Gabrielle Chan Tuesday 4 August 2015
Prime minister reveals he won’t make a ‘captain’s pick’ to choose new Speaker, adding that it’s likely his friend’s career in parliament ‘is substantially at an end’
Bronwyn Bishop and Tony Abbott in Parliament House in June. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian
Tony Abbott has admitted he will pay a personal price for failing to act sooner to remove his friend and ally Bronwyn Bishop amid the scandal over her expenses and said he would not make a “captain’s pick” to replace her.
“The government has inevitably paid a price and I dare say there will be a little personal price for me but let’s not forget that, while Bronwyn has made some very serious mistakes, ultimately she was the one who paid the highest price,” Abbott said.
“She lost the position that she loved and it’s likely her career in parliament is substantially at an end. That’s a high price for someone who has dedicated 30-odd years to public service.”
Abbott’s admission comes after February’s failed leadership spill motion when he pleaded with his colleagues for six months to turn around the government’s fortunes. The return to parliamentary sitting on Monday will be the six-month anniversary of his “near-death experience”.
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The first order of the day will be a Liberal party room meeting to choose the next Speaker before parliament sits at 10am. That meeting will decide the Coalition’s nomination for the role.
Jockeying has begun among Liberal MPs for one of the most prestigious jobs in the parliament. It offers a pay rise of 75% on a backbencher salary along with extra staff and office facilities.
While a clear favourite has yet to emerge, Liberal members are agreed on the fact that Abbott should not make another “captain’s pick”.
“My instinct is not to make a captain’s pick,” he said on Tuesday.
Bishop was Abbott’s personal choice for Speaker after the 2013 election and he said she had done a “good job” in recent times.
“I think Bronny has done a good job in the chair, particularly in the last six to 12 months. Inevitably all of us take a bit of time to settle into these positions but I think Bronwyn has deftly handled the parliament in recent times.”
A number of Liberal backbenchers have expressed interest or been raised as potential speakers. They include the South Australian MP Andrew Southcott, the Victorian MP Tony Smith, the father of the house, Philip Ruddock, and the Victorian MPs Sharman Stone and Russell Broadbent.
Abbott said he had spoken to Southcott, whom he declared was an “excellent bloke”.
“I’m going to try to avoid so-called captain’s picks here, in the end, this is a matter for the Liberal party room to choose a nominee for the speakership,” he said.
“This will be a party room process, as it should be. I’m confident there will be a number of candidates … may the best one of them first of all win the nomination and then hopefully become the Speaker.
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Abbott’s prediction about the end of Bishop’s parliamentary career will also ignite interest in her seat of Mackellar, which takes in Sydney’s northern beaches next to the prime minister’s seat of Warringah.
Bishop’s preference was her staffer Damien Jones, though his role in the entitlements scandal is considered to have lessened his chances among local Liberal members.
Bishop resigned as Speaker on Sunday, three weeks after revelations that she took a $5,000 helicopter trip from Melbourne to Geelong for a Liberal party fundraiser. It was followed by a series of revelations about her entitlements spending.
Abbott announced a whole-scale review of the entitlements system – to be led by former head of the Department of Finance, David Tune, and the head of the remuneration tribunal, John Conde – which will aim to give “the public confidence”.
