Libs contemplate defeat
by: Christian Kerr
From: The Australian
July 22, 2013
ANGER towards Tony Abbott's senior staff and closest colleagues is mounting in Liberal ranks as rattled MPs concede the risk of an election loss.
The complaints come as senior figures Malcolm Turnbull and Joe Hockey contradicted each other on asylum-seeker policy yesterday, confusing the Coalition's campaign pitch.
The opposition holds three seats in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia by margins of less than 1 per cent.
It has a further nine seats in Kevin Rudd's home state of Queensland with margins of under 5 per cent. While they still believe they will win the election, worried Liberals complain that the Opposition Leader has been slow to react to developments such as last week's Fringe Benefits Tax changes.
They say chief of staff Peta Credlin is denying them access to Mr Abbott.
And they have told The Australian Mr Abbott's closest parliamentary colleagues are turning a deaf ear to their concerns.
The anger has not yet turned to leadership speculation.
But there are warnings of recriminations even if Mr Abbott delivers victory.
The disaffected Liberals say resentments could make it hard for him to govern and maintain party discipline with what they now fear will only be a slim majority compared to the possible control of both houses that polls were indicating just a few weeks ago.
They believe Mr Abbott has been consistently out-campaigned by the Prime Minister since parliament rose three weeks ago, with one calling the Opposition Leader "wooden".
Other sources dismissed the claims as "campaign nerves".
But Mr Hockey appeared to acknowledge the opposition's difficulties, complaining that Coalition policy announcements had been drowned out by Mr Rudd's "celebrity".
He told the Ten Network's Bolt Report the Coalition had big plans for Australia.
"Our pitch is far broader than the abolition of the carbon tax and stopping the boats," he said. "It is also about the economy, as a starting point.
"We've been making announcements every day for our plans for Australia's future, but they've been drowned out by the celebrity Kevin Rudd."
Mr Hockey insisted "sooner or later people will see through Kevin Kardashian and focus on what a prime minister and a government really should do".
Mr Hockey also dismissed Mr Rudd's new policy on asylum-seekers.
"He's never going to stop them, and if he does, it'll be temporary," he said.
But Mr Turnbull, the party's communications spokesman and former leader, told SBS that Mr Rudd's Papua New Guinea Solution would be "very likely" to stop the boats, if managed well.
At a press conference in Melbourne, Mr Abbott denounced the asylum-seeker plan as "essentially misleading".
"This is not a solution to our problem," he said. "This is not a policy to stop the boats. This is simply a pre-election fix.
"This is simply something that is held together with Blu-Tack and sticky tape to last until the election."
Forum
Pages: 1
The Liberals Contemplate Defeat. (Read 4549 times)
