CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Things are going from bad to worse for Peter Dutton, who must now avoid another by-election at all costs, after Australian voters confirmed that there is no longer such thing as a safe Liberal seat over the weekend.
This follows Saturday’s shock win for Labor at the Aston’s by-election, which saw Anthony Albanese and his new trade unionist MP, Mary Doyle win the ALP another seat in the lower house. Melbourne’s aspirational eastern suburbs swung away from the once locked-in Liberal alternative by more than 6%.
This seat, recently vacated by the scandal-soaked Alan Tudge MP, was considered such an unloseable blue-ribbon seat for the Liberals, after they managed to survive the Victorian bloodbath at the 2022 Federal Election.
However, there appears to be absolutely no certainty for the Opposition in this current political landscape. This was proven on Saturday when a sitting government won a seat at a by-election for the first time in over 100 years.
With the conservative mortgage belt of Aston going to Labor with a swing, it’s now clear that anything can happen. This means the limping party, that once ruled Australia for a decade under three Prime Ministers, must fight tooth and nail to keep every seat they currently have.
Aside from furiously trying to make up their minds about whether or not they support an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and formulate any policies other than ‘allowing Australians to drain their superannuation accounts’ – The Liberals must now beg the man that destroyed their party to please not resign – or risk losing yet another ‘safe Liberal seat’ to a Labor candidate.
The Canberra rumour mill is busy this morning, with speculation that former Prime Minister Scott Morrison might be planning to make an exit from Parliament – after he posted a condescending photo to social media on Sunday that appeared to be making fun of the Aston By-Election loss.
“How good! Problems elsewhere but Sharks lead by 6, but almost 20mins still to play. #upup #perspective,’’ Morrison wrote to Facebook, before his beloved Cronulla Sharks blew a ten point lead to the New Zealand Warriors.
Despite his flippant remarks and seemingly apathetic approach to Federal politics, Scott Morrison is perhaps more important now to the Liberal Party than he ever was during his time as Prime Minister.
The man who destroyed Australia’s trust in the Liberal brand with his Hawaiian holiday, bungled vax roll-out, and mysterious self-appointment to 5 extra cabinet ministries – is apparently still more valuable to his embattled party than an empty chair, or at least a chair that is up for grabs.
It is not yet known if Morrison will listen to Dutton’s desperate pleas for him to remain in Parliament, given the fact that they have secretly hated each other ever since the 2018 Libspill where they stabbed each other in the back, while also stabbing Malcolm Turnbull in the back.
