Craig Kelly evokes spirit of Menzies to reassure nervous Liberals that he won’t defect to crossbench

Liberal MP Craig Kelly has arrived at Parliament in a Robert Menzies T-shirt to reassure colleagues he won’t become the second MP to quit the party in a matter of days - but he hasn’t ruled out other options “down the track”.

Liberal firebrand Craig Kelly has arrived at Parliament in a Robert Menzies T-shirt to reassure colleagues he won’t become the second MP to quit the party in a matter of days.

Mr Kelly guaranteed this morning he would not defect and move to sit on the crossbench before the next election after reports yesterday he could follow in Julia Banks’ footsteps if he lost the preselection battle for his Sydney seat of Hughes.

John Ruddick, a former right-wing member of the NSW Liberal Party, believes Mr Kelly is guaranteed to lose the preselection battle and is urging him to “bite the bullet” and sit as an independent.

Mr Kelly sought to reassure colleagues of his loyalties this morning by wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with his party’s founder, and quickly received the backing of former prime minister Tony Abbott.

Always good to be with a real Liberal! pic.twitter.com/ngdMJbvF1L

— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) November 28, 2018

“This is Robert Menzies, the founder of the Liberal Party. That’s what I believe in,” Mr Kelly told reporters in Canberra this morning.

Liberal member for Hughes Craig Kelly wearing a Robert Menzies T-shirt at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: AAP

“Sir Robert Menzies gave the speech about the forgotten people. He did that in the middle of the Second World War. And he talked about the people he represented — the small businessman, the shopkeeper, the tradesman,” he said.

“That’s what I stand for. They are the people that I represent in Parliament.

“And when I put my name on the ballot paper at the last election as a Liberal, I entered into a contract with the people of Hughes to represent them as a Liberal in this Parliament and that is what I will continue to do.”

Craig Kelly at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Gary Ramage

He refused to rule out the possibility that he could run as an independent if he lost the pre-selection however, saying it was a “hypothetical down the track” and that he could just as easily put his name down to coach the Wallabies.

Mr Kelly revealed Prime Minister Scott Morrison had called him yesterday after reports he was being urged to quit the party.

“I said ‘No, Scott, that’s nonsense, don’t worry about it,” he told reporters this morning.

Asked if he had told colleagues he would run as an independent, Mr Kelly said: “There’s a lot of discussions that go on in this place. I have full concentration on getting the Morrison government re-elected.”

In another headache for the Prime Minister today, the Morrison government lost a bid in the Senate to avoid scrutiny of the 2019 budget before the election next May.

The Opposition won a vote in the Senate to force the government to hold budget estimates hearings on April 4 and 5 amid concerns that any estimates scheduled for mid April would be cancelled if the government called the election on April 6 or 7.

Meanwhile, the government is still reeling from Ms Banks’ decision to quit the Liberal Party effective immediately on Tuesday, which has further reduced its numbers in the lower house and made it even more difficult to pass legislation.

— with AAP