Scott Morrison tells Ray Hadley: ‘I voted for Tony Abbott but he threw Hockey under the bus’

SCOTT Morrison has revealed Tony Abbott threw Treasurer Joe Hockey “under the bus” in an 11th hour bid to save his leadership, during a fiery 2GB interview with Ray Hadley who demanded he swear on the bible that he played no role in the coup.

• Scott Morrison challenged to swear on Bible he didn’t undermine Abbott

• Didn’t understand Abbott move to oust Hockey and give him Treasury

• 2GB host Ray Hadley insisted Abbott felt “betrayed” by Morrison

SCOTT Morrison has revealed the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott threw Treasurer Joe Hockey “under the bus” in an 11th hour bid to save his leadership.

In a fiery exchange with “good mate” Ray Hadley on 2GB this morning, the Social Services minister said he was shocked Mr Abbott offered him the role of treasurer in the lead up to the leadership spill.

“I didn’t understand it,” Mr Morrison said on 2GB.

“I didn’t understand how if we were to be successful that night, how we would explain that to the Australian people.

“I didn’t understand why he wanted me to pick a fight with Joe Hockey and throw him under the bus.”

Scott Morrison picks up the bible during his fiery debate with Ray Hadley on 2GB this morning.

Before his heated exchange on 2GB, Scott Morrison signed a hard hat that will be auctioned for charity. Picture: Twitter / Stephanie Borys

Mr Hadley pressed Mr Morrison to swear on the Bible that he had not plotted with the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to overthrow Mr Abbott.

While Mr Morrison initially refused to bring faith into the argument, he flatly denied he undercut Tony Abbot to elevate Mr Turnbull.

“Absolutely not, I had no role in his demise,” Mr Morrison said.

Mr Hadley continued to press him, saying the Australian people had a right to know the truth. and the only way to do that was to swear on a Bible.

“I’m not going to use my faith for a stunt for your program,” Mr Morrison said.

“You get to judge my policies but you don’t get to judge my faith.”

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Mr Hadley also revealed Mr Abbott felt “betrayed” by Mr Morrison, saying a source close to the former leader said he felt Mr Morrison had “blotted his copybook”.

“Mr Abbott thinks you ran with the foxes and hunted with the hounds,” Mr Hadley said.

A nonplussed Mr Morrison replied: “Well, he’s wrong ... At the end of the day I voted for Tony Abbott. I gave him utter loyalty for the entire time I served.”

“You get to judge my policies but you don’t get to judge my faith” — Scott Morrison

He also said he had not used the automatic deleting Wikr messaging service to secretly bolster support for Mr Turnbull with factional allies and had in fact warned Mr Abbott of an impending coup.

“I said on Friday to the PM’s office that things were pretty febrile and they should be on high alert,” he said.

Scott Morrison conceded Tony Abbott offered him the role of Treasurer in a bid to save himself

Ray Hadley had a fiery interview with Scott Morrison on his role in the Abbott coup

Mr Morrison also revealed he has not spoken to Mr Abbott since Monday night’s leadership ballot.

“I said good luck after the ballot and we shook hands,” he said.

Mr Morrison has been accused of deliberately “running dead” in the lead-up to the coup when he could have been rallying coalition troops to support the ousted leader.

It was revealed earlier this week that Mr Abbott had been warned by allies not to trust Mr Morrison as far back as May amid fears he would two-face the leader — offering support but allegedly double dealing behind his back.

Social Services Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media after a radio interview with Ray Hadley in which he revealed Tony Abbott had offered him the position of Treasurer in a last-minute bid to save himself.

Concerns escalated last week before Mr Turnbull’s leadership challenge when it became obvious the Social Services Minister was not actively supporting Mr Abbott.

However witnesses told The Australian they saw Mr Morrison’s ballot paper in the Liberal Party room on Monday night and it showed he voted for Mr Abbott.

Mr Morrison is likely to benefit from the change of leadership having been tipped to take on the role of treasurer from Mr Hockey.

It comes as Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne told Mr Abbott he didn’t expect there would be a leadership challenge this week, 24 hours before he jumped ship and sided with Malcolm Turnbull.

The eduction minister confirmed on Friday that Mr Abbott had his support the day before the spill which resulted in him losing the prime ministership.

“The truth is on Sunday there was no leadership ballot, on Monday there was, then I made an assessment,” Mr Pyne told the Nine Network’s Today show this morning.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Minister for Social Services Scott Morrison at Parliament House in Canberra. Mr Morrison has been tipped to take on the new role of Treasurer.

Mr Pyne said Mr Abbott was given a warning by the party room in February and seven months later things still weren’t any better.

“It was very hard for anyone to argue that he wasn’t given absolutely every opportunity to prove that he was the best person to lead the party,” he said.

Mr Pyne, who has been mooted as a possible replacement for Kevin Andrew as Defence Minister, was one of the more high-profile Liberal MPs to back Mr Turnbull in Monday’s leadership vote.