NSW Liberal MP Catherine Cusack has added her voice to criticism of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s leadership by condemning his recent handling of flood relief efforts.
Ms Cusack is a member of NSW’s upper house who announced last month she would resign from the state’s Legislative Council over her anger at the response to the floods.
Her main point of contention is a decision to delay the to flood-impacted areas of Tweed, Byron and Ballina in northern NSW.
Mr Morrison said the criticism was "simply untrue" and defended not initially expanding extra disaster relief payments to these areas, saying this action was taken after assessments.
In a searing rebuke, Ms Cusack said she would not be voting for Mr Morrison at the coming election, given his response to the flood victims.
"I can’t vote for Scott Morrison, full stop, at the next federal election," she told ABC's Radio National on Tuesday.
"Doing the right thing now won’t get my vote because it doesn’t undo the wrong that he’s done to my community."
Ms Cusack said the initial decision around funding had resulted in a Nationals party seat being offered funding, but a Labor seat where she lived being excluded from extra funds.
"It’s unbelievable that any political leader would behave like this in relation to flood victims," she said.
Mr Morrison said it was "just wrong in fact" to imply certain local government areas had been favoured over others for flood relief payments.
"I said at the time we listed those first three LGAs first because they were the most obvious ones and that was the advice of our agencies," he told reporters.
"Then I said we would be assessing further which we did and we extended it to the other four."
The federal government has paid more than $1 billion in flood relief payments to 1.4 million individuals impacted by the floods through its response.
Ms Cusack backs bullying claims
Ms Cusack has also said she endorses of the prime minister as engaging in "bullying" behaviour and having "totally lost his moral compass".
Last week, Senator Fierravanti-Wells labelled the prime minister an “autocrat” and a “bully” in a Senate speech, also revealing allegations he made "racial comments" when running for preselection in 2007.
"I completely endorse that," Ms Cusack told Radio National.
"He has totally lost his moral compass.
"My speaking out about Scott Morrison — he brings this on himself by playing games with flood funding."
Speaking to SBS News last week about Senator Fierravanti-Wells' allegation, Mr Morrison denied he had engaged in bullying behaviour, and responded "no" when asked whether he would be doing some "soul-searching" about his own behaviour.
In another attack, Ms Cusack has also taken aim at what she claimed was Mr Morrison’s involvement in a protracted pre-selection mess around the selection of candidates in NSW for the federal election.
"Scott Morrison didn’t want them to go ahead because he wasn’t getting his way in terms of the candidates," she said.
"So that bullying behaviour of the Liberal party, which has robbed every single person in those seats their right to have a voice in candidate selection, has been on full display for the whole of Australia to see."
The criticism comes as the prime minister faces separate allegations against his handling of a preselection contest to win the seat of Cook in 2017.
Michael Towke has claimed Mr Morrison was involved in a campaign of racial vilification against him in the preselection battle.
He was in the running to become Liberal candidate for the seat of Cook, before he was disendorsed and replaced by Mr Morrison who went on to win the seat at the 2007 federal election.
Mr Towke has claimed that Mr Morrison was "adamant and explicit that a candidate of Lebanese heritage" could not hold the seat of Cook, "especially after the Cronulla riots".
Mr Morrison has repeatedly and emphatically denied the allegations after the details were revealed publicly.
He has described the allegations as "malicious slurs".
Mr Morrison has also recently faced separate allegations of bullying behaviour from Independent MP Jacqui Lambie and One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson.
The series of allegations have been revealed against the backdrop of the coming federal election to be held by May.
