Tehan firms as kingmaker in Liberal leadership battle as polling leak sparks recriminations
Liberal Dan Tehan looms as a potential kingmaker in the race between Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley to take on the leadership of the weakened opposition, as MPs lash the party's pollster for giving Peter Dutton false confidence about the election result.
The leak of internal documents published in this masthead on Tuesday, which revealed that Dutton's popularity numbers were dire and that strategists urged him to lighten up, triggered public criticism of the party's contracted pollster, Mike Turner of Freshwater Strategy.
'We had bad pollsters giving us bad numbers,' Tasmanian senator Jonathon Duniam said on Sky News. 'We were let down by pollsters and strategists which frankly gave us a bum steer of the worst order.'
Two Liberal sources said the party secretariat was threatening legal action against Turner. A spokesman for the Liberal Party federal secretariat decline to comment. Freshwater Strategy was contacted for comment.
As the party comes to terms with its worst loss since its founding in 1944, both Taylor, the shadow treasurer backed by the right faction, and Ley, the deputy leader backed by the moderates, have asked Tehan to run as their deputy, according to several MPs not authorised to speak publicly about the leadership contest.
Loading
Tehan secured a convincing victory against Climate 200-backed independent Alex Dyson in his Victorian seat of Wannon and has spent days phoning colleagues to test if he had support to run as leader himself.
But if he were to agree to be the deputy leader, he would be able to pick his preferred portfolio, allowing the Spanish-speaking former diplomat to pick foreign affairs.
Whichever one of Taylor or Ley secured Tehan's support would gain the support of Tehan's six allies, who could be decisive a party that numbers around 30 with several seats still in doubt.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Tasmanian premier set to call election today. What happens next?
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is expected to go to the state's governor on Tuesday to seek a snap election, just 15 months after the last state election. Parliament will sit today to debate and pass a budget supply bill to ensure public servants can get paid during and after an election campaign. After that, Mr Rockliff intends to ask to dissolve parliament, with July 19 the earliest date an election can be held. It comes after the lower house passed Labor's no-confidence motion in Mr Rockliff on Thursday, citing the bungled rollout of new Spirit of Tasmania vessels, the state's poor budget position and previous suggestions to privatise state-owned companies. He did not speak to the media on Monday, instead taking part in an icy water slide fundraiser for a motor neurone disease charity. An election could have been avoided if the Liberals chose a new leader who would then need to get the confidence of the lower house, but cabinet minister Felix Ellis said Mr Rockliff has the support of the Liberal partyroom. "He is a man of experience, strength and compassion who has served our community for decades. "We back him in wholeheartedly." The two major parties continue to blame each other for the political impasse. Labor leader Dean Winter says the premier was to blame for losing the confidence of the lower house, while Mr Rockliff says Mr Winter is a "wrecker" . The Tasmanian Greens have called on Labor to attempt to form minority government with their support rather than go to an election, but Mr Winter has rejected this. Mr Winter said the party will not be making big spending promises if an election is called. "This will not be a spendathon from Labor," he said. "Our state cannot afford it. Labor has confirmed it will support the supply bill through parliament. It's likely to be the only parliamentary business of the day. There could be another lengthy debate however, as members can make speeches on the bill. The Legislative Council has also been recalled for the day to pass the supply bill, and members will have briefings while they wait for the supply bill to be approved by the lower house. The Tasmanian Industrial Commission last week determined that the state's politicians will get a 22 per cent pay rise on July 1, but both the Liberals and Labor say they will block this. A disallowance motion would be required to stop the pay rise. However, the government says this can occur when parliament returns after an election, with the pay increase on hold until then. Tasmania is the only state or territory that does not have its own political donation disclosure scheme, but one is set to start on July 1, potentially halfway through the election campaign. It would require all political donations above $1,000 to be publicly disclosed. The donations must be declared to the Electoral Commission within seven days, and then published seven days later, meaning donations won't start being published until one or two weeks into July. Independent upper house MLC Meg Webb called on the government to either bring the system forward to today, or ensure it starts on July 1. Mr Rockliff confirmed on Sunday that the disclosure system will start on July 1. The new laws also include public funding for campaigns, at $6 per vote once 4 per cent of the vote is achieved. Parties can apply for half of its anticipated funding up-front, based on its result at the previous state election. It's unclear whether this aspect of the bill will be in operation if an election is called. An election would also delay several pieces of legislation and the work of multiple parliamentary committees. The government intended to have its Macquarie Point stadium enabling legislation debated and passed in the lower house this month, and then the upper house in the first week of July. This will need to wait until after the election, and is subject to the new numbers in the lower house. Currently, both the Liberals and Labor have a combined 24 seats out of 35 to pass the stadium bill, but 10 out of 11 crossbenchers are opposed. The numbers in the Legislative Council will remain the same, with three independents required for the stadium bill to pass. A bill to allow for the rezoning of University of Tasmania land above Churchill Avenue in Sandy Bay will also be delayed, having already passed the lower house. A parliamentary committee examining the implementation of recommendations from the commission of inquiry into child sexual abuse in institutional settings will be paused. So, too, will a committee that is examining how the previous election was carried out. That committee will likely need to add a second election onto its workload.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Paraguay president's X account hacked in bitcoin scheme
