Leaking explosive text messages won’t solve the Liberals’ toxic internal dispute

‘Those of us who have peeked inside the feudal court of the NSW Liberals can vouch that the prime minister Scott Morrison (right) and Alex Hawke (left) are extremely unpopular with many right and moderate factional figures,’ writes Anne Davies. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

If one was looking for a motive for the extraordinary leak of text messages describing the prime minister, Scott Morrison, as “a horrible, horrible person”, “a fraud” and a “psycho”, then the wild factional brawl within the New South Wales division of the Liberals is a good place to start.

“This is a major hit job by NSW on Morrison and his offsider, [Alex] Hawke,” one senior NSW Liberal said of the blue-on-blue attack.