Former Liberal Party leader and Howard Government Minister Malcolm Turnbull has today announced that he will not be contesting the seat of Wentworth in this year’s federal election.
In an email to subscribers to his website today Mr. Turnbull thanked his constituents, family, personal staff and supportive party colleagues for their support during his five and a half years in parliament.
The decision was not taken lightly by Mr. Turnbull, who had been considering his future in parliament since he lost the leadership of the Liberal party in a spill to present leader Tony Abbott last year. In the email Turnbull said that after he lost the leadership he had resolved to not cause a by-election by resigning from parliament. Turnbull will continue to represent Wentworth until parliament is dissolved for the next election.
Mr. Turnbull mentioned that a highlight of his two terms in parliament was during his time as Environment and Water Minister in the Howard Government. In this position he brought about the federalisation of the Murray Darling System’s water management. He also expressed his disappointment in the Liberal Party’s opposition to a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme which had been a policy whilst he was Environment minister.
Mr. Turnbull said that he is “looking forward” to “pursuing new opportunities in the private sector” with his wife, Lucy, and wishes Liberal Party leaders Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop “every success in this election year.”
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An apology to readers: technical issues delayed the publication of this article by two hours.
1 responses:
not any more! He's back!!!!
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