Paraguay's government says President Santiago Pena's X account has likely been hacked after the leader appeared to promote trading of cryptocurrency bitcoin. "The president's official X account has presented irregular activity which suggests possible unauthorised entry," the government said in a statement. A post on Pena's account in English, with a Spanish-language statement purporting to be from the government, had declared that the Latin American country had made Bitcoin legal tender and that it would roll out a $US5 million ($A7.7 million) Bitcoin-backed reserve fund. The government asked citizens to ignore posts from the account until official confirmation was made available. Paraguay's national cybersecurity team was working with X to investigate the situation, the government added. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Paraguay's government says President Santiago Pena's X account has likely been hacked after the leader appeared to promote trading of cryptocurrency bitcoin. "The president's official X account has presented irregular activity which suggests possible unauthorised entry," the government said in a statement. A post on Pena's account in English, with a Spanish-language statement purporting to be from the government, had declared that the Latin American country had made Bitcoin legal tender and that it would roll out a $US5 million ($A7.7 million) Bitcoin-backed reserve fund. The government asked citizens to ignore posts from the account until official confirmation was made available. Paraguay's national cybersecurity team was working with X to investigate the situation, the government added. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Paraguay's government says President Santiago Pena's X account has likely been hacked after the leader appeared to promote trading of cryptocurrency bitcoin. "The president's official X account has presented irregular activity which suggests possible unauthorised entry," the government said in a statement. A post on Pena's account in English, with a Spanish-language statement purporting to be from the government, had declared that the Latin American country had made Bitcoin legal tender and that it would roll out a $US5 million ($A7.7 million) Bitcoin-backed reserve fund. The government asked citizens to ignore posts from the account until official confirmation was made available. Paraguay's national cybersecurity team was working with X to investigate the situation, the government added. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Paraguay's government says President Santiago Pena's X account has likely been hacked after the leader appeared to promote trading of cryptocurrency bitcoin. "The president's official X account has presented irregular activity which suggests possible unauthorised entry," the government said in a statement. A post on Pena's account in English, with a Spanish-language statement purporting to be from the government, had declared that the Latin American country had made Bitcoin legal tender and that it would roll out a $US5 million ($A7.7 million) Bitcoin-backed reserve fund. The government asked citizens to ignore posts from the account until official confirmation was made available. Paraguay's national cybersecurity team was working with X to investigate the situation, the government added. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Chris Uhlmann slams renewable energy targets, saying ‘great lie' of government energy agendas ‘has to be exposed'
Sky News Political Contributor Chris Uhlmann has called out what he described as the 'great lie' of renewable energy targets, as questions linger over a state government's controversial renewables plan. Victorian Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio has admitted the full cost of a multibillion-dollar renewable energy plan to be rolled out by the state government is not yet known. When asked whether the $4.3 billion figure for the plan detailed last month could actually be closer to $20 billion, the Minister remained tight-lipped over the cost and how energy prices could be affected, the Australian Financial Review reported. 'This is not about being dishonest, if that's what you're implying,' Ms D'Ambrosio said on Friday, according to the AFR. 'If we don't build transmission, I can tell you what happens. People's lights go out and power prices will go through the roof. 'People need to understand that transmission is an investment that facilitates the build of replacement electricity.' Speaking to Sky News host Peta Credlin on Monday evening, Mr Uhlmann took aim at renewable energy agendas in the face of the controversial Victorian government plan. 'We've seen it around the world Peta, everywhere you put in large-scale deployment of wind and solar, two things happen: the grid becomes more fragile and electricity prices soar,' he said. 'I see Lily D'Ambrosio saying that it's not going to be $20 billion, but can't say how much it's going to be, and of course, those transmission lines that she's left out of the equation probably come to around about $16 billion. So what do we know about that? We know that 9 per cent of your electricity bill is the transmission costs.' Mr Uhlmann then pointed to the federal Labor government's renewables policy, which has also drawn has drawn heavy criticism over significant project costs. 'It's interesting now that the federal Labour Party has stopped saying that people's electricity bills will go down,' he said. 'The great lie in all of this has to be exposed and that is it will be neither greener nor cheaper and the system will certainly be more fragile. 'That's the energy future which is on offer because of the policy decisions of state and federal governments.' The Victorian government VicGrid body's 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan includes proposed onshore renewable energy zones, which have been identified as suitable to host renewable energy projects. "The Victorian Transmission Plan is necessary to keep the lights on and keep energy costs affordable as Victoria's coal-fired power stations close," a state government statement on the plan's draft announcement said.
