Scott Morrison‘s former political rival Michael Towke has made bombshell claims the PM weaponised his Lebanese heritage to win a pre-selection battle.
When Mr Morrison was vying with Mr Towke in 2007 to be the Liberal candidate in the south Sydney seat of Cook, he was accused of trying to smear Mr Towke by saying he was a Lebanese Muslim.
The 15-year-old accusations were resurrected last week when dumped Liberal senator Connie Fierravanti-Wells unloaded on the PM in her farewell speech in parliament, reviving the row and calling Mr Morrison a ‘bully and an autocrat’.
Now, Mr Towke has broken his silence to accuse Mr Morrison of slandering his reputation by circulating rumours about him that played into negative stereotypes about Lebanese Australians.
In the 2007 pre-selection, Mr Towke won the ballot on the first round – scoring 84 votes compared to Mr Morrison’s eight.
Lebanese ex-politician Michael Towke (pictured) has levelled a series of bombshell allegations against Scott Morrison
But Mr Towke said his popularity immediately began to sink after his political opponents – Mr Morrison and his allies – started spreading ‘two sets of allegations’ – ones privately through the Liberal party and others publicly via the press.
‘Privately, the Liberal Party was accusing me of owning and operating a number of brothels, being involved in a criminal syndicate, the Cronulla riots, the Bulldogs Army and, as part of that group, being involved in a number of physical altercations,’ he told The Project’s Waleed Aly on Wednesday.
‘The [claims] they published publicly, [were that I] breached Liberal Party rules in signing members up – false – that I exaggerated my academic qualifications, exaggerated my military record, my business record.
‘They ran with the dodgy [Lebanese] angle.’
Mr Towke said efforts to destroy his reputation were ‘pretty nasty’ and he frequently woke up to find himself featured in frontpage newspaper stories ‘based on fabricated material’.
‘That was shocking, stunning. I was numb,’ he said.
‘I would have been the first Australian of Lebanese heritage to be a federal member of Parliament on the Liberal Party side and that’s a bit of history there which they stole from me.’
Mr Towke said Mr Morrison and his allies spread vicious rumours to smear him as a ‘dodgy’ Lebanese man
The ex-politician denied historical allegations levelled against him by former MP Bruce Baird that he was involved in branch stacking, saying he never signed anyone up without their knowledge.
Mr Towke claimed Mr Morrison was ‘front and centre’ of the smear campaign and that ‘it was for him, and he was involved.’
‘He got desperate. They were hoping that I would be knocked out and that they would somehow do some deal and get the votes to fall in behind him,’ he said.
Aly asked why Mr Morrison would attempt to bring Mr Towke down given he was coming last and would still need to beat several other political candidates to win.
Mr Towke said he did not imagine the scandal would be revived, and was shocked to wake up last Wednesday to find the saga in the limelight following Ms Fierravanti-Wells speech.
‘I have moved on, but the more that this is unfolding, and just watching the Prime Minister’s very non-credible responses, I’ve chosen now to not remain silent anymore,’ he said.
It was revealed at the weekend that Mr Towke made a legally-binding statutory declaration in 2016 accusing the PM of ‘racial vilification’ during the pre-selection battle.
Mr Morrison is alleged to have told locals in the constituency that no-one Lebanese would be able to hold the seat after the 2005 Cronulla race riots, and allegedly spread the rumour Mr Towke was Muslim. Mr Towke is a Maronite Catholic.
Mr Towke added at the weekend: ‘I stand by the declarations I asserted in my statutory declaration.
‘Among many unedifying tactics used to unseat me from my preselection victory for Morrison, racial vilification was front and centre and he was directly involved.’
Michael Towke made a legally-binding statutory declaration in 2016 accusing the PM of ‘racial vilification’ during the pre-selection battle
Scott Morrison (pictured delivering his maiden speech in 2008) has been accused of using a political rival’s Lebanese background against him when he first ran for political office
Mr Morrison has strenuously denied all the claims as categorically untrue and has said he would sign a statutory declaration saying just that.
The latest revelations come after the Project host Jan Fran unleashed an explosive attack on Mr Morrison and branded Australia as being ‘full of racists’ in response to the political row.
On Sunday Ms Fran, who is Lebanese-Australian, took to Instagram and Twitter to hit out in a full-frontal attack on the PM and Australians, in a post that began: ‘Strap in, babes!’
She branded the row almost comical as Lebanese people can tell someone’s religion and their village from their surname.
‘But a lack of nuance is the least of our worries here,’ she wrote, before treating the denied allegation against Mr Morrison as a fact.
‘Morrison seems to believe that being a Muslim is so terrible a thing he can use it to ruin someone’s good standing. He can use it as a weapon. A smear!
‘And worse than that – it’s effective. We all know what this says about our country and its leadership but I’ll spell it out.
The pregnant mum-to-be branded previous visits by PM Scott Morrison to Lebanese Catholic churches in Adelaide and Sydney’s Punchbowl as insincere attempts to win votes
‘We’re full of racists and there are people ready to exploit that.’
The pregnant mum-to-be branded previous visits by the PM to Lebanese Catholic churches in Adelaide and Sydney’s Punchbowl as insincere attempts to win votes.
‘Lemme tell you what ethnic minorities have known since forever in this country.,’ she wrote.
‘Those in power (and it ain’t just Morrison) will use you when it’s politically expedient.
‘The solidarity, appreciation, respect they show is always, ALWAYS conditional. They will turn on a dime.
She added: ‘They’ll come to your church and wax lyrical about the ‘deep appreciation’ they have for your heritage.
‘And then they’ll use that very heritage – the one they so deeply appreciate – to throw you under the bus the second they need to.’
The Project host Jan Fran has unleashed an explosive attack on Prime Minister Scott Morrison and branded Australia as being ‘full of racists’
‘The next time politicians come to your church or mosque or community organisation with a camera (or not)…take it with the largest pinch of salt possible.’
The outburst was liked more than 4,000 times on Instagram with many replies agreeing with her.
‘Instead of having representation from our ACTUAL community, he eliminates the competition that is in fact a Lebanese Maronite, then breaks bread with his people,’ wrote one.
‘And because we are looking for any kind of representation, any kind of sign of acceptance… we take it.
‘You cannot be rumoured to be of a certain religion. What even is that??! The better guy didn’t win because he was sabotaged, as with many of us who a rumoured to be Middle Easterners.
‘Just look at my eyebrows honey the rumours are true. I am furious. Thanks for sharing Jan, means so much to give a hoot. A big Middle Eastern honking one!’