Shorten says Abbott camp not leaking to Labor
BILL Shorten has denied members of former prime minister Tony Abbott’s “camp” have been leaking inside information to Labor in a bid to “bring down Malcolm Turnbull”.
Reports the Abbott camp is leaking to Labor have emerged as internal Liberal Party tensions continue to boil over.
Tensions within the party flared this week after Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne’s comments on same-sex marriage leaked, with some Liberal backbenchers telling media they wanted a Cabinet reshuffle to get more conservative voices in the ministry.
Mr Shorten said yesterday the reports of leaks from the Abbott side were “completely wrong” and it was “not exactly a secret” the Liberal Party was at war with itself.
“I’m not interested whether or not Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott and Peter Dutton and Christopher Pyne are all fighting each other,” he said.
“I’m not interested in Malcolm Turnbull’s internal war ... the Liberals can fight each other as much as they want. I will fight for the working people of this country because that’s what I’m paid to do.”
The Opposition Leader was pressed to respond after independent senator Derryn Hinch told Sky News “senior people in the Abbott camp” were “leaking directly to Bill Shorten”.
“They want to bring down Malcolm Turnbull, they don’t care if they lose the next election, they’ll start again and they’ll regroup and this is from the Abbott camp,” Senator Hinch said.
Earlier yesterday, Attorney-General George Brandis warned his Liberal colleagues to stop speaking out against Malcolm Turnbull’s ministry.
His comments came after Mr Abbott gave a major speech on Tuesday night saying Australia was “not working as it should” and vowing to be there “when” the Prime Minister’s leadership fell apart.
“My message to all my colleagues is that this is a distraction,” Senator Brandis told ABC yesterday.
“It’s nothing but a distraction.”