FORDE MP Bert van Manen has spoken of incoming prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as a “diligent” man with a vision for Australia, despite remaining mum on his vote at last night’s secret party room ballot in Canberra.
Mr Turnbull defeated ousted prime minister Tony Abbott 54 votes to 44 last night, after announcing he would mount a challenge for leadership of the Liberal Party yesterday afternoon.
The move followed months of damning opinion polls pointing to a Labor victory at next year’s federal election.
Mr van Manen said despite the discord within the Liberal Party its members did agree on taking whatever steps necessary to secure government for a second term in 2016.
“I would hope that the reason for the change was an attempt to improve our chances at the next federal election and the reason for that is we all believe that the best thing for this country going forward is a Coalition government not a Labor government,” he said.
“Its important to ensure we put ourselves in a position to achieve that for the long term benefit of the country.”
Mr van Manen said last night’s leadership spill took him by surprise.
He said he spoke with Mr Abbott before the vote but refused to give details of their discussion.
“That’s a private discussion that Tony and I had,” he said.
“I did have a call from Malcolm which I didn’t get back to him on because time didn’t permit.”
Mr van Manen said he enjoyed a good relationship with both men.
“I have the utmost respect for both of them… I had Malcolm up here recently in the electorate (and) Tony was in the electorate earlier this year, I have no issue with Malcolm going forward,” he said.
“I think Malcolm will bring a vision for the country that will allow the people of Forde and the country more broadly to engage with.”
Mr van Manen would not be drawn on how the leadership spill could affect his bid for the seat of Forde, previously held by Labor, next year.
“My job is to represent my community to the best of my ability,” he said.
“My focus has been and will continue to be how do I find solutions to the problems that my community are facing… I will continue to work towards that.
“I am not going to comment on the possibility of otherwise of failure of an upcoming election campaign, I couldn’t possibly answer that question.”
Meanwhile, Mr van Manen has requested a meeting with Mr Turnbull to ensure upgrades to the M1 highway remain “firmly on the agenda”.
He said he was confident Mr Turnbull would maintain a good working relationship with Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss on the issue.
