Niki Knows Factions

 “In a world where merit really mattered, Marles would be the one to be dispatched. His performance has been so lacklustre that Peter Dutton ate him for breakfast on Nine’s Today whenever they appeared together.

The axing showed Marles’ weakness and lack of judgment, ensuring that Husic’s branding of him as a “factional assassin” sticks for the remainder of his career. It is definitely not a badge of honour.

Meanwhile, as the Liberal right refused to acknowledge that its leap ever further from the centre contributed to successive catastrophic defeats, Angus Taylor – aided and abetted by Tony Abbott – poached Trumpeteer Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price from the Nationals.

Then, think about this. Last year, after Bill Shorten and Stephen Jones realised they were surplus to requirements, Dreyfus asked if the prime minister wanted him gone. He was told to stay.

Dreyfus is now expected to resign, so there will be a byelection in Isaacs, which has a huge margin. By then, the mood might have soured, thanks in part to Marles. If the Liberals choose an attractive candidate (not Josh Frydenberg), voters could decide to give the government a big slap. Ley could consolidate. Stranger things have happened.

Niki Savva is a regular SMH columnist and author of The Road to Ruin, Plots and Prayers and Bulldozed, the trilogy chronicling nine years of LNP Coalition rule.