The dumped West Australian MP Dennis Jensen has hit out at what he says are machine politics and branch stacking in the Liberal Party and is threatening to run as an independent in the seat of Tangey.
Dr Jensen delivered a blistering speech late on Monday night to Parliament, where he used privilege to accuse his Liberal Party rival Ben Morton of branch stacking his way to victory in the recent preselection and described the "Coalition as the worst economic managers".
Dr Jensen did not name Mr Morton once, but excoriated the party's former state director's motives for challenging him for preselection, calling him "the branch stackers and Liberal Party party machine candidate".
"The Liberal apparatchik candidate clearly believes that his bosses are the Liberal Party, not the constituents. Indeed, he believes he has a right to the seat as did some Liberal Party powerbrokers.
"He is entitled to a safe seat, it was about him, and the Liberal Party only; the constituents to him were irrelevant," he said.
Dr Jensen threatened to run as an independent and criticised the Liberal Party preselectors as "faceless", which is a common political insult used by the Liberal Party to describe Labor's backroom powerbrokers.
He also threw his support behind Labor's proposed royal commission into the banking sector, which has been rocked by a series of scandals.
"We really need to have a thorough review of the banks, indeed in my view a royal commission into the behaviour of the banks."
He criticised Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's position of boosting funding for banking regulator the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, saying: "Why would ASIC's performance be any better than it is now?"
Dr Jensen lauded his own main achievement in Parliament as helping roll Mr Turnbull's leadership in 2009 over emissions trading policy. He is in the unique position of having triggered spills for both Mr Turnbull and Tony Abbott, who replaced Mr Turnbull as the anti-carbon tax candidate.
"I did a lot of the Liberal cause ... for instance, on the issue of the ETS, which I opposed while most of the party supported it," he said.
"It was ultimately by getting rid of the ETS as policy, that we became a significant force opposing Labor in the 2010 and 2013 elections," he said.
"I have never been an apparatchik or yes-man," he declared.
He said he had achieved "record margins" at the polls in the 2010 and "increased that record" in 2013 elections.
Dr Jensen won the safe seat of Tangey by a 12 per cent margin in 2010 and improved that to almost 15 per cent on the back of the Coalition's victory in 2013.
"What matters to the Liberal Party is conformity, fundraising and branch stacking," Dr Jensen said.
Complaining that democracy had "lost its way", he hit out the "small thinking" on both sides of politics.
He said the poor should pay more tax and claimed that the rich were paying for "half the population paying no net tax", including their welfare.
"This is unsustainable and there is nothing fundamental or structural being done about. These issues need to be addressed," he declared.
He said: "The Coalition are the worst economic managers," but added "apart from all others".
Dr Jensen has been dumped by preselectors a total three times but was in the past saved by leaders. But he is unlikely to expect any last-minute intervention from Mr Turnbull, given his role in helping topple Mr Turnbull in 2009.
