Malcolm Turnbull jumped, I did not push, MP Luke Howarth insists

Liberal MP Luke Howarth hits back at supporters of Malcolm Turnbull who blame him for sparking the leadership spill.

Queensland Liberal MP. Picture: Gary Ramage

Liberal backbencher Luke Howarth, a Peter Dutton supporter, has revealed he never intended to ask Malcolm Turnbull to spill his leadership in the August party­room meeting that triggered the downfall of the former prime minister.

Mr Howarth, who holds the outer Brisbane seat of Petrie on a margin of 1.65 per cent, said he had made no indication he would call for a spill in the partyroom meeting of August 21, when Mr Turnbull shocked his colleagues by putting his leadership on the line.

The Petrie MP, whose seat is adjacent to the Home Affairs Minister’s marginal electorate of Dickson, said it was a “weak excuse” from Mr Turnbull’s supporters to blame him for the spill.

Mr Howarth told The Aus­tralian he had planned to use the August meeting to suggest Mr Turnbull stand down as leader but reiterated he was never going to call for a ballot.

“I was going to ask him to resign or think about it and all he had to say was ‘No Luke, I don’t think that is a good idea’ and explain why,” Mr Howarth told The Australian following Mr Dutton’s public attack on Mr Turnbull.

“That is what you have a party­room for, where you should be able to speak and say what you think.”

Mr Howarth said the leaked WhatsApp messages between the pair — where Mr Howarth said he was going to ask Mr Turnbull to resign — were sent after the ballot and he did not tell anyone he planned to request a spill.

The backbencher said he was going to use the meeting to remind Mr Turnbull of his failure to improve in the polls and suggest he should consider stepping aside in a peaceful handover.

“Peter Dutton was right; (Mr Turnbull) was the one who called it,” he said, adding Mr Dutton made “valid points” in News Corp newspapers this week about the former prime minister’s shortfalls as leader.

Mr Howarth said he had dinner with Turnbull loyalist Craig Laundy the night before the spill and indicated he would vote for Mr Dutton if there was a challenge. “I never told him I was going to go into the partyroom meeting the next day and put that to Malcolm,” he said.

He denied claims from a Liberal MP he told party whip Nola Marino he was going to push for a spill.

Mr Turnbull did not respond to requests for comment.

The ongoing turmoil inside the Coalition came as Scott Morrison used his New Year’s message to remind Australians about the “big year of choice” at the election, likely to be held in May.

“You told us to work hard, to get the budget under control, and we pledged to do so, and we have. That’s why this year we will hand down the first budget surplus the country has seen in more than a decade on April 2,” the Prime Minister said.

Bill Shorten said voters had “every right to feel let down by politics” in 2018.

“In 2019, all of us who have the remarkable privilege to serve in the federal parliament have a responsibility to do better,” the Opposition Leader said.