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

Liberal MPs have turned against former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and want him to ‘pack his bags’ and leave parliament, insiders say.

Nikki Savva, a former senior staff member of Liberal treasurer Peter Costello, said Mr Morrison’s once-close allies believe he was “power hungry” and “tricked” into treating them “like dirt”.

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

Once close political colleagues are reportedly outraged by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s actions in secretly swearing himself in for other ministerial jobs

The issue came back into the spotlight after former Supreme Court Justice Virginia Bell released a tantalizing report on Mr Morrison’s conduct on Friday.

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

Ms Savva said the disillusioned MPs don’t believe any of the justifications Mr Morrison has given for his ministerial job-sharing actions, and he sounds “misguided” and “power-hungry”.

“He didn’t trust anyone,” Mrs. 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 distrustful… they (his MPs) were completely loyal to him and he treated them like dirt and so the opinion among them now is that he should just pack his bags and go.”

Mr Morrison refused to meet Judge Bell while she conducted her investigation and communicated with her through his lawyers, drawing criticism from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over his lack of cooperation.

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

Only former Health Secretary Greg Hunt (pictured front centre) was aware that he was being ‘overshadowed’ in his work by Mr Morrison (pictured right background)

Chief Guardian political correspondent Katharine Murphy noted that the report showed that Mr Morrison was operating as a one-man band in making national decisions during the Covid pandemic, along with state prime ministers.

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

“I kind of wondered if Morrison thought his own cabinet didn’t matter, he was the only decision maker that mattered, and that’s why he had to do all these extraordinary shadows.”

Herald Sun political editor James Campbell speculated that Morrison is already pursuing his post-political 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 going back to church.”

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

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

None of the ministers knew they had a division of labor, except for former Health Secretary Greg Hunt.

Ex-Home Secretary Karen Andrews furiously demanded that Morrison resign as Cook’s member and leave parliament, labeling his actions “unacceptable”.

“The Australian people have been abandoned, they have been betrayed,” she said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has opposed demands he called for Mr Morrison’s resignation.

He said it was time for “cooler heads to prevail” before downplaying the issue, saying, “The number one issue people raise is the cost of living.”