Teal backer Simon Holmes a Court cops criticism for Scott Morrison, Rolf Harris comparison

Multi-millionaire teal backer Simon Holmes a Court has been blasted after he compared Scott Morrison’s popularity to that of convicted paedophile Rolf Harris.

The social media post has prompted senior Liberals to demand an apology for the former prime minister and that the so-called teal independents backed by Mr Holmes a Court’s Climate 200 body distance themselves from him.

Mr Holmes a Court made the comparison in response to Mr Morrison’s photo of himself, his wife Jenny, US president-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania captioned “HNY 2025 from Mar-a-Lago”.

The businessman and climate activist wrote that if Mr Morrison were to ever read the replies to the tweet, “it’ll be the second time he’ll have wished he could stay in the US and avoid coming back home” – an apparent reference to the former PM’s infamous Hawaii trip in 2019.

“(Mr) Morrison is almost as popular as Rolf Harris,” Mr Holmes a Court wrote.

His comparison to the late Australian entertainer, a convicted child sex offender, attracted immediate ire.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the post was “disgusting” and “juvenile” and Mr Holmes a Court owed the former PM an apology.

“The tweet should have been deleted yesterday, and he should apologise to Scott Morrison,” she told The Nightly.

“Scott Morrison deserves respect for his service to Australia, regardless of whether you agree with his politics or his record.”

“How can any of the teals claim they are about lifting the standard of politics if they take Simon Holmes a Court’s money? This is a test for all politicians who have taken money from him and everyone that works at Climate 200.”

WA Senator Michaelia Cash demanded independent Curtin MP Kate Chaney – who received $450,000 over seven transactions from Climate 200 in the last election campaign – condemn the comments.

“Mr Holmes a Court’s comments are a disgrace and nothing more than a grubby personal attack. He needs to work on his own behaviour instead of lecturing the Australian public about improving integrity in politics and public life,” Senator Cash, who was recently made the Coalition’s upper house leader, said.

Ms Chaney’s Floreat electorate office was open on Friday but a spokeswoman said she was on holidays.

Senator Cash, who served under Mr Morrison as Attorney General, called on Mr Holmes a Court to apologise for the inflammatory X post.

“Mr Holmes a Court should apologise to Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny, and each of his Teal candidates should publicly disavow the comments comparing a former Australian PM to a convicted child sex offender,” she said.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson also called on teal MPs to explain whether they endorsed Mr Holmes a Court’s “unhinged” views.

“Australia should be thanking Scott Morrison for keeping up the lines of communication with the next president of our most important ally, not vilifying him,” he said.

“It reflects on the teals that their chief fundraiser thinks this is comparable to child sexual abuse.

“But it will harm our national interest if the teals hold the balance of power after the next election and can influence the foreign policy of a weak Labor Government.”

Mr Holmes a Court declined to comment.

North Sydney MP Kylea Tink dismissed his influence.

“Simon Holmes a Court’s opinions are his own. He was not, nor has never been, my chief fundraiser and I have never consulted him on policy,” she told The Australian.

It’s the second attack on the teals as a group in a month after billionaire Clive Palmer sought to trademark the terms “teals” and “The Teal Party”.

Independent member for Wentworth Allegra Spender told the National Press Club in October she was sick of the constant suggestions that Mr Holmes a Court or some other man was pulling the strings and controlling women in Parliament.

“I’m a woman of my middle ages, I’ve spent 10 or 15 years running companies, I’ve got three kids, I’ve got a life that I’m trying to run here and I feel this continual … insinuation that somebody out there is pulling the strings I think is insulting to me but I think it’s insulting to women around Australia,” she said.

“I have a problem with this sort of idea that women like myself get here and there’s someone covertly hiding behind us pulling all the strings.

“Women, we make up our own minds, it’s a thing.”

The teal wave was one of the most defining features of the 2022 election, and Climate 200 is preparing to support an even larger swathe of candidates at this year’s poll.

Independent community candidates will, again, overwhelmingly target Liberal-held seats as they seek to further capitalise on major party disenchantment and increase the size of the crossbench in what could push Labor into minority Government.

Political marketing expert Andrew Hughes said this was exactly why the teals should band together rather than bristle at being seen as a collective.

“If you’re the teals, this is where it really matters. Because now this is the election where you’re going to have the most influence, the most power and the most return on who you are,” he told The West.

“So if I was them, I’d be throwing everything including the kitchen sink at a decent campaign this time around.”

He thought the teals had not managed to land a blow on Liberal leader Peter Dutton – not even on his nuclear power policy, which Dr Hughes thought should be ripe pickings – because they weren’t consistent or coordinated.

“Had they been a group and been more coordinated and had a simple messaging strategy on that, they would have hit him a little bit harder,” he said.

The Coalition has in recent months ramped up its warning that if Labor was forced to rely on the support of teals or the Greens, that would weaken Australia.

Mr Palmer, the billionaire mining magnate, last month lodged an application to trademark a raft of terms relating to “teal” and the “Teal Party”, in an effort to prevent them being used for political or advertising usages.

Ms Ley said she felt sorry for the crossbenchers who had “spent the last four years telling everyone they’re not a political party, and don’t call us that, we’re a series of independents making independent decisions” but may now find themselves fighting the trademarking of the term teals.

“We’ve got one billionaire, Clive Palmer, building the trademarking of the teal brand, another billionaire Holmes A Court actually trying to create more teals,” she said.

Dr Hughes said the teals needed to prepare for other players gearing up to run disinformation campaigns about who was or wasn’t among their number.

“(Jointly campaigning) removes that … confusion on who is a teal, because a lot of people claim to be,” he said.

“It provides a way for the average voter out there who isn’t terribly engaged in politics to be honest, to go, ‘Right, okay, so you’re actually a teal, now I can identify with you’.”