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PoliticsNow: Wentworth candidates in last minute campaigning

PoliticsNow: Scott Morrison has admitted Dave Sharma is heading for a probable defeat in Saturday’s Wentworth by-election.

Greg BrownGreg Brown
@gregbrown_TheOz
11 min read
7:19AMOctober 19, 2018.
Updated 6:00PMOctober 19, 2018
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Candidates for the Wentworth by-election: From left; Dave Sharma (Liberal Party), Dr. Kerry's Phelps (Independent) and Tim Murray (Labor Party) during a community forum at the Bondi Surf Club. Picture: AAP.
Candidates for the Wentworth by-election: From left; Dave Sharma (Liberal Party), Dr. Kerry's Phelps (Independent) and Tim Murray (Labor Party) during a community forum at the Bondi Surf Club. Picture: AAP.

Thank you for joining PoliticsNow, The Australian’s live coverage of the goings on in Canberra and, today, Wentworth. Live updates have now concluded. We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon for all the by-election results.

Greg Brown 1.00pm: ‘Dave will likely lose’

Dave Sharma with John Howard in Double bay yesterday. Picture: Britta Campion.
Dave Sharma with John Howard in Double bay yesterday. Picture: Britta Campion.

Scott Morrison says the Liberal Party’s candidate is heading for a probable defeat in Saturday’s Wentworth by-election.

The Prime Minister this morning escalated the government’s “underdog” claim in the eastern Sydney seat by saying he expects independent candidate Kerryn Phelps to defeat Liberal Party’s Dave Sharma.

When asked if he expected Mr Sharma to lose, Mr Morrison said: “the expectations are clearly set in that direction, absolutely”.

Mr Morrison warned angry Liberal voters against backing Dr Phelps to punish the party for rolling Malcolm Turnbull.

“The electoral maths here are pretty simple: whoever finishes second as an independent, doesn’t matter if they are 10 or 15 points or anything like that behind, the way the preferential voting system works is that they can come over the top and actually win the by-election,” he said.

“There has been high expectations that this is a seat that cannot be lost by the Liberal Party, I have never thought that.

“That’s why my message to those who voted Liberal at the last election: don’t risk a hung parliament, don’t risk unnecessary uncertainty.

“I know you are angry, I understand you are angry, I was there when it was happening supporting the then prime minister when they were seeking to take him down.”

The government holds the electorate by a margin of 18 per cent.

Greg Brown 11.55am: ScoMo’s slip of the tongue

With the pressure mounting ahead of tomorrow’s critical by-election, Scott Morrison forgets he is out of parliament and calls a journalist “Mr Speaker”.

Greg Brown 11.45am: ‘No confidence depends on context’

Kerryn Phelps hands out how to vote cards at a Rose Bay pre-poll in Sydney. Picture: Tracey Nearmy.
Kerryn Phelps hands out how to vote cards at a Rose Bay pre-poll in Sydney. Picture: Tracey Nearmy.

Independent Wentworth candidate Kerryn Phelps has confirmed she is prepared to vote for a no confidence motion against Scott Morrison based on the “context” of the vote

Dr Phelps this morning continued to refuse to rule out supporting a confidence motion against the Coalition and said it would “depend on the behaviour of the government”.

If a no confidence motion passes in the House of Representatives it can pave the way for an election, unless the Prime Minister proves the government maintains the support of the lower house.

“In terms of the no confidence motion, well that will depend on the behaviour of the government but my intention is for the government to serve its full term, I believe governments should serve their full terms and so should prime ministers,” Dr Phelps told Sky News.

“I think we have to look at what the context is and what the situation is, I mean at this particular point in time to rule in or out anything in particular would be irresponsible.

“And I like to think things through, I like to have evidence and I think it is very important with a decision that is as important as that that I have all the evidence available.”

11.10am: Independent for Speaker?

Scott Morrison says the government is not contemplating putting an independent MP into the Speaker’s chair to shore up its numbers. If independent candidate Kerryn Phelps wins Saturday’s Wentworth by-election, the Liberal-National coalition will be reduced to 74 members on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The Speaker, currently Liberal MP Tony Smith, gets a casting vote if there’s a tie in the 150-member chamber.

There are 69 Labor MPs and six MPs sit on the crossbenches including the Nationals’ Kevin Hogan.

A theory has been floated that if Mr Smith is moved to the government benches and an independent is given his old job, the government could restore its majority.

However, Mr Morrison told reporters in Wentworth on Friday the government was “not planning to do that” in the context of the by-election. “Speaker Smith is an outstanding Speaker and he’s brought great discipline and control and dignity to the parliament and I look forward to him continuing to serve in that role as successfully as he has,” Mr Morrison said.

