Prepare for the dirtiest possible campaign in Wentworth, and maximum embarrassment for John Howard as both candidates reject his refugee policy and his cover-up of the SIEV-X tragedy. Webdiarist Mary Dagmar Davies wrote this letter of congratulations to King on his decision to stand in Wentworth, and posted it on a human rights website:

 

Dear Peter,

I congratulate you on your decision and your courage. Your rights and the rights of the people of Wentworth have been disregarded by the very people you had loyally served.

I wish you well in Wentworth now you are free to stand for all that is decent. I was delighted to read of your interest in SIEVX and invite you to visit the JANNAH SIEV-X MEMORIAL and place a condolence message there.

I feel so sorry for Liberal voters and silenced candidates who have seen a great political party damaged so badly by one small and vengeful man.

John Valder, by recognising the value of Margo Kingston’s NOT HAPPY, JOHN!, has renewed my belief in and hope for Australia.

It chills me that John Howard who was Australian Father of the Year in 1997, could lock up children and put policies in place based on lies which ultimately caused a situation that brought about the death of so many innocents.

I wish you a great victory in Wentworth.

MARY DAGMAR DAVIES, Founder and coordinator, JANNAH THE SIEVX MEMORIAL

***

Boom! Jason Falinski, the president of Wentworth’s Point Piper Branch of the Liberal Party : the branch which sponsored Turnbull’s branch stack to topple King and who is helping Turnbull’s campaign – fired back this email to Mary:

Mary,

As someone who has supported your cause for sometime and believed in much that you have written I cannot tell you how angry your below email makes me.

Peter King is nothing more than a low life of the highest order who has had three years to argue the case for refugees within the Liberal Party and more importantly change government policy – and what has he done? Nothing!

What has he got to show us for all his well-hidden, but undoubtedly sincere, concern? Nothing! He was far too interested in applying for seven parliamentary overseas trips this year alone.

Furthermore, at the last election he was all too happy to campaign on the Children Overboard issue and gain entry into federal parliament, playing to the worst fears of the electorate.

And now he has been rejected by the Liberal Party he wants us to believe that he was on our side all along. This low life will say and do anything to get a vote, and I am afraid that your email might well assist him in this despicable piece of behaviour.

If we are to be consistent, we should strongly advocate a vote against Peter King and his ilk. I apologise for being heated in this email, but as you can guess I feel very strongly about this particular man and his sudden discovery of morality.

Jason Falinski

***

So it looks like both Turnbull and King think there’s something very amiss in the SIEV-X saga, and in Liberal refugee policy, while John Howard pretends everything is hunky dory on both matters.

This is going to be seriously wild.

PS: After publishing this story, Jason rang back: “This is a personal view which in no way relates to the position of the Liberal Party. My essential message was about the consistency of refugee activists.”