NSW Liberal Party members are in revolt as the Prime Minister and NSW Premier move to revoke their constitutional right to preselect federal candidates.
In a move described as a “death wish”, the Party’s Federal Executive has sidelined the NSW Executive and handed preselection responsibilities to Scott Morrison, Dominic Perrottet and former Federal President Christine McDiven.
- Liberal source says factional interests have been placed ahead of members’ constitutional rights.
- Decision pits grassroots against the political class within the Party.
- Widespead election strike by volunteers threatened.
Senior NSW Liberals have warned that “parachuting in” factional operatives would see members and volunteers abandon the Party at the May election.
The electorates fearful of a “captain’s pick” being imposed on them include Hughes, Warringah, Parramatta, Eden-Monaro, Fowler, Grayndler, Greenway, McMahon and Newcastle.
DEATH WISH
“This is Mr Morrison’s death wish,” Heathcote MP and Hughes local Lee Evans said.
He said branch members would refuse to work on polling booths or hand out how-to-vote cards if they had candidates imposed on them.
It was expected former Young Liberal president Alex Dore, who is not a local and did not nominate, would be parachuted into Hughes, over the top of senior Party figure and family advocate Gwen Cherne, who is also a war widow.
In Warringah, the response from senior Liberals has been just as harsh.
“The members are bracing themselves for a candidate to be forced on them because the dominant moderate [Left] faction feels it’s losing control,” a senior Liberal member said.
“If that happens, it will cause total anarchy.”
Another Liberal Party source said factional interests had been placed ahead of members’ constitutional rights.
IMPOSING
“Self-interest has prevailed, from the Left faction in particular, for the purpose of imposing an out-of-area, Left faction candidate, who is otherwise ineligible,” the source said.
“We appear to be going out of our way to disenfranchise our members and supporters?
“The current situation is causing enormous disunity within the Party only weeks out from a critically important federal election campaign.
“It is pitting the grassroots membership against the political class within the Party.”
Confirmation of the federal takeover of the NSW Liberals was announced in a media statement released today.
STATEMENT
“Today the Federal Executive of the Liberal Party resolved unanimously to intervene and appoint a Committee to take over the management of the NSW Division,” the statement said.
“The term of the appointment of the Committee commenced immediately upon the passing of this resolution and ends at 6pm on Saturday, April 2, 2022.
“The intervention ground is based on the circumstance that decisions have not been made in relation to the endorsement of candidates where there is one or more nomination from candidates, namely in the seats of Eden-Monaro, Fowler, Grayndler, Greenway, Hughes, McMahon, Newcastle, Parramatta and Warringah.
“The Committee may select and endorse a candidate for each of these seats.
“The Committee shall be comprised of Mrs Christine McDiven, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Premier Dominic Perrottet.” PC
The recent undemocratic behaviour by factional self interests with no control exerted by the political leadership will inevitably result in a Labor government. This should enable post election for a thorough clean out at all levels of the Party and give back control to grass roots members.
Well done Matthew Camenzuli!
Maybe Liberals have forgotten the 2019 LINO dominated selection of candidates when Jim Molan was placed in what is considered to be an unwinable Senate position because he was not a LINO but succeeded in being elected?
Until the Lino left are removed the internal executive problems will continue, members need to be determined to force that result.
Why would The Australian publish a story headlined that Jim Molan said he would not run for the Senate again just after he has been confirmed for a top position on the Liberal Senate candidate list?
Looks like another ghost story to me, mischief making, after all a ghost supporter has lost that position this time and has decided to resign, but first making some bullying reference comments adding fuel to the barely smouldering Coalition fire while the Union Labor bullying fire continues to be a wildfire and far from being put out.
But it didn’t result is Senator Molan’s election, though he had secured the highest personal vote ever that did not equal a quota. It was a casual vacancy that allowed Senator Molan to be begrudgingly assigned a position within the senate.
What that election did show, was the value of voting below the line. Don’t gift your vote to factional entitlement, vote for 12 representatives of YOUR choice below the line.
” Don’t gift your vote to factional entitlement […]”
Yeah, and don’t give it to them, either.
Any support for a Labor/Green Government should be viewed simply as treason as they too would follow Traitor Dan by supporting China against all Australians wishes and lives! Why we now while they are forcing this issue means we have the best chance for a totally new Government behind One Nation, United Australia Party, GAP, RUA, and Liberal democrats! So many wiser choices for an Australian future!
