Leaked WhatsApp messages have revealed that Liberal MPs who supported Julie Bishop’s bid for the party leadership orchestrated a tactical vote against her to prevent Peter Dutton from becoming prime minister. The messages, obtained by the ABC’s Insiders program, show that colleagues urged each other to vote for Scott Morrison in the first round, fearing that Dutton supporters would back Bishop to knock Morrison out.
During the leadership spill on Friday, Bishop secured only 11 votes out of 85 in the party room, leaving Morrison and Dutton to contest the second round. Morrison won 45 votes to 40, becoming Australia’s new prime minister. The leaked group chat included MPs such as Kelly O’Dwyer, Julia Banks, Simon Birmingham, and Christopher Pyne.
In the messages, Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher warned that Senator Mathias Cormann was rumoured to be directing some Western Australian votes to Bishop in the first round as a ruse to get her ahead of Morrison, so Morrison would drop out and his votes would go to Dutton. Fletcher urged: “Despite our hearts tugging us to Julie we need to vote with our heads for Scott in round one.”
Senator Cormann has denied the rumour, calling it “100% incorrect.” Bishop, who served as deputy Liberal leader for 11 years, has resigned from cabinet but has not decided whether to remain in parliament beyond the next election.
