Election 2022: Teals were vicious and brutal, says Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison has broken his silence about his election defeat, blasting the campaigns run by the teal independents.

Scott Morrison addresses his church’s congregation on Sunday.

Scott Morrison says teal independents who unseated up to six moderate Liberals ran a “vicious and brutal campaign” against the Coalition, as he confirmed he would remain in parliament as a backbencher.

In his first interview since ­Labor won government on ­Saturday, the former prime minister said he was extremely disappointed but conceded Australians had clearly spoken in favour of change.

Speaking to 2GB radio on Thursday, Mr Morrison said the teal independents had “played hard”. He said he hoped the new independents, who campaigned on ambitious climate change targets and a stronger federal anti-corruption watchdog, followed through on their promises.

“They’ve made all sorts of big commitments about how they think they can change everything – well, we’ll just see, won’t we?” Mr Morrison said. “The newcomers need to be held to account if they did not deliver.”

Mr Morrison played down ­suggestions he had been a drag on the vote of moderate Liberal MPs in inner-city seats, after outgoing Wentworth MP Dave Sharma blamed the former prime minister for his loss to teal independent ­Allegra Spender. Mr Morrison said he was ­“devastated” by the loss of former treasurer Josh Frydenberg from the parliament. He was defeated by independent Monique Ryan in the Melbourne seat of Kooyong.

“I‘m devastated Josh Fry­denberg won’t be there,” Mr Morrison said.

“He was a huge part of the party’s future and I certainly hope he still is in some way.”

While refusing to comment ­directly on the future direction of the Liberal Party, Mr Morrison said he would give his full support to the new team.

“I look forward to giving that new leadership every support, and going back to being a quiet ­Australian in the (Sutherland) Shire,” he said.

“It’s not the first time that the Liberal Party has lost an election. That happens in various cycles, but the party will regroup under new leadership.”

The new independent MP for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, ­denied accusations that those backed by the Climate 200 group ran a brutal campaign, as she attacked the ­Coalition for ­“refusing to listen” to voter ­concerns.

“I don’t think our campaign was brutal at all,” Ms Tink told Sky News. “It was the antithesis of that.”

She said the previous ­Coalition government was one that “was not listening and ­refused to listen”.

Mr Morrison said he was ­looking forward to spending more time with his family after a tough few years.

“I’ve got no plans to go anywhere,” Mr Morrison said. “I am going back to the Shire and ­re-­establishing our life back there and getting the girls back into their routine.

“I’ve just dropped them off at school this morning. I’m looking forward to being a dad again – it’s been a while since I’ve been able to spend as much time as I would like with the family. ”