Over sixty years member & voter of LP, no longer a true Conservative party have been infiltrated with wets & moderates, minor parties looking very strong.
Unfortunately people seem to have forgotten that Union Labor also have factions, and many more than the Liberal Party have. And that the “faceless men” of now Union Labor are the decision makers selecting candidates and getting rid of MPs who do not meet their expectations of loyalty and silence.
The excuse given for the taking away of the members rights to choose their candidate, was the purported need to expedite endorsements, so the decision makers cancelled an already organized preselection in Parramatta for some committee to determine an outcome some week later. People are questioning whether this is the type of people that you want to be in charge of the country?
Those people would not be well informed or support the LINO left.
Well at least we can start the Party again with a new Constitution when all MPs are voted out – we should push to corporatise all political parties which would promote intraparty democracy transparency disclosure get rid of lobbyists and factions- I think England in May looks most attractive
So don’t stay and fight to get rid of the LINO left, ignore their history beginning around the time of the biggest branch stacking in history to replace sitting Liberal MP in Wentworth Peter King and then from that time infiltrating the party executive and recruiting more LINO left, including the ones who worked to defeat Tony Abbott as leader (before that Dr Brendan Nelson) who call themselves the “Black Hand” faction, who used Union established (AWU executive Shorten and other unionists) activist organisation GetUp to help them?
Liberal member but no longer. Voted Liberal for 60 years but no longer The LP is no longer democratic but a Green Party.
A comment that ignores the not LINO real Liberal MPs.
The ones including National centre-left MPs being opposed by candidates masquerading as Independent, a whole group of them saying they are not a political party, at the 2019 election and now under the Climate200 banner preparing for 2022.
So the corporation wants total control against the voters wishes 🙁 That ain’t going to end well! Sounds like a grass roots revolt is required from the ones who still feel this country is worth it! From UAP, ON,GAP, RUA, LD’s and either leave off or at least put at the bottom all sitting members of the majors 🙂 And lets bring our counry back to what it should be 🙂
The real tragedy here is that all the expertise within UAP, PHON, GAP, RUA, LDP and others should be part of a Liberal Party like the one that Menzies created. They’ve all bee formed by frustrated and disaffected Liberals who’ve been driven to the conclusion that today’s Liberal party is beyond recovery.
Menzies Liberalism is far from dead, everywhere but within the Liberal party itself.
There is hope, there will be lots of movement, mergers, failures, cooperative deals. We cannot hope to repair decades of damage and neglect with just one election, that said we can still bring about long overdue change. The people will prevail.
“Today the Federal Executive of the Liberal Party resolved unanimously to intervene and appoint a Committee […]”.
LOL: For God so loved the world, he didn’t send a committee.
For all the evidence from SA and WA that parachuting-in yet more utterly hopeless Liberal ‘moderates’ is electoral suicide, Morrison Hawke and Co don’t seem to be able to help themselves. The Bennelong Motion didn’t make it so much as past a single federal election.
Was that the power of the LINO executive and MPs or something else to blame PM Morrison for?
The Liberal Party seems to be consciously destroying itself. The terrible campaigns in the Queensland, WA and SA elections were from a party who do not want to hold office. Everything they did was to alienate their traditional voters while courting the green votes they were never going to get. This is a continuing suicide note from a party that no longer serves the Australian people (not that the ALP or Watermelons do either). Now with this Morrison yet again betrays the people, betrays their values and ensures a new box of nails for the Liberal coffin. The real surprise is, that it isn’t a surprise. From a PM whose relationship with the truth is non-existent to a Premier who has done nothing for the people of NSW, at all, ever.
Reading these comments it is obvious to me that commentators have not been following the history and timeline, and that one person who first attempted to get the support of Union Labor then organised branch stacking to become a Liberal candidate and was on a mission as a self confessed globalist left and LINO to wreck the Liberal Party (Coalition).
That person has continued to criticise and even support candidates masquerading as Independent to continue on that mission.
Tell Albo to book the removalists……
Hope that removalist has the foresight to leave a fridge magnet on the Albanese appliance, it’s just good business to be securing those soon follow jobs.
How quickly people seem to have forgotten “Kevin from Queensland” here to help, and like Albo’s claims to have moved from far left to right within Union Labor, Kevin told ABC Compass in 2006 that he is a Christian Socialist but for the 2007 election campaigned as a Fiