Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party splinters as MP Catherine Cumming walks out
Derryn Hinch has taken a parting shot at an MP who has walked out on his Justice Party before her first day of parliament, comparing her exit to “Cory Bernardi Syndrome”.
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Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party has already splintered with one of its three MPs calling it quits before her first day of parliament.
New upper house MP Catherine Cumming confirmed she walked out on the party just 24 days after the state election.
Her departure to the crossbench followed a fiery Justice Party ballot yesterday, in which Western Victoria MP Stuart Grimley was declared leader.
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A statement from federal Senator Derryn Hinch said Ms Cumming had told her colleagues that she would “throw my toys out of the pram” if not installed as leader.
It said she and the party had now “parted ways”.
Mr Hinch compared Ms Cumming’s exit to “Cory Bernardi Syndrome”.
“She (Ms Cumming) was happy to have banners featuring my face, and the Justice Party logo, all over Footscray, to get in,” Mr Hinch said.
“I call it the Cory Bernardi Syndrome. He was elected as a Liberal and then betrayed his party.”
Ms Cumming denied saying she would throw her toys out of the pram, but told the Herald Sun she did contest the leadership ballot and made it clear that she would quit if not elected.
She said she took “umbrage” to Mr Grimley wanting to lead a party when two of its three MPs were women, and he had received just 4.40 per cent of the vote.
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But Ms Cumming said the key reason she quit was to distance herself from controversial “preference whisperer” Glenn Druery.
Mr Druery — a staffer in Mr Hinch’s office — billed minor parties for arranging preference deals to secure seats in parliament’s upper house.
Hinch’s Justice Party claimed three at the November 24 election, while the Liberal Democrats snatched two and Animal Justice Party one.
In total, 11 MPs from eight parties were elected to sit on the crossbench with as little as 0.84 per cent of the primary vote.
Reason Party MP Fiona Patten recently lodged complaint with the Victorian Electoral Commission about Mr Druery’s preference dealings, despite having benefited from them at the 2014 election.
The complaint was then referred to police.
Ms Cumming said she had been “horse traded in the preference deal and did not want her “reputation soiled” by working with Mr Druery.
“I explained how I felt, what had gone on during the election and I explained to the other candidates that they were actually there because of Glenn Druery,” she said.
“For Stuart to wish to be the leader when there were two women, I took umbrage to that.
“I also took umbrage at him wanting to be a leader with the least amount of votes.
“If they did not show me support to be leader, I was happy to walk seeing as though I felt no support throughout the campaign. I gave them 24 hours to consider my feelings.”
Mr Druery said Ms Cumming’s actions speak louder than words.
“Only a few days ago I had text from her declaring her unswerving loyalty to the party,” he said.
“She has betrayed not only the Derryn Hinch Justice Party and all those people that worked hard to get her elected but the thousands of people who voted for her.”
Mr Druery said it was only through his preference deals that she was able to get elected as he “held her elections in his hand.”
He said the police investigation was a furphy.
“I have not been contacted by the police and I don’t expect to be contacted by the police because I have not broken any laws,” he said.
Ms Cumming said she would be sworn in tomorrow as an independent MP but did not rule out later joining another minor party or starting her own.
She said she had not had spoken to Ms Patten about joining the Reason Party, despite their close relationship.
Ms Cumming also batted away questions about whether she would receive more funding by sitting as an independent, rather than a Justice Party MP.
Under changes to donations laws made last year, independent MPs receive $200,000 in “administrative funding”.
Any unspent money from the allowance has to be repaid.
“I haven’t made a decision on that, and that’s hand on heart,” Ms Cumming said.
“I’ve made the decision on not working with someone who is under investigation.”
Today, Premier Daniel Andrews said Ms Cumming’s defection was a matter for her.
“The joint committee on electoral matters will conduct a thorough review into the conduct of the election, as they do each and every term,” he said.
“I will leave it to her to explain what she has done and I’ll leave it to the electoral matters committee to come forward with any recommendations about changes to the way the electoral process works.”
On Ms Cumming’s eligibility to $200,000 in “administrative funding” under Victoria’s reformed donations laws, Mr Andews said he had not been briefed on whether this was a potential flaw in the new laws.
“Let’s wait and see how that unfolds,” he said.
Mr Hinch’s statement ended with a parting shot at Ms Cumming, who it said had shown “inordinate interest in the $800,000 (over 4 years) of taxpayers’ money she would be entitled to as an independent”.
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