Senator Nick McKim on Liberal’s Mantach Scandal

Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Eric Abetz, has serious questions to answer given revelations yesterday by Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman that Senator Abetz was briefed on Damian Mantach’s Tasmanian credit card scandal in 2008.

Questions that Senator Abetz must now answer include:

• Exactly when was he briefed and by whom?

• Exactly what was he told?

• Why did he allow himself to become complicit in a cover-up of the real reason behind Mr Mantach’s resignation?

• Why did he not inform his Liberal colleagues in Victoria of the real reason behind Mr Mantach’s resignation?

• Why did he not insist that the matter be referred to Tasmania Police?

• When did he become aware that entitlements of Victorian state and federal Liberal MPs were channelled to a printing company which allegedly paid kickbacks to Mr Mantach?

• Were his or any other Tasmanian Liberal MP’s allowances used in this way?

• Was he the Senator who was a member of the Tasmanian Liberal State Executive Committee under Part VII 1. (h) of the Liberal’s Tasmanian Division Constitution at the time that he was briefed?

Senator McKim said , “Senator Abetz knew about the Tasmanian scandal in 2008, yet he chose to stay silent. How can he be trusted given he was complicit in deceiving Liberal party members who were told that Mr Mantach resigned for family reasons?

“Why should Liberal party members continue to donate and fundraise when they have been treated like mushrooms? They were kept in the dark and fed on manure.

“The fact that Mr Mantach has repaid the funds to the Liberal Party in Tasmania, and that nearly $200 000 has been repaid to the Victorian and Commonwealth parliaments, does not mean the matter is over.

“If you rob a bank, then pay the money back later, you’re still a bank robber,” he concluded.
Nick McKim, Senator for Tasmania