Julie Bishop says Liberals will watch WA byelection amid leadership questions
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Version 0 of 1. With Tony Abbott’s leadership coming under increasing pressure, foreign minister Julie Bishop has conceded Liberal MPs will be watching the Canning byelection closely but has predicted the government will win the 19 September poll. Related: Coalition at risk of losing Canning byelection, poll shows Bishop was asked on ABC Insiders: “When you say let’s see how it turns out, are you conceding that people will be watching it very closely within your own party?” Bishop replied: “Of course, byelections are always the subject of a national focus when it’s a federal byelection, and there will be a lot of focus. We’ve already seen our candidate make national news.” Andrew Hastie, a former SAS soldier, hit back at reports on Saturday regarding his command of a unit investigating for chopping the hands off dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. Hastie said he wasn’t at the scene when it happened and when he found out about the incident, he did what was required – promptly reporting it up the chain of command. Bishop said Hastie was not even involved in the incident. “I question the motivation of Fairfax for putting it on the front page when Andrew Hastie was not present,” she said. “He was not there. He was, in fact, the officer who called for an investigation into the matter. He’s not involved. And yet for some reason, it now becomes front-page story. “As he pointed out in his speech to the West Australian Liberal conference yesterday, there is a current serving SAS soldier under investigation and has been for some time. This man is obviously undergoing a lot of stress because he’s under investigation.” Related: Liberal byelection candidate Andrew Hastie defends Afghanistan actions Abbott also defended Hastie, saying he was aware of the matter and “there was no blemish, no stain on the conduct of this exemplary officer”. But after a rocky sitting fortnight for the prime minister, beset by a series of leaks, Liberals are conceding privately that a bad result in the byelection, caused by the death of Don Randall, could have a material effect on Abbott’s leadership. Barrie Cassidy asked whether, if the Liberal party was to lose the byelection, it would be the end for Tony Abbott’s leadership. “I don’t believe we’ll lose the byelection,” Bishop said. “I believe with Andrew Hastie and with the kind of policies that we have on promoting jobs and growing the economy, that the people of Canning will make a decision that’s in their interests and I believe that will be to elect Andrew Hastie as their representative.” Liberals describe 32-year-old Hastie as a “star candidate”, though he does not have a connection with the seat. He will run against Labor candidate Matthew Keogh, a former Law Society of WA president, who grew up in the electorate but does not currently live in the seat. The Greens candidate is academic Dr Vanessa Rauland, who specialises in climate change mitigation. Bishop also derided the Labor candidate as a “hipster lawyer” who did not live in the electorate even though his family did live in the seat. She defended Liberal candidate Andrew Hastie who had to live in defence housing and would soon move into Canning. Former Liberal MP Don Randall held the seat with a margin of 11.8% and last week, Newspoll showed a swing of 10% against the government in the seat. Asked about the dangers for Abbott given the possibility of a double-digit swing against the government, Bishop said “let’s see how the Canning byelection turns out”. Related: Bill Shorten says Canning byelection is a chance to tell Abbott 'enough is enough' “It is all about the people of Canning and their concerns and Andrew Hastie is moving into the electorate,” said Bishop, who is the Coalition’s most senior West Australian MP. “The Labor – the hipster Labor lawyer does not live in the electorate. He lives in Mount Lawley. His family lived in the electorate but that’s just a small point. “As Andrew Hastie pointed out, he has been living in Defence housing for a long time, so he wants to make Canning his home.” On Saturday, Bill Shorten refused to enter into the debate about the Hastie’s record, saying he respected the work of the Australian defence force. “I am not like Mr Abbott, I’m not going to go negative on individual candidates, that is just not what I am,” Shorten said. “The real issue isn’t their local candidate, and we’ve got a great local candidate running in Canning too, the real issue here is Mr Abbott. We all know that the Canning byelection and his own team are setting this test up for him. “If he doesn’t do well in Canning, then chances are Mr Abbott’s the person who will lose his job. Yet again, what we see here is that this Canning byelection is about Mr Abbott trying to save his own job.” |