Pauline Hanson has accused Scott Morrison of bullying her, saying she “backed up” claims raised by outgoing Liberal senator Concetta Fierraventi-Wells.
Mr Morrison was late on Tuesday night described by his Liberal colleague as a “bully who has no moral compass” and a man unfit to be Prime Minister in an extraordinary spray.
Senator Hanson used her time in the Senate on Wednesday to “back up completely” Senator Fierraventi-Wells’ claims.
“He is a bully. I have experienced it myself,” Senator Hanson said.
“He is a man that says he will do it my way or no way.”
On Tuesday night, the conservative NSW senator accused Mr Morrison and his factional ally, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, of corrupting the party’s state division.
“There is a very appropriate saying here – the fish stinks from the head,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells told senators.
“Morrison and Hawke have ruined the Liberal party in NSW by trampling its constitution.”
It’s terrible timingxjmtzyw for the Prime Minister, who is attempting to spruik a budget with an election expected to be called within days.
Mr Morrison has been pressuring Labor over allegations of bullying after the death of senator Kimberley Kitching.
Senator Fierravanti-Wells – who will leave politics after the upcoming election after being placed in an unwinnable position on the party’s Senate ticket – described her demotion as “dodgy”.
She went on to suggest members of the party were “despairing” at their prospects at the upcoming election and could turn away from the party.
“They blame Morrison for this. Our members do not want to help in the upcoming election,” she said.
“It is his way or the highway. An autocrat, a bully who has no moral compass.”
Mr Morrison was asked about the brutal speech during his suite of post-budget interviews on Wednesday.
He said he understood Senator Fierravanti-Wells was disappointed being relegated on the Liberals’ Senate ticket.
“I know Connie is disappointed, having lost a preselection of some 500 members at the weekend,” Mr Morrison told ABC AM.
“I strongly supported her and ensured that she was able to be preselected.”
Senator Fierravanti-Wells took aim at Mr Morrison’s faith, calling it a marketing ploy and that his actions were at odds with his “morality”.
“He is adept at running with the foxes and hunting with the hounds, lacking the moral compass and having no conscience,” she said.
“His actions conflict with his portrayal as a man of faith. He has used his so-called faith as a marketing advantage.”
The right-wing senator’s verbal spray comes after the federal executive of the Liberal Party took over the preselection of candidates in a number of key NSW seats.
The move gave Mr Morrison and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet the power to hand-pick candidates for key seats like Parramatta and Hughes.
She said Mr Morrison and Mr Hawke had deliberately manufactured a crisis within the NSW Liberal party to justify installing their own preferred candidates.
“There is a putrid stench of corruption emanating from the division,” she said.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg defended Mr Morrison on Wednesday morning.
“We respect the decisions of the membership of the party, and from my own personal experience, Scott Morrison has been a very good partner,” he told ABC Radio.
