Joe Hockey says PM encouraged him to back controversial biography
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Version 0 of 1. The treasurer, Joe Hockey, has revealed the prime minister advised him to co-operate with a biography that is now drawing criticism from some colleagues. Asked about his own leadership ambitions after the launch of the book, Hockey: Not Your Average Joe, the treasurer said “we’ll leave that to destiny, whatever that may be” but added the biography revealed he and the prime minister were “very close” despite their occasional differences. The book has drawn criticism from anonymous Liberal colleagues because it states Hockey had sought tougher spending cuts than those included in the unpopular budget. Labor has used this to argue Hockey is “even more out of touch” with the lives of ordinary families than previously recognised. “Every treasurer worth their salt would prosecute the case for greater savings ... my job is to prosecute the case,” Hockey said after the launch, attacking commentators for first claiming he didn’t have “the ticker” to propose electorally unpopular cuts and then changing their minds when Hockey was “part of the team” that did propose them. Hockey said his wife’s advice as to whether he should co-operate with the book had been “no way”. His wife, Melissa Babbage, is also quoted in the book as saying Hockey would always “distrust” Malcolm Turnbull over the 2009 Liberal leadership vote, which Hockey wrongly believed Turnbull would not contest. Asked whether he would trust Turnbull again, Hockey said: “I’m still going through that process, but I won’t write anyone off forever.” Asked by journalists on Thursday he said: “I trust Malcolm Turnbull, yes.” He said he had agreed to co-operate with the project, despite an aversion to “talking about myself”, because it documented his family and their values. He said constituted “a great migrant story” because of his values, which had been consistent throughout his career, and because he respected the author, Madonna King. He praised Abbott’s chief of staff, Peta Credlin, saying she was “an outstanding individual … we don’t always agree but we are very lucky to have her”. |