Former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader John Anderson says a Coalition MP exodus could hand Labor an election victory that would dramatically change the country.
In The Australiantoday, Mr Anderson appealed for Coalition MPs thinking about retirement to consider the impact of their decisions after a third federal minister in a week revealed they would step down.
“I deeply believe that members of the coalition should consider very carefully what they should do, as well as what they would like to do,” Mr Anderson told the paper.
He said the departures of experienced MPs would further weaken the government as Australians face a “very stark political choice” between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Bill Shorten.
“Mr Shorten makes no apology for the fact that he intends to take the country quite dramatically to the Left, and to reinstitute a level of union power that even the Labor Party had rejected 20 years ago when the union movement was more substantial than it is today,” Mr Anderson said.
It’s understood the government is preparing for further retirement announcements, including the speculated departures of Julie Bishop and Craig Laundy.
Former PM John Howard this morning told Seven News he would do anything he was asked by the Liberal Party to “help them be re-elected”.
“I think it’s in the interest of both NSW and Australia that both of the current governments are re-elected,” Mr Howard said.
“I am a very strong supporter of the Premier (Gladys Berejiklian). I think she’s doing an excellent job.”
On Saturday, Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion, 62, became the latest minister to reveal he would not contest the next election, calling time on 17 years in federal politics.
His retirement came after Human Services Minister Michael Keenan and Jobs Minister Kelly O’Dwyer both announced they would step aside from politics to focus on their families. All three are expected to stay on in their portfolios until the election.
Education Minister Dan Tehan on Sunday said he was not expecting any more of his colleagues tobow out.
“All the members of parliament have thought about what their prospects and career options will be going forward,” Mr Tehan told reporters in Melbourne.
“My expectation is that everyone who hasn’t announced their retirement will now be going forward to the next election.”
Mr Shorten said the retirement announcements showed the “government was barely limping to the end of its term”.
“This is a government where its members have given up and now they’re walking out the door,” the Opposition Leader said.
But Mr Morrison said their reasons for resignation should be taken at face value, rejecting suggestions they could be inspired by perceptions the government is a “sinking ship”.
“We’ve had members retiring and not standing at the next election from both sides of politics and it means nothing more than that,” the Prime Minister told reporters in Canberra on Saturday.
When asked whether the frontbenchers bowing out could hit the government’s re-election chances, Mr Morrison simply said “no”.
With AAP
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