Australian liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has launched an extraordinary attack on the prime minister, Scott Morrison, in parliament, labeling him an “autocrat [and] a bully who has no moral compass”.

The senator, who was recently demoted to an unwinnable seat on the Liberal Party's NSW Senate ticket, accused the prime minister of wrecking the Liberal Party in a late-night speech in the upper house on Tuesday.

Fierravanti-Wells told the Senate that Morrison was "unfit to be Prime Minister" and that his recent involvement in NSW branch preselections had "destroyed the Liberal Party."

Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells just launched an incredible attack on PM Scott Morrison and Alex Hawke in the Senate - says Morrison is “not fit to be Prime Minister” and claims he and Hawke “destroyed the Liberal Party in NSW” pic.twitter.com/P1JGVSC1Kv

— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) March 29, 2022

She also accused the immigration minister, Alex Hawke - Morrison's sidekick and a prominent factional player in NSW – of "corrupt shenanigans" within the Liberal party as she lamented her loss of a seat on the ticket ahead of the May election.

“In my public life, I have met ruthless people. Morrison tops the list followed closely by Hawke,” she said. “Morrison is not interested in a rules-based order. It is his way or the highway. An autocrat, a bully who has no moral compass.”

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Her remarks come as Prime Minister Scott Morrison is poised to call a general election in the coming weeks. The Coalition government he leads is lagging Labor in the polls and facing criticism for a variety of problems, notably Morrison's handling of the flooding catastrophe in New South Wales.

Fierravanti-Wells also aimed at Morrison’s public profession of his evangelical religion, saying his actions “conflict with his portrayal as a man of faith”: “He has used his so-called faith as a marketing advantage.”

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells lays into Scott Morrison in a late night Senate, calling him an autocrat and a bully pic.twitter.com/Q2wyvYUICu

— Andrew Brown (@AndrewBrownAU) March 29, 2022

Earlier this week, she accused the party of having its own “mean girl” culture and spoke about “the stress associated with factional warfare”.

On Tuesday night, only hours after the federal budget was released, the senator delivered a statement in the upper chamber in which she declared, "There is a very suitable proverb here — the fish stinks from the head."

Morrison and Hawke, according to Fierravanti-Wells, have damaged the Liberal Party in NSW by stomping on its constitution.

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The senator was highly critical of the recent preselection process, which had been delayed for a long time until the national executive took over the division, allowing Morrison and Hawke to install favored candidates, including current members. She claimed the process had led to “captain’s picks” which party members opposed.

“I have received hundreds if not thousands of emails outlining their disgust. They have lost faith in the party. They want to leave,” Fierravanti-Wells said in the Senate.

“They don’t like Morrison and they don’t trust him. They continue to despair at our prospects for the next federal election. And they blame Morrison for this. Our members do not want to help in the upcoming election. Morrison is not fit to be prime minister. And Hawke certainly is not fit to be a minister.”

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