Posted December 07, 2011 10:38:20
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Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has slammed former Liberal MP and new Speaker Peter Slipper, saying he had "outlived his usefulness" as a member of the Coalition.
Mr Abbott was responding to a newspaper report this morning where Mr Slipper said he had quit the Coalition because he was being "bullied" by Queensland’s Liberal-National Party.
The LNP was likely to pre-select former Howard government minister Mal Brough to stand for Mr Slipper's seat of Fisher in Queensland.
The Government last month effectively gained an extra vote when Labor Speaker Harry Jenkins returned to the backbench to be replaced by Mr Slipper, who immediately resigned from the LNP.
The move makes it more likely that the minority government will survive until the 2013 elections.
Speaking on ABC Radio in Sydney, Mr Abbott said the move to replace Mr Slipper was just how politics works.
"I think that it's no secret that a lot of people thought he had outlived his usefulness as an LNP member," he said.
"That's no secret. That's what happens inside political parties, that eventually, if you have been there for long enough, some people think its time for you to reconsider your tenure."
Mr Abbott said the Coalition was trying to "manage him as gracefully as we could" out of the Parliament.
"While the Liberal-National Party was trying to manage him out of the Parliament the Prime Minister has now given him the biggest job in the Parliament," he said.
He repeated his assertions that Mr Slipper is now "Julia Gillard's issue".
"It's for her to handle, not me. he's not my man."
Mr Abbott said he has known Mr Slipper for a long time, they had had "some ups and downs", but he had been a friend.
"He's made some choices. Let's see how they all work out for him," he said.
Abbott renews attack on Slipper - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
