Phelps firm favourite
Government set for ‘perfect storm’ if Libs lose Wentworth by-election
SCOTT Morrison is preparing for a devastating defeat in today’s Wentworth by-election.
A loss would cost his government’s majority on the floor of Parliament.
Liberal MPs were yesterday begging for Malcolm Turnbull to publicly declare his support for Liberal candidate Dave Sharma to prevail in his former seat.
A loss today would rob the Government of its working majority in the House of Representatives, forcing the Coalition to secure the support of one of the independents to survive a vote of no confidence.
Independent candidate Kerryn Phelps, who is tipped to win Wentworth today, has refused to rule out backing a noconfidence motion.
The bookies have now installed Dr Phelps as the firm favourite at $1.40, with Mr Sharma out to around $3.
Dr Phelps was given an added boost yesterday, with leader of the Greens Richard Di Natale suggesting voters should ignore his party’s how-to-vote cards and preference the independent candidate over Labor.
Mr Morrison said there was a lot at stake in Wentworth with a loss possibly throwing the entire Government into uncertainty.
“I know there’s been a lot of instability and uncertainty but voting for an independent will only make that worse,” Mr Morrison said.
He also appealed to Wentworth voters angry at the toppling of Mr Turnbull to vote for his government, saying he wasn’t involved in the leadership spill.
“I was there when it was happening, supporting the then-prime minister when they were seeking to take him down,” the PM said.
Dr Phelps yesterday didn’t rule out backing a no-confidence motion, as well as supporting a Labor move to refer Peter Dutton to the High Court over his eligibility.
But she said she did not seek to “bring the Government down”, adding “the Govern- ment should serve its full term”.
Liberal MPs were yesterday talking down their chances, saying the Government was facing the “perfect storm”.
“Malcolm always said he was quitting Parliament if he got rolled, and it was going to be tough to keep the seat without him — so this was always going to happen,” one Liberal MP said.
“We will lose, it will be a 20 per cent swing against us,” another MP said.