THE Speaker of the House of Representatives, Peter Slipper, says he would not have taken the job if he had believed it would guarantee Labor staying in power for the full term.
The controversial MP said he left the Queensland Liberal-National Party because he was being ''bullied''.
Peter Slipper ... quit Coalition.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
He questioned statements by the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, that the Coalition was pushing him out of Parliament when Labor swooped.
Mr Slipper said Mr Abbott had told him in August he would help him find a seat as moves were afoot to replace him in Fisher with the former minister Mal Brough.
"Tony said to me he would back me for whatever seat I ran for.'' The federal director of the Liberal Party, Brian Loughnane, who was at the meeting, rejected this yesterday. ''He did not endorse him for any seat,'' he said.
Last month, on the last day of Parliament for the year, Labor scored a coup when the speaker, Harry Jenkins, resigned and went to the Labor backbench.
Mr Slipper accepted the offer to replace Mr Jenkins.
The coup gave the minority Labor government a precious extra seat on the floor of the hung Parliament, doubling its one-seat majority. This made it more likely the government would last until the next election is due in the spring of 2013.
Mr Slipper told the Herald that before his defection, he had concluded the government would last because of the ''brilliant'' job the manager of government business, Anthony Albanese, was doing in marshalling crossbench support for vital votes.
"I would not have accepted this position if my election to this office was going to guarantee the government's endurance in office,'' he said. It made sense to take the job, he said. ''They bullied me out of the LNP.''
Mr Slipper promised a tougher approach and wants questions cut from 45 seconds to 30 and answers reduced from four minutes to three.
Until the defection, Mr Abbott was trying to convince the LNP to delay pushing Mr Slipper. He was worried that if Mr Slipper lost his preselection, he would defect to the crossbenches for the rest of the term.
After the coup, the Coalition washed its hands of Mr Slipper, who has left unanswered questions about his use of parliamentary entitlements. ''We were trying to manage Peter Slipper out of the Parliament,'' Mr Abbott said.
Mr Slipper found this comment ''quite astounding''.
"I believe Tony was telling the truth. He's a good friend, an old friend. He came to my wedding five years ago. I supported him for the leadership,'' he said.
"I assume Tony told me the truth but people in the LNP, he can't control them.''
Mr Slipper asked for the meeting in Mr Abbott's office in August because Mr Brough had stacked the numbers to take over his seat. ''We talked through the issue. Nobody was excited about Mal Brough running for Fisher.''
Mr Slipper said he told Mr Abbott: "The first job he wants is mine, then yours.'' He said Mr Abbott told him he would help him find a seat and he took this to mean either keeping Fisher or moving to the adjacent Fairfax.
Mr Loughnane scoffed. ''The meeting was all Peter Slipper talking and Tony listening,'' he said.