I was thinking / hoping this result might finally break the stranglehold the RWNJâs in the Murfuch coven had over moderate Libs, ⌠and this was the sort of thing I was hoping to see âŚ
More please. Kick them in the Nuts, and tell them to just Fk Off.
smh.com.au
Liberal MP condemns conservative media hosts and issues warning to colleagues who listen to them
David Wroe. 4-5 minutes
Liberal MP Craig Laundy says too many of his own colleagues are listening to right-wing commentators, warning they risk ending up out of step with mainstream Australia.
The high-profile moderate backbencher said the party had been pushed into toppling Malcolm Turnbull by conservative media voices and this trend could become cemented in Liberal Party policies unless MPs started ignoring what he said were fringe views.
He specifically pointed to commentators âdominating The Australian newspaper and Sky [News] after 6pmâ.
Speaking in the wash-up of the massive swing against the Liberal Party in Wentworth, Mr Laundy urged his colleagues not to overemphasise the influence commentators have with voters âand therefore not be scared to stand up for policy positions which they agree withâ.
â[MPs in Canberra] sit in their offices with Sky News on the TV 24/7 watching and listening to what everyoneâs saying and listening to what these commentators are saying,â Mr Laundy said.
âThe reality is if youâre going to set policy and govern as a result in response to that ⌠and youâre listening just to right-wing commentators, I would argue that you are potentially signing up in marginal seat land to a policy position that 80 percent of your electorate would disagree with.
âMy fear is that that was a major factor behind the leadership coup and, if off the back of that ⌠you use that as your guidebook, we risk becoming out of step with ⌠potentially 80 to 85 percent of that marginal seat.â
Mr Laundy snatched the seat of Reid in western Sydney in 2013 in what has otherwise for decades been Labor heartland. He was minister for small business under Mr Turnbull and remains a strong supporter of the former prime minister.
Asked how his colleagues should respond to such commentators, he said: âIgnore them.â
âYou canât have these guys and gals front and centre of mind when youâre having serious discussions about policy in the best interests of the whole country.â
Separately, he told Sky News on Saturday night that âif you bow and kowtow and set policy off the back of what they dictate ⌠youâre going to end up in a political messâ.
Mr Laundy said there could be âa real hate in the commentary - a personal hatredâ.
Former Turnbull government minister Craig Laundy says heâs angry his colleagues take too much notice of right-wing media commentators. Video: Sky News.
âThey hated [Mr Turnbull] for the fact he had money. âMr Harbourside mansion.â The absolute irony [is] they stand up in one breath and abuse [Opposition Leader Bill] Shorten for having a class war and then conduct the class war themselves.â
Mr Laundy has also become one of the first Coalition MPs to openly disagree with Prime Minister Scott Morrisonâs controversial announcement days ahead of the Wentworth byelection to review Australiaâs position on recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
âIâm not inside the decision-making tent. If I was, I probably would have argued against it. It wonât play well in a seat like mine or in a seat like Banks or a seat like Parramatta which we need to win. Thatâs the political reality,â he said.
âBut itâs a decision the Prime Minister has made and, as part of a team, the captain sometimes makes decisions you donât like but you put your head down and your backside up.â
Very suss indeed.