Minchin mocks Turnbull

Submitted by subed on Tue, 01/04/2008 - 10:10
in
by Phillip Coorey | March 14, 2008 Nick Minchin wields a fair bit of influence within the federal parliamentary Liberal Party, especially with John Howard out of the way. Like a poor man's Karl Rove, Minchin gets the blame for all manner of occurrences, some of which he is responsible for, and others over which he has no control whatsoever. Such, however, is the lot of the operative. Minchin, a key figure of the conservative faction, was responsible for mustering enough votes from the right to secure Brendan Nelson's narrow victory over Malcolm Turnbull in last year's ballot for Opposition leader. One rumour flying around the place at the moment is that Minchin is shoring up numbers for the deputy leader Julie Bishop to step forward should Nelson's leadership hit the wall. Minchin appears determined that Turnbull should not lead the party, at least for now. The pair are among the best performers in the Coalition, but their relationship is awkward. This was best evidenced recently when Minchin told Turnbull he was "too sensitive" after Turnbull approached him over comments he made on radio that morning about why Turnbull had missed out on the leadership. Some trace the fallout back to August 2006 when the US-based Canadian conservative columnist Mark Steyn addressed a dinner for fellow travellers at Old Parliament House. Minchin, giving the warm-up address, made what he considered a light-hearted reference to being back at the same venue where a decade before, at the Constitutional Convention, the conservatives suckered the republicans into accepting a dud model that scuppered the republic. According to those present, Turnbull, who headed the republic push all those years ago, walked out. (SMH) [Ed: Just a pity he didn't stop to pour his drink over the delightful Munchkin.]