Turnbulls follow new Instagram campaign dedicated to ousting Tony Abbott

Malcolm Turnbull could face expulsion from the Liberal Party after he followed an Instagram account dedicated to ousting his arch rival.

The Roseville branch of the Liberal Party has reportedly moved for the expulsion of Malcolm Turnbull from the Liberal Party.

According to The Australian, the motion passed 16-2, and will now go to the party’s federal electorate conference.

Sources say the motion was partially motivated by Mr Turnbull’s shady Instagram follow of an Instagram page dedicated to ousting Tony Abbott, as well as his failure to support Liberal candidate Dave Sharma in the Wentworth by-election.

Mr Turnbull followed a new Instagram campaign dedicated to ousting Tony Abbott from federal parliament.

The former PM, his wife Lucy and their son Alex have all followed the account named Vote Tony Out.

The page only has three posts of Warringah residents explaining why they want Mr Abbott to be ousted as their member of parliament.

One member said the community of Warringah ‘deserves better’ than Mr Abbott.

“Our community, our environment and our nation deserves better!” said Freshwater’s Layne Beachley. “We want a leader who is willing to represent the majority of views and ideals instead of protecting their own strongly held beliefs.”

Another Warringah member said Tony Abbott has ‘proven time and time again that he doesn’t represent us but only his self-interests’.

Manly resident Steve Kulmar said Tony “has proven time and time again he doesn’t represent us but only his self-interests”.

A third member said Tony Abbott is ‘out of touch with his electorate’.

“Tony represents Tony; he is out of touch with his electorate,” added Manly’s Tess Lavender. “He is uninterested in living on a healthy planet and in a fair and just world. He fails to embrace the issues that concern his constituents and is little inclined to listen.”

Wellp, evidently Mr Turnbull agrees with all that:

Ouch.

It comes just weeks after Mr Turnbull accused Mr Abbott of plotting against his leadership and blasting Mr Abbott from New York as a “miserable ghost”.

It comes just two weeks after Mr Turnbull blasted Mr Abbott on a Q&A special.

Vote Tony Out is part of a grassroots campaign that encourages Warringah voters to stop supporting Mr Abbott.

“Warringah and its citizens, why we don’t like Tony Abbott, one story at a time,” the Vote Tony Out page reads in its mission statement.

The account is run by Manly surf business owner Mark Kelly.

The 54-year-old told The Australian a lot of people in his electorate found Mr Abbott frustrating.

“We’re a little disappointed in Tony Abbott as our local member and we decided to do something about it,” he said.

But it was the former leader’s refusal to take part in the same-sex marriage postal vote last year that really tipped Mr Kelly over the edge.

“The main thing, at the end of the day, was when 75 per cent of his electorate voted Yes for gay marriage and he abstained on a conscience vote … Our electorate spoke pretty loudly then and he chose to ignore them,” he said. “If he can’t stand up and represent the people of Warringah then he shouldn’t be a representative of those people.”

Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull have long endured a bitter rivalry.

Tony Abbott ousted Malcolm Turnbull from the top job in 2009. Mr Turnbull seized the position back in 2015.

Yesterday Mr Abbott sparked controversy after suggesting Australia was showing respect for indigenous culture at the expense of acknowledging Australia’s Christian roots.

The former prime minister argued Christian prayer should have as great a role in public ceremonies as “welcome to country” rituals, which acknowledge the traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owners of Australian land.

Mr Abbott made reference to the opening of the new Northern Beaches Hospital yesterday and complained that each of the speakers paid respects to the traditional owners of the land before starting their speeches, and not a single one offered a prayer.

“Every single speaker, and there was about six of them, acknowledged country,” he said.

“But there was not a single prayer, even though our society is unimaginable without the influence of Christianity.”

— with Steph Bedo