Divided Liberals trapped in a Right bind

Crossbench MP Julia Banks in the House of Representatives during Question Time last week.

Losing Julia Banks from the government ranks last week was another sign of a bitterly divided party focused more on itself than in arresting the gap between itself and the Labor opposition as shown in the past two Newspolls.

Bob Hawke’s mantra from the 1980s still rings true: “If you can’t govern your own party, you can’t govern the country.” Internal division is a fatal disease with an election to be held within six months.

Banks gave her party a terrible bollocking when announcing her move to the crossbench. Peter Dutton has become the whipping boy for right-wing unrest within the parliamentary Liberal Party.

Daniel Andrews knew which way was up when he was campaigning in the Victorian election. All over Melbourne were billboards with pictures of Matthew Guy, Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton and even Tony Abbott. Being right-wing in the Liberal Party is now synonymous with being evil.

The moderates have done a good job in defining their internal opponents as the bad guys.

This makes it comparatively easy to drop anyone who carries the tag right-wing irrespective of their ability or competence.

Hence Jim Molan, the man who actually stopped the boats and who had the stellar military career, could be dumped from the Senate ticket. His defeat was lamented by Abbott, who these days seems more and more isolated.

Dutton seems to have received some of the messages that he is on the nose with the electorate at large and with the moderates of his own show. He rarely makes those aggressive question time speeches where he kicks Labor heads, and even parts somewhat beneath the torso.

Effectively, this cuts the Senate Leader, Mathias Cormann, out of being one of the most lethal attack dogs for the government.

His performances, which are always first-class, were held in abeyance for a time after the messy removal of Malcolm Turnbull and Morrison’s victory over Dutton. Still, in today’s Liberal Party it pays to have eyes in the back of your head. Within 24 hours of standing next to Turnbull in the Prime Minister’s courtyard, Cormann was plotting his demise.

Banks unquestionably did the wrong thing by her constituents and by the Liberal Party members and supporters who worked tirelessly on her campaign when she went to the crossbench.

The hugs and kisses between her and the other independents must have been nauseating for her former friends and colleagues.

That said, she didn’t miss the bullies on the Right when she made her announcement. It is no longer cool to be on the Right.

Bill Shorten will do exactly what Andrews did. He will tag Morrison with the unwanted baggage that comes with Dutton and Abbott.

And the PM is stuck with them. They can’t be jettisoned out the back of the boat like flotsam and jetsam. They will be there until a very bitter end.