The Unshackled Waves Ep. 161 Liberal Federal Council
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The news cycle has been dominated this past week by the Donald Trump Kim Jong Un summit in Singapore last Tuesday morning. But to review the news in Australian politics I was joined by the Unshackled’s Political Editor Michael Symth.
The Liberal Party had its federal council over the weekend which included John Howard giving a strong defence of the Malcolm Turnbull and his leadership. Despite Turnbull’s 34th consecutive Newspoll loss, Howard believes the next election is winnable. Turnbull himself vowed he would never allow Labor to get away with something like the 2016 Mediscare campaign again and would build a social media army to counter Labor lies.
The motions passed at the Council also gained much publicity. Delegates voted by a margin of 2 to 1 for ABC to be privatised except in regional areas. However, Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull immediately said t would never happen. Certainly, there is a case for a slimmed down ABC. Delegates also voted to move the Australian Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in line with what United States President Donald Trump has done.
Internally there is still a cloud over the preselection of conservative federal New South Wales Liberal MP Craig Kelly. Kent Johns the state Liberal Vice President who is a moderate has the numbers. Tony Abbott has stated there will be turmoil if Kelly is rolled. Also, GetUp launched their $225,000 fighting fund to unseat Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in his marginal Queensland seat of Dickson. They have long detested his work in immigration and being in the frontline of the culture wars.
Links to Council News
Howard says Labor’s primary vote is too low to win – The Australian
Privatised ABC or Slimmed Down ABC?
Tony Abbott warns of electoral consequences if ally Craig Kelly rolled – AFR
GetUp! launches campaign to oust Peter Dutton – The Australian