Ex-Liberal Candidate Michael Towkes Recounts Racism In Pre-Selection Battle Against Scomo
"I'm not saying that he's a racist... but he's certainly used racism, islamophobia, bigotry with refugees, with families of dead refugees, with migration policies."
Ex-Liberal candidate Michael Towkes has revealed the extent of the defamation and abuse he faced during a pre-selection battle for the seat of Cook in 2007 against Scott Morrison, in an interview with Waleed Ali on The Project
Michael Towkes became a central figure in the recent racism allegations against the prime minister, when an statutory declaration was discovered by The Saturday Paper from 2016, which stated Scott Morrison warned Liberal party officials to avoid supporting Mr Towkes due to his “Lebanese background”, further cautioning them of “strong rumours that he is actually a moslum [sic]”.
In an explosive interview with The Project, Towkes gave his perspective of the preselection battle of 2016.
Mr Towkes told The Project that he easily won the 2006 leadership contest, coming in at first place while fellow candidate Scott Morrison ranked last.
But four days after the preselection results Towkes said he started to receive private accusations from fellow Liberal party members, which ranged from “owning to operating a number of brothels” to “being involved in a criminal syndicate” as well as the Cronulla Riots, while also participating in “a number of physical altercations” as a member of the Canterbury Bulldog’s “rugby league army”.
The private accusations accompanied several articles published by the Daily Telegraph publicly accusing Towkes of “breaking Liberal party rules” in the recruitment of new members, fabricating educational qualifications and exaggerating his business and military experience. The paper’s publisher Nationwide News Pty Ltd removed the offending articles following a defamation suit made by Towkes.
Towkes told The Project that Morrison was only able to achieve victory in the preselection for the seat of Cook by putting what he called “a political gun to my head”.
“(they) basically told me that they were going to ruin me, (that) I would never be employable ever again if I didn’t withdraw from the pre-selection and put my votes behind Morrison,” Towkes told The Project.
The former political candidate also told The Project that he recently received texts of support from a “current cabinet member” of the Morrison government. While refusing to reveal the identity of the cabinet minister, Towkes said the message read: “I believe you, do what you feel you need to do, just be careful”.
When asked by Waleed Ali “why” Towkes would needed to be careful, he alleged that “people associated with the Prime Minister were circulating that I was associated with neo-nazis”.
Asked about whether or not Morrison was racist, Towkes clarified that he was unsure of the Prime Ministers personal views, but believed he had “used” racism as political tool.
“I’m not saying that he’s a racist… but he’s certainly used racism, islamophobia, bigotry with refugees, with families of dead refugees, with migration policies.”
Scott Morrison has rejected the allegations of racism, labelling them as “malicious slurs”. While the prime minister initially offered to put the allegations to bed by signing another statutory declaring, he retracted the offer yesterday, telling journalists in Melbourne that he would only do so if ordered to by a court of law.
Watch the full interview below