Tony Abbott has stepped up his campaign to save his factional ally Craig Kelly from losing his preselection, calling on the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to directly step in and “make some calls”.
Kelly faces a strong challenge from Liberal party state vice-president Kent Johns, a liberal moderate, for the seat of Hughes.
Kelly, who was reportedly part of the “Monkey Pod” diners who gathered in support of Abbott after his ousting in 2015, has held the seat since 2010.
Last week, Abbott used his regular slot on Sydney radio 2GB to warn the party against allowing Kelly to lose preselection, saying it would be an “absolute disaster”.
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“The only way we can win the election is if we have harmony inside our party and we sure ain’t going to have harmony if Craig Kelly gets rolled,” he said.
On Wednesday he used that same slot to increase pressure on Turnbull to personally intervene and tell Johns, who is believed to have the numbers, to back off. Abbott claimed it was an “ethical” issue.
“Now, office bearers, senior office bearers, have an absolute duty to support sitting members, not to challenge them,” Abbott said.
“I think there is an ethical issue here, a fundamental ethical issue. How can someone hold down a position of vice-president of the Liberal party and at the same time, not support a sitting member, particularly a sitting member like Craig Kelly who is doing a good job?
“I hate to say this, but I think this is an issue for the prime minister. He was quite properly, very quick out of the blocks to support Ann Sudmalis, the member for Gilmore, a terrific person, I support her, and that is as it should be.
“But we just can’t afford to have a sitting member of Craig Kelly’s quality under challenge like this if we are to have the best chance of winning the next election, notwithstanding all the mistakes that Bill Shorten is making.
“We still can’t afford to lose a single seat if we are to stay in government, so I do think this is something the prime minister needs to involve himself in.”
Turnbull has written a reference for Kelly, something he also did for Jane Prentice, who lost her preselection battle for her Queensland seat despite her position as an assistant minister.
A spokesman for the prime minister said Turnbull supported all sitting members.
But Abbott said words were not enough.
“I think there are a few phone calls which need to be made,” he said. “When I was the party leader, from time to time, I had to make phone calls and have meetings on these kind of internal party matters and you just cannot afford not to support – with actions, not just words – a sitting member of Craig Kelly’s quality.”
After losing Prentice, one of the few women within the party room, and reigniting the gender debate within the Coalition ranks Turnbull and Scott Morrison stepped in to save Sudmalis from a challenge she was expected to lose.
Despite the intervention Sudmalis’s challenger, a local real estate agent, announced he would still stand against her, but without the support of his backers, was not expected to have the numbers to win.
Nomination forms for Liberal seats were due last Friday, and votes are expected to be held in the coming months.
