Cory Bernardi, George Christensen, SNL: This week's winners and losers in federal politics
Updated
What a week in politics. Fran Kelly and Patricia Karvelas, hosts of the Party Room, choose their winners and losers.
Loser: Cory Bernardi
Cory Bernardi is a loser because part of the power he had in the Coalition and the Liberal Party came from the fact that he was a dissident inside the tent.
He keeps talking about the tent, but part of his power up until now has been that he is in the tent.
Sure he's a crossbench senator, which still gives him some significant influence, but ultimately I think he's lost a lot of his political capital overnight.
He's going to really struggle to be a strong, right-wing political figure in a crowded field with One Nation. In South Australia Nick Xenophon is also a populist figure, and I think he and One Nation are better communicators who have more cut through. Patricia Karvelas
Winner: George Christensen
The LNP's George Christensen is a winner, simply because Cory Bernardi leaving the Liberal Party like he did put up in lights conservatives' disenchantment with Malcolm Turnbull, and gives an example of the lengths they might go to.
Turnbull doesn't want Christensen or anyone else in that party room getting any big ideas about leaving too, because he only has a one-seat majority.
Christensen has wasted no time in reminding the prime minister of that: after Bernardi left, he said he'd cross the floor to support a Bob Katter bill on a Royal Commission into the banks. He's there, he's got that power. Fran Kelly
Loser: Saturday Night Live
I never thought I'd say this, but I think Saturday Night Live is the loser, even though we all love it. How bad was the Australian accent in their Donald Trump/Malcolm Turnbull phonecall skit? Honestly, they have no idea.
Have they ever listened to Malcolm Turnbull? Great skit, bad accent. Fran
Winner: The voters
The people, the voters, are the real winner after the scrapping of politicians' gold passes. I think the gold pass is one of those really symbolic perks that ex-politicians get.
There had already been a little bit of reform to the system, but people were effectively grandfathered in and could still have access to it. Now that it's been killed, smashed, gotten rid of, I think the people win, because I think it's outrageous that politicians have that much excess linked into their salary package.
I think the people win when you level the playing field and we all get treated more equally in terms of our working rights. Patricia
Broke even: Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull is a winner and a loser because although he had such a terrible, terrible week, he seems to have won the hearts and minds at least of his backbench with his outburst on Wednesday. Though I must say, judging by all the texts and tweets I got today, a lot of people don't care for it at all. Fran
Topics: turnbull-malcolm, political-parties, federal-government, government-and-politics, canberra-2600
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