Scott Morrison’s closest allies believe the former PM should quit

Liberal MPs have turned on former prime minister Scott Morrison and want him to ‘pack his bags’ and get out of parliament, insiders claim. 

Nikki Savva, a former senior staffer to Liberal treasurer Peter Costello, said Mr Morrison’s once closest party allies believe he was ‘power hungry’ and ‘deluded’ into treating them ‘like dirt’.

The falling out is over the revelations Mr Morrison had himself secretly sworn in as minister for several senior portfolios including finance and health.

The issue came back in the limelight after former High Court judge Virginia Bell delivered a stinging report on Friday about Mr Morrison’s behaviour.   

Ms Savva told ABC program Insiders on Sunday morning that Liberal MPs who once ‘religiously’ followed Mr Morrison now want him to quit being an opposition backbencher at the first opportunity.

Ms Savva said the disillusioned MPs believe none of the justifications Mr Morrison has given for his ministerial job-sharing actions ‘stack up’ and he sounds ‘deluded’ and ‘power hungry’.

‘He didn’t trust anybody’ Ms Savva said.

Journalist and former high level Liberal staffer Nikki Savva says MPs who were loyal to Mr Morrison now feel he treated them ‘like dirt’

‘He was isolated. He was mistrustful… they (his MPs) were loyal completely to him and he treated them like dirt and so the view amongst them now is that he should just pack his bags and go.’

Mr Morrison refused to meet with Justice Bell while she conducted her inquiry and communicated with her through his lawyers, which drew criticism from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about his lack of cooperation. 

Justice Bell did not find the former prime minister’s actions were illegal but she said they were ‘not easy to understand and difficult to reconcile’.

Only former health minister Greg Hunt (pictured centre front)  was aware that he was being ‘shadowed’ in his job by Mr Morrison (pictured background right)

Chief Guardian political correspondent Katharine Murphy commented the report showed that during the Covid pandemic Mr Morrison operated as a one-man band in making national decisions along with state premiers.

‘A real feature during the pandemic is that Morrison’s own cabinet was entirely sidelined for at least half that term,’ she said.

‘I sort of wondered whether Morrison got into a mindset that his own cabinet didn’t matter, he was the only decision-maker who mattered, and therefore he needed to do all of this extraordinary shadowing.’

Herald Sun political editor James Campbell speculated that Mr Morrison is already eyeing his post-politics career.  

‘He is no longer interested in the things of this world,’ he said.

‘I think Scott Morrison’s next role in life will be back to the church.’

Mr Albanese confirmed that Mr Morrison had himself sworn in as ‘back-up’ minister for five portfolios.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has resisted demands that he call on Mr Morrison to leave parliament

None of the ministers knew they were job sharing except former health minister Greg Hunt.

Ex home affairs minister Karen Andrews furiously demanded Mr Morrison resign as the member for Cook and leave parliament, branding his actions ‘unacceptable’.

‘The Australian people have been let down, they have been betrayed,’ she said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has resisted demands he call for Mr Morrison’s resignation.

He said it was time for ‘cooler heads to prevail’ before downplaying the issue by saying: ‘The number one issue people are raising is cost of living.’