There have been calls for Liberal party Vice-President Teena McQueen to resign from her position following comments she made at the CPAC event in Sydney last weekend.
Appearing on a panel alongside former Liberal MP’s Nick Minchin and Amanda Stoker, and commentator Nick Cater from the Menzies Institute, McQueen said she was happy that many moderate members of the party had lost their seats at the federal election.
“We should rejoice in that. People I’ve been trying to get rid of for a decade have gone, we need to renew with good conservative candidates,” she told the Sydney conference.
Senator Simon Birmingham, one of the party’s remaining moderate voices, says McQueen’s position is no longer tenable.
“I certainly won’t be supporting her re-election if she contests her position again,” he said on ABC radio.
“I think she should reflect upon her position. Her position is untenable.”
Speaking to The Guardian Birmingham restated his view.
“Members of the federal executive are rightly expected to support our MPs and candidates – if they can’t do that then they have no justifiable place being on the federal executive,” he said.
Tim Wilson, who lost the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Goldstein at the election echoed the calls for McQueen to consider her position.
“Celebrating the loss of Liberal candidates spits in the face of the thousands of party members and volunteers that give their time freely to get MPs elected so Australia could have good government,” he told Guardian Australia.
“The only people I see celebrating the loss of Liberal MPs are from the Labor, Greens or Teal parties – anyone that celebrates with them should join them, because they’re not a Liberal.”
A party spokesperson has also said that they did not endorse McQueen’s comments.
“The Liberal party team, including thousands of volunteers, fought very hard to try and retain government and re-elect every Liberal member of parliament,” they said. “Ms McQueen’s comments are unfortunate and not shared by the Liberal party.”
McQueen has often been forthright in sharing her views, once describing the party’s failed Religious Discrimination Bill as a “hot mess”, while on another occasion she argued that conservative candidates were preferable over moderate Liberals because gay rights were not an issue in Sydney’s outer suburbs.
“The lefties in the party have to understand that the Mardi Gras goes up Oxford Street, not Hurstville, Homebush and other areas, outer seats that we need to win.” McQueen said prior to the election, arguing that gay rights did not resonate outside inner-city suburbs.
The Liberal Vice-President has also argued that there need to be more laws against people who are transgender.
OIP Staff
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