Everything You Need To Know About Politicians Shit-Talking Scott Morrison In Leaked Texts
Being called a "complete psycho" by one of his ministers was just the beginning for Morrison.
If you logged off on Friday thinking we’d just seen the end of a truly chaotic week in Australian politics, you weren’t alone. But it turns out the last 48-ish hours has made Scott Morrison washing a woman’s hair at a Victorian salon seem like completely normal behaviour.
In news that proves no politician should ever be allowed to own a mobile phone, multiple high-ranking federal politicians have now found themselves embroiled in texting scandals.
Former NSW Premier Bob Carr took to Twitter on Sunday, claiming that Minister for Defence Peter Dutton was the mystery MP who leaked a text exchange that allegedly occurred between Gladys Berejiklian and a Liberal cabinet minister, in which Scott Morrison was called a “complete psycho.”
The minister who shared the text with van Onselen and gave permission to use it was Peter Dutton. If PM Morrison has one more week in free fall the prospect of a leadership change pre-election is real. Party rules don’t count if most MPs think you will lead them to defeat.
— Bob Carr (@bobjcarr) February 6, 2022
Dutton — who is no stranger to suing somebody over comments made on Twitter — was quick to respond, calling the tweet “baseless, untrue” and noting that it “should be deleted.”
@bobjcarr's tweet is baseless, untrue and should be deleted.
— Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) February 6, 2022
But instead of deleting the tweet, Carr has since doubled down, asserting he has a “rock-solid media source” to back his claim. It is, however, worth noting that he told The Guardian’s Katharine Murphy that he has not personally seen the text message.
He then followed up Twitter on Monday morning, urging Dutton to get another colleague to admit they sent the texts and asking “who has the most to gain from undermining further a flailing PM?”
Only one way Peter Dutton can win his case: get another colleague to admit that they were the source for comments about the Prime Minister. If not you, Mr Dutton, which of your colleagues? Until then who has most to gain from undermining further a flailing PM?
— Bob Carr (@bobjcarr) February 6, 2022
Scott Morrison is yet to comment on the allegation that it was Dutton who leaked the text.
Dutton is not the only MP to be caught up in a texting scandal over the weekend, with Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce also making headlines for the same reason. After the text exchange with Berejiklian exploded in the media, Joyce called for the anonymous minister in question to “out yourself.” But in an incredible display of irony, it was Joyce himself who ended up being outed after Brittany Higgins leaked his own text message dragging Morrison.
In a leaked text message allegedly sent to Brittany Higgins through a third party, Joyce claimed he “never trusted” Scott Morrison.
“I and Scott, he is Scott to me until I have to recognise his office, don’t get along. He is a hypocrite and a liar from my observations and that is over a long time,” the text read. “I have never trusted him and I dislike how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie.”
Following the leaking of his text, Joyce apologised and offered his resignation to Morrison, which Morrison did not accept. “Politicians, they’re no different to anyone else,” said Morrison on Saturday at an event for — fittingly — ‘I 4give Day’, accepting Joyce’s apology. “People say things and people feel things. People get angry, people get bitter, of course they do. That’s all of us. And so, who am I to be judging someone else?”
Morrison also noted that the pair were not close when the messages were sent.