But after The Age reported the opposition’s promise to introduce those amendments, Mr Newbury said a Coalition government would not make any changes to the law. In the heated meeting on Tuesday, Mr Guy said he agreed with the principle of the amendments, but a spokesman for the leader said on Wednesday that no amendments would be pursued.
“Matthew [and his spokesperson] completely contradicted the understanding of what was agreed to [in Tuesday’s meeting],” one MP said. “We expected an email clarifying that Matthew’s spokesperson had got it wrong. It just means the festering wound continues.”
The opposition will discuss the issue in its scheduled shadow cabinet meeting on Monday and party room meeting on Tuesday because they failed to resolve the concerns at its special online meeting this week, after Mr Guy backflipped on his commitment to colleagues.
Mr Guy, and those close to him, blamed Mr O’Brien and his allies for leaking the audio in which Nationals leader and Deputy Opposition leader Peter Walsh told Mr Newbury to “get f—ed”, and conservative MP Bernie Finn called shadow attorney-general Tim Smith a “f—ing idiot”.
“For Matthew to make this allegation clearly demonstrates his own insecurity as leader,” one MP said. “Leaders don’t chase shadows, they focus on winning elections.
“Matthew’s problem isn’t that the party room is leaking, his problem is that he says different things to different people.”
Another MP said: “He’s actually been caught out – is he lying to [the public] or is he lying to us?”
Some MPs believe the Coalition should drop its commitment to amending the law, given the government legislation has an in-built review mechanism slated for 2023. They say concerns about the bill going beyond banning harmful practices could be thrashed out through that process, and the opposition must neutralise its position with the government to prevent a scare campaign.
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Coalition schism widens after Guy reneged on gay conversion law amendment
Source: Philippines Alive
