the parties waited for the result of the supplementary Frankston East election required after the death of a candidate.
They were reunited as part of the Herald Sun’s new podcast series Face Off, which brings together once fierce rivals to remember key moments in Australian history.
Mr Bracks said the ALP had predetermined it might need independent MPs to back him into power and had tacitly supported them, while Mr Kennett conceded he would never have been able to lead a minority government.
“Everything works out for the best, I wouldn’t have been any good at all at leading a government with three independents,” Mr Kennett said.
“We were about reform … and in order to reform you need, as we did initially, to have control of both houses.”
The three independents who eventually backed Mr Bracks to form government were Mr Savage, Gippsland East MP Craig Ingram, and Gippsland West MP Susan Davies.
Mr Ingram said he felt like he was entering shark-infested waters when he first arrived at Treasury Place, while Mr Savage said: “I didn’t enjoy the experience”.
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Mr Savage, a former policeman, also confirmed Mr Kennett did call him a f***wit in Parliament and explained that it was in relation to the local Mildura hospital.
Mr Kennett said during his joint interview with Mr Bracks that he “can’t remember” the incident but it “might have been accurate”, to which Mr Bracks said: “unfortunately he (Mr Savage) remembered”.
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Originally published as Podcast: Kennett, Bracks recall dealing with three kingmakers — and whether Jeff dropped the f-bomb