Malcolm Turnbull has conceded a loss for the Liberals in Saturday’s Bennelong byelection would be a reflection on the performance of his government, but said confidence in his leadership was “a matter for the Liberal party room and, of course, on the floor of the House”.
Turnbull used a radio interview on Friday to warn the government’s lower house majority was at stake, saying if Labor’s candidate, Kristina Keneally, won, “we would no longer have an absolute majority in the House of Representatives”.
Asked whether he accepted the result would be a reflection on his leadership, Turnbull replied: “Of course. You know, in any byelection, there is a contest between two candidates and there is also a contest between the two parties which they represent. No question about that.”
“People will be casting a judgment on the government which I lead, of course.”
Asked whether a Labor win would make his leadership shaky, Turnbull said it would bring Labor one step closer to government. “It would reduce the government down to 75 seats out of 150 in the House of Representatives.”
Turnbull chided his host, the Melbourne broadcaster Neil Mitchell, for focusing on personalities rather than the government’s policies. “You always want to talk about me and I want to focus on the 25 million Australians I represent.”
The campaign in Bennelong has been brutal, given the importance of the result for the government’s political fortunes.
After internal rebellions by MPs and open discussion about the prime minister’s leadership in the run-up to the New England byelection in early December, Turnbull has used the win there by Barnaby Joyce and the subsequent passage of marriage equality legislation to shore up his position.
A defeat in Bennelong would trigger a fresh round of internal instability.
The Liberal incumbent, John Alexander, is expected to prevail, but activists on the ground point to substantial levels of voter frustration and disaffection, and fatigue with the bombardment of campaign materials.
Opinion polls published over the past week point to a line-ball contest on Saturday, or an Alexander win.
Either because the contest is close, or as a strategy to maximise primary votes, both sides were declaring the result line ball on Friday.
Given Bennelong has a substantial Chinese community, the contest has been complicated by the controversy surrounding Dastyari’s dealings with Chinese donors and the Turnbull government’s measures dealing with foreign interference – which have been met with a firm rebuke from Beijing.
On Friday Alexander had to fend off reports that he failed to declare rental income on his recently purchased luxury mansion in the NSW southern highlands.
He told Sky News he had complied fully with his obligations under the register of pecuniary interests, and completed his declaration “100% correctly” with advice from the clerk of the House.
Alexander also defended a decision by the Liberal party to focus heavily on Keneally’s record in New South Wales politics, but he said he personally had been more concerned with “untruths” during the byelection campaign.
The Liberal, who held the seat at the last federal election with a margin of just under 10%, said he was “fighting for every vote” until polls closed.
Keneally told reporters on Friday the weekend contest was “an opportunity for the people of Bennelong to stand up and have their choice heard”.
“This is an opportunity for the people of Bennelong to put aside all the negativity the prime minister has been spreading around, and to take note of the fact he hasn’t come here and said much that’s positive,” Keneally said.
“He has no positive plan for the future.”
