‘Vulnerable’: TV hosts smash under-fire Goldstein Liberal MP Tim Wilson

Liberal MP Tim Wilson – from the hotly contested seat of Goldstein – has copped an absolute grilling from Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb.

High profile Liberal MP Tim Wilson copped a grilling by ABC hosts as the battle for his hotly contested seat of Goldstein ramped up.

The inner Melbourne seat emerged as one of the key battleground electorates of the 2022 election. And former ABC reporter Zoe Daniel, one of the so-called teal independents being backed by Climate 200, has taken out Mr Wilson.

His appearance on the ABC’s election night special coverage, prior to losing the seat, took a fiery turn when Leigh Sales asked him how his fortunes had reversed so spectacularly.

“You have been in politics for a fair while. Whose fault is it that you have found yourself so vulnerable to a campaign from a politically inexperienced independent?” Sales asked.

“Well, Leigh, I’m simply not prepared to accept the basis of your question,” Mr Wilson fired back.

Liberal MP Tim Wilson had a fiery back and forth with Leigh Sales. Picture: ABC

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“Every election is tough in an electorate. You have to go out and earn the trust of the community for another three years, what we’ve seen is an unholy alliance come together – GetUp, Extinction Rebellion, Labor Party, the Greens all abandoning their traditional stance to back a former ABC journalist, and when you aggregate everything, about $3 million for campaign support, for one objective – remove me from parliament and to remove Goldstein from Liberal hands.

“So it is the unholy alliance and the desperate moves made that have led this to an interesting contest.”

Fellow ABC star Annabel Crabb then chimed in, asking whether it was “an attack personally on you or a vulnerability that has come about because of broader government factors and treatments of various issues over the years?”

Mr Wilson replied that there was “lots of compounding factors”, but again returned to the “very deliberate campaign run against me to stop the retiree tax which would have stopped the millions of Australians being pushed down the financial stairs”.

Sales asked whose fault it was that Goldstein would likely be lost.

“They coalesced around that, brought in the Labor Party and the Greens, people who donated $250,000 to GetUp to become involved and they came with the one objective, which was to take Goldstein out of Liberals hands,” he said.

Crabb then said while there were a few people who would “love to see you go down”, it wasn’t just Goldstein that was being targeted by teal independents.

“The broader question is: Why are these seats vulnerable, no matter the amount of advertising spend that is being deployed? Why is that vulnerability there? Do you think there is a reason why women in particular are moving or voting against the Government?” Crabb asked.

“What we know is that they campaigned on a platform of three things. Obviously those things broadly resonate with the community, but it was also a campaign based frankly on deception,” an agitated Mr Wilson replied.

Independent candidate Zoe Daniel is poised to snatch Goldstein. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“I literally approved the establishment of Australia’s offshore wind industry, yet they ran a constant smear campaign that we weren’t taking action on climate change.

“When you presented them with the facts, they said it was irrelevant because it doesn’t suit their narrative. It is always disappointing when those types of people one a campaign, but that’s the nature of politics but it doesn’t stack up.”

It comes after the race for Goldstein turned increasingly ugly throughout the campaign, with election signs smeared with human excrement and claims of “disinformation” marring the past six weeks.

Tim Wilson having a right royal sook on ABC right now. Hilarious.

— Lui Zacher (@LuiFromTheRadio) May 21, 2022

A disgraceful outburst by an agitated Tim Wilson with his affected rage about an imaginary bias by the ABC . Tim actually alleged others were misleading -like himself.

— Laurie Ferguson (@LDTFerguson) May 21, 2022

Tim Wilson accusing independents “teaming up” like it’s a illegal to work as a team when he’s works for a political party that works together.

Why is that an argument?

Also blaming the ABC for giving the teals a free run.

He’s unhinged & hours from unemployment #AusVotes22

— Ryan Jon Dunn (@RyanJon) May 21, 2022

Meanwhile, Mr Wilson’s heated exchange with the ABC hosts has caused quite a stir on Twitter, with a string of social media users slamming his claims and accusing him of having a “sook” on air.

Originally published as ‘Vulnerable’: TV hosts smash under-fire Goldstein Liberal MP Tim Wilson