VOTERS CAN’T KNOW MY VOTE
McVeigh vows to take PM vote ‘to the grave’
JOHN McVeigh has pledged constituents will never know how he voted in the secret ballot that delivered Australia’s latest prime minister.
Likewise, the phone call on the same afternoon Scott Morrison announced a Cabinet reshuffle that saw the Groom MP (above) on the back bench will remain secret.
“If you have a confidential conversation with the prime minister of the country nonetheless, and you race straight out and say, ‘guess what everyone, this is what I just discussed with the prime minister’, I believe that is gutless and it’s not being fair dinkum,” Dr McVeigh said.
His focus now is addressing the anger simmering across the electorate, supporting the new prime minister and preparing for the political fight for his life.
JOHN McVeigh will take how he voted in last week’s leadership shambles in Canberra to the grave. The debacle ended with Scott Morrison as the country’s 30th prime minister.
Embracing the sanctity of the secret ballot and with a commitment to confidentiality, the Groom MP has refused to reveal details of the Sunday phone call that ended with Dr McVeigh on the back bench.
“I will never reveal how I vote in a secret ballot because if I did, it wouldn’t be a secret ballot and that is the tradition of the Liberal Party,” he said.
“I will take to my grave how I voted in this important vote because it is a secret ballot.”
Dr McVeigh, the former minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government, said he supported, and continued to support, the “leader of the day”.
He signed the petition for a Liberal party meeting to address the leadership speculation, but supported the elected leader to the end.
“I regret that his leadership had come to an end and that was the reality come Thursday night,” Dr McVeigh said.
“His leadership had become untenable. We had to resolve it.
“I supported therefore having a meeting to resolve it once and for all, and how I voted in those party room meetings in a secret ballot I will not reveal.”
Pledging “110 per cent” support for Mr Morrison, Dr McVeigh said his back-bench position was no detriment to Groom as he focused on local issues ahead of the next election due before May next year.
He refused to reveal details of a conversation he had with Mr Morrison on Sunday, after which it was announced he was no longer in Cabinet.
“If you have a confidential conversation with the prime minister of the country nonetheless, and you race straight out and say, ‘guess what everyone, this is what I just discussed with the prime minister’, I believe that is gutless and it’s not being fair dinkum,” Dr McVeigh said.
Photo: Bev Lacey