Scott Morrison’s “miracle” election victory has been hailed as a vindication of the decision to move against Malcolm Turnbull amid a growing consensus the former prime minister could not have defeated Bill Shorten.
Conservative Party leader Cory Bernardi agrees and said at the time of Turnbull’s dumping last August that the former Prime Minister had been on a mission to destroy the Liberal Party from the moment he went into the parliament and was a man, “of next to no integrity.”
The Australian reports, Liberal Թվ Party president David Hutchinson yesterday praised Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his victory, saying Mr Turnbull – who left parliament after his defeat – would have been unable to replicate the campaign run by Mr Morrison.
“The move to Morrison was absolutely vindicated by the election result. He is a superior campaigner and a more relatable leader in every way,” Mr Hutchinson said.
Other Coalition sources said that Mr Turnbull’s removal had rejuvenated the membership, saying funds had dried up under the former prime minister and rank-and-file members were abandoning the party.
“Our donors had deserted us,” the source said. “Our money wasn’t flowing. Our members were disheartened. Our membership was resigning. Malcolm is not a campaigner. Scott Morrison brought back constituencies that Malcolm would not have been able to appeal to.”
Former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger also argued that Mr Morrison’s victory revealed the move to replace Mr Turnbull was correct, “The move to replace Malcolm … has been overwhelmingly vindicated,” Mr Kroger said.
Liberal MPs are privately critical of Mr Turnbull. Some Liberal MPs believe he could have stopped son Alex from waging a campaign against the party and voicing robocalls for activist group GetUp in Tony Abbott’s seat