AAP

Greg Brown 10.55am: ‘Not chopped liver’

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has played down Bill Shorten’s absence in the seat of Wentworth, shifting the focus onto the absence of Malcolm Turnbull.

“Where is Malcolm Turnbull? I think the people of Wentworth have been asking ‘where is Malcolm Turnbull?’,” Ms Plibersek said while campaigning with Labor’s candidate Tim Murray.

“In fact they have not only been asking ‘where is Malcolm Turnbull?’ they have been asking ‘why is Malcolm Turnbull not still the prime minister?’.”

Ms Plibersek went on to say she was “feeling a little hurt” by questions about the Opposition Leader’s refusal to set foot in Wentworth during the by-election campaign.

“I’m not chopped liver, I’ve been here four times,” Ms Plibersek said.

Greg Brown 10.15am: Wentworth ‘challenging’

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann – a key figure who moved against Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership – says the circumstances surrounding the Wentworth by-election has made the prospects of retaining the seat “challenging”.

“By-elections are difficult for incumbent governments at the best of times and obviously the circumstances for this by-election have made it even more challenging for us,” Senator Cormann told Sky News.

“Dave Sharma and the Liberal team will be campaigning for every single vote until 6pm tomorrow night.”

Greg Brown 10.05am: ScoMo ‘used to minority rule’

Scott Morrison has played down the significance of being leader of a minority government if Kerryn Phelps wins the Wentworth by-election.

The Prime Minister said he has been managing a minority government since Malcolm Turnbull resigned from parliament in August.

“We have been managing for the last few weeks, frankly, and we have been working constructively with the crossbenchers, with whom we have good relationships,” Mr Morrison said.

“We have demonstrated that, particularly over the last few months after Mr Turnbull announced his resignation from the parliament, and it is our job to get on with governing.

“As prime minister you have got to deal with things that come your way from out of the blue every single day, that is the job.”

Greg Brown 9.40am: ‘Open to referring Dutton’

Independent Wentworth candidate Kerryn Phelps has reserved her right to helping Labor refer Peter Dutton to the High Court over eligibility concerns.

Professor Phelps said she would look at the evidence of Mr Dutton’s case before deciding whether she would help Labor and the Greens refer him.

Mr Dutton has been accused of being in breach of section 44 of the constitution because he has an indirect stake in two childcare centres that receive government subsidies.

“I don’t think that this should be a politically motivated decision, I haven’t seen the full brief of evidence about Mr Dutton’s situation and so I would have to have a look at the details of that case to make a decision about that,” Professor Phelps told Sky News.

Under Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership, the government was able to use its slim majority in the House of Representatives to block a referral.

Elias Visontay 9.20am: ‘I’m a safe pair of hands’

Kerryn Phelps has toned down her message that she wouldn’t rule out supporting a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Scott Morrison should she be elected at Saturday’s byelection in Wentworth.

Responding to a question on Sky News this morning about an interview she gave last night, the independent said she had “no intention of bringing the government down”.

“I see the role of an independent as holding the government to account. I will support good legislation, I’d like to modify legislation that is not good, and I would like to block bad legislation if it can’t be modified or amended.

“If I’m elected, in Canberra I will not seek to bring the government down. I will seek to hold them to account.

“There’s a general election in the middle of next year, around May, and that’s when the Australian people should decide who their next government will be.

“I think government should serve their full term.

“I’m a safe pair of hands. I’m a voice of reason in the sensible centre,” Dr Phelps said.

She also indicated that it was her intention to seek reelection at the upcoming general election next year.

“This has been an enormous decision to run for Wentworth, it’s been a family decision.

“If I do win the election tomorrow we have decided that our intention is for me to stand again at the general election,” she said.

Greg Brown 8.50am: Sharma ‘in contact’ with Turnbull

Wentworth’s Liberal Party candidate Dave Sharma says he has been in “regular contact” with Malcolm Turnbull during the by-election campaign.

Mr Sharma defended the former prime minister for this week failing to send an endorsement for the Liberal Party in the eastern Sydney electorate.

“I think people forget I had a tweet from Malcolm endorsing me I think at the start of this campaign and nothing has changed since then,” Mr Sharma said.

“I’ve had his support from the start of this campaign, I’ve been in regular contact with him and I’ve been appreciative of all the support he has been willing and able to provide.

“I understand that he wants to maintain his privacy and keep his distance from Australian politics and I understand and respect that.”

