Michael Towke has branded Scott Morrison “a compulsive liar” and declared he does not deserve to be prime minister – but Morrison insists he did not weaponise race against his opponent during the controversial preselection for Cook in 2007.
Towke, who contested the federal seat that Morrison went on to secure, told the Ten Network on Monday the prime minister had “certainly used race in the past”.
On the hustings in Melbourne on Monday, the prime minister told reporters: “I absolutely reject that as malicious slurs”.
“It is outrageous, absolutely outrageous,” the prime minister said. “I’ve dealt with it time and again, and the leaders of the Lebanese community, I think voices have spoken most significantly about this matter – and just what’s behind all this and I think it’s very clear”.
Given Morrison’s categorical denial, Towke was asked by a Ten Network reporter whether the prime minister was lying. “I think it’s pretty obvious he is – he’s got form on that, just ask Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Emmanuel Macron … Barnaby Joyce called him out – he’s a compulsive liar”.
Asked whether he deserved to be prime minister, Towke said: “No”.
With the federal election campaign just days away from being officially declared, the Coalition is in damage control after damning allegations about the controversial 2007 Liberal preselection process were again raised in the media over the weekend.
But numerous MPs, including Morrison’s predecessor in the seat, Bruce Baird, have lined up to defend the prime minister. Baird told the ABC on Monday he had never heard Morrison make remarks about Towke’s race or religion.
“I’m sure that people who are opponents of Scott, opponents of the Liberal party, would raise it for their own reasons,” Baird, the Liberal MP for Cook from 1998 to 2007, told ABC Radio National on Monday.
“Mr Towke was feeling concerned, because he’d lost the preselection.
“But in terms of all my dealings, and I was around there all the time talking to candidates and people, never once did I hear that allegation.”
Towke on Sunday in the Nine newspapers publicly backed a 2016 account that alleged preselectors informed him that Morrison had in 2007 told them “a candidate of Lebanese heritage could not hold the seat of Cook, especially after the Cronulla riots” and there was a “strong rumour” that Towke was a Muslim.
Towke and another person involved in the preselection process signed statutory declarations attesting to their claims. Similar allegations were raised last week by outgoing Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.
Morrison has flatly denied the claims, saying he would be willing to sign a statutory declaration of his own to that effect.
In 2007, Towke defeated Morrison in an initial preselection ballot by 82 votes to Morrison’s eight. That process was later overturned by the state executive, and in a new vote Morrison was victorious and entered federal parliament at that year’s election.
Baird had intended to run again at the 2007 election, but claimed a branch stacking issue in Cook meant he would have no chance to retain his candidacy, which led to the controversial preselection vote.
The PM has been accused of racial vilification when he won pre-selection for Cook in 2007.
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) April 3, 2022
The seat's former Liberal member Bruce Baird has questioned the motives of those making the allegations, saying he never heard Scott Morrison using racist languagehttps://t.co/pQQwKyjKNg
Baird acknowledged he was a friend of Morrison’s, but denied that was the reason for his intervention. He said Morrison had become “quite close” to the Lebanese community, citing fundraising and community work the now-prime minister had done throughout his career.
“I never heard it. He worked with me for two years when I was at the Tourism Council. I never heard him use any racist terms,” he told Radio National, questioning the motives of those making the allegations.
“I am just doing this because it’s the truth … to claim Scott is racist and a bully is wrong.”
In Tasmania on Sunday, Morrison called the accusations “malicious and bitter slurs”, maintaining that his community and political work with Lebanese Australians “speaks for itself”.
The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, also shrugged off the claims.
“When you get these accusations right on the eve of an election they can [be] wrapped up as a political hit,” he told Channel Seven’s Sunrise.
“What we have seen is the Lebanese community has come out and backed Mr Morrison.”
Joyce, the Nationals leader, raised concerns about the “timing” of the allegations resurfacing, which he claimed had been timed for “political effect”.
The trade minister, Dan Tehan, also speaking on Radio National, downplayed the claims by saying the issue “dates back over a decade”.
“There’s a myriad of people who’ve come out and defended the PM from the Lebanese community. They’ve done that because they’ve worked with him, they know him, they know the calibre of the PM,” Tehan said.
Michael Sukkar, the assistant treasurer, also gave a strident defence of Morrison on Sunday.
As one of the few Australians of Lebanese descent in the Parliament, I feel compelled to weigh in on recent media reports concerning @ScottMorrisonMP. In my experience, there is no MP, let alone PM, who's shown more support, care and respect for the Australian Lebanese community.
— Michael Sukkar (@MichaelSukkarMP) April 3, 2022
Despite saying he would be willing to sign his own statutory declaration, Morrison said he would not challenge the allegations through legal avenues.
“These statements haven’t been submitted for the purpose of any court or anything of that nature … I have no interest in chasing those matters for legal purposes down,” he said.
“They’ve said what they’ve said. I completely reject it. I absolutely reject it.”
