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Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared that “freedom matters”, in response to the stir over him liking an anti-Tony Abbott Instagram account.
Mr Turnbull, his wife Lucy and son Alex appeared to have liked the Vote Tony Out Instagram account earlier this week.
The account is part of a campaign to oust Mr Abbott from the seat of Warringah, which he has held since 1994.
Mr Turmbull’s decision to ‘like’ it resulted in the conservative Roseville branch of the Liberal Party voting to expel him on Tuesday night.
Today Mr Turnbull tweeted that he did not necessarily support the grassroots campaign.
“It’s pretty obvious really but following someone on Instagram or Twitter does not imply support, approval or endorsement — simply that you are for whatever reason currently interested in seeing the followed person’s posts in your feed,” he wrote.
Mr Abbott said on Wednesday afternoon he was happy to give Mr Turnbull and his family the benefit of the doubt.
“Maybe he’s just keeping an eye on them so he can help me more effectively,” he said on 2GB.
“There are lots of people who follow sites not because they particularly support the site but because they want to know what the bad guys are up to. That’s the interpretation I’d like to put on it.
“Malcolm gave me plenty of support in Warringah last time, and if he’s going to get involved at all that’s what I’d be hoping for this time.”
Mr Abbott said the Roseville branch motion was a matter for the branch.
“What the Roseville branch does is a matter for the Roseville branch. I think it would be a pretty radical thing for a political party to no longer want someone who had until recently led it, and I’m not normally in support of radical things,” he said.
“But it is certainly the duty of all Liberals to work for and not against Liberal candidates.”
The Vote Tony Out account had 11,000 followers as of Thursday morning, and included champion surfer Layne Beachley among its supporters.
Mr Abbott was ousted as prime minister by Mr Turnbull in 2015, and was a key backer of the campaign to remove Mr Turnbull from The Lodge earlier this year.
Topics: government-and-politics, liberals, political-parties, turnbull-malcolm, abbott-tony, australia