Greg Brown 8.40am: ‘I’ll be strong voice’

Wentworth’s Liberal Party candidate Dave Sharma says he will be “strong voice in the partyroom” for keeping Australia’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

“I want to be a strong voice in the partyroom for meeting our Paris commitments and addressing climate change and reducing our emissions,” Mr Sharma told Sky News.

“But we need to do this in a way that also improves energy affordability and keeps reliability in the grid and the key to that is technology.

“If you get better technology online, and particularly better storage technology for renewables, we will be able to do all this. We will be able to reduce our emissions while improving affordability and improving reliability.”

Greg Brown 8.20am: ‘Bubble to blame for Israel focus’

Scott Morrison has blamed the “commentators in the Canberra bubble” for the focus on his own announcement that the government was reconsidering the location of the embassy in Israel.

The Prime Minister denied Tuesday’s announcement signalled a shift away from bread and butter issues, declaring journalists were too focused on the government’s historic review on Israel policies.

“In the same week that I raised that issue, I passed tax cuts for small and family business. In the same week I raised that issue, we passed the trade law bill which reaches half a billion customers around the world,” Mr Morrison told Nine Network.

“We spent more time on that, but that’s not what you are asking me about. You are asking me about the issues of commentators in the Canberra bubble commentating on a statement I made on one day of the week, and that’s part of the problem with Canberra bubble politics. I’m not in the Canberra bubble. I’m out of it.”

Greg Brown 8.05am: ‘No threat to McCormack’

Scott Morrison says he does not believe there is any credible threat to Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack’s leadership.

The Prime Minister blamed the speculation on the “Canberra bubble”.

“That is just the Canberra bubble going on like it always does,” Mr Morrison told Seven Network.

“Michael McCormack, I worked closely with him, both previously when I was a treasurer and now as a prime minister. We have a solid coalition which is getting these things done.”

Greg Brown 8.00am: ‘Understand voters’ anger’

Scott Morrison says he can understand why voters in Wentworth are “angry” about Malcolm Turnbull being rolled as prime minister.

The Prime Minister played down his own role in the government’s leadership change, declaring he supported Mr Turnbull right up to the very end of his leadership.

“I understand why the Liberals are feeling angry in Wentworth about what happened a couple of months ago,” Mr Morrison told Network Seven.

“I was there at the time. As people know, I was supporting the then prime minister very strongly.”

Mr Morrison urged angry Liberals to back the government in tomorrow’s by-election to avoid further instability in parliament.

“It is only in the last 24 hours that the lead independent candidate Kerryn Phelps on multiple occasions couldn’t even say that she would support a confidence motion or a vote for the government,” he said.

“That could throw the entire government into a lot of uncertainty. I know there has been a lot of instability and uncertainty but voting for an independent will only make that worse. That is a very serious issue for Wentworth voters as we go into this by-election tomorrow. “

7.25am: ScoMo’s website trolled

Scott Morrison’s personal website has been taken over and now plays a lewd rock song called ‘Scotty Doesn’t Know’.

An internet troll is taking responsibility for claiming the website scottmorrison.com.au after the domain license lapsed overnight.

“So, the PM forgot to renew his website and it expired today ... Most fun I’ve had with $50 in a long time,” Jack Genesin wrote on Facebook. The song about cheating by American band Lustra became famous in after being included in the 2004 teen film EuroTrip.

AAP

What’s making news:

Kerryn Phelps has left open the prospect of voting against the government in a motion of no confidence if she wins Malcolm Turnbull’s former seat of Wentworth tomorrow.

His gait is a little more stooped, his eyes a tad watery, but when John Howard joined Liberal candidate for Wentworth Dave Sharma on the campaign trail yesterday, it was the absolute master of sidewalk retail politics showing the young apprentice how it’s done.

Scott Morrison inherited this mess, but it is up to him to sort it out quick smart, writes Graham Richardson.

Cory Bernardi is embroiled in a legal stoush with Australia’s multibillion-dollar livestock industry after recruiting Sam Kekovich as a party ambassador.

The Federal Court has imposed $313,000 in penalties on the construction union and seven of its NSW officers over unlawful conduct taken against concreting companies operating at Sydney building sites.

Scott Morrison’s majority in parliament will depend on Greens voters in Wentworth and their faithfulness to the party’s direction on how-to-vote cards to give their preferences to Labor.

James Jeffrey’s Sketch: Question time started with speeches of congratulations to South Australian couple Esther and Ronald Collings, who are celebrating their 80th wedding anniversary.

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Read related topics:Scott Morrison

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/politicsnow-wentworth-candidates-in-last-minute-campaigning/news-story/bedd64dc528ec1b2a990d1bf86efaab4