Speaking to reporters shortly after touching down in Jakarta, the prime minister declined to buy into revelations Ms Bishop’s most senior staffer attended a meeting of Turnbull backers a day before Mr Abbott lost the Liberal leadership in September.
Advertisement
THE revelation is contained in a new book, Battleground, by political author and academic Wayne Errington and The Australian’s Peter van Onselen.
It has been revealed that Ms Bishop’s long-standing chief of staff, Murray Hansen, was also present at the meeting.
Senator Abetz, who was forced onto the backbench when Malcolm Turnbull came to power, said if the report was true it was “disappointing and it raises a lot of questions”.
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek did not shy away from joining the discussion, telling reporters that “it was plain she [Bishop] was up to her neck in the bringing down of Tony Abbott”.
“It is a separate role, elected separately”.
Julie Bishop has been linked to the Abbott takedown plot, despite previous denials.
“I was deeply concerned at the despair within the party room”, she said.
“In light of the allegation that I was seeking to hide something, I contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and asked that these transcripts be put on the Ministerial website”, she said.
Conservative senator Eric Abetz, who was dumped from cabinet after the leadership change, demanded to know whether Mr Hansen was part of the group “with the imprimatur” of the minister. “But if she did know about it, I think there are a few questions that need to be answered”, said Liberal Cory Bernardi.
“And immediately when I knew what was going on, I would have made efforts to contact the Prime Minister or a member of his staff to let them know what was about to transpire”.
“That’s how I would have conducted myself and I think that would be a logical and loyal course of action for people to take”.
Dr Hendy, now a minister in the Turnbull government, refused to say whether Mr Hansen attended the meeting when quizzed by reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
She said she informed the then-prime minister Mr Abbott as early as possible about the likelihood of a challenge.
“Nothing that has come out in this story contradicts anything that I have said publicly”, she said. It would bring into question the accounts that have been put out in the public arena beforehand around the level of involvement of individuals in this.
“It is part of my job to be in touch with members of the back bench, either through my staff or personally”.
Liberal MP Alex Hawke, who was promoted to Assistant Minister to the Treasurer after the Cabinet reshuffle, said the revelations were “completely unsurprising”.
Advertisement
“The wounds, I won’t say they were healing, but certainly they were drying up a little bit”, he said. When asked whether there was ongoing turmoil in the party, Bernardi insisted there was optimism around the next election, but wounds were still healing: “These things are generally unhelpful, but ultimately if you try to keep things secret from the media, they inevitably find out about them unfortunately… and it tears of the scab of a few old wounds”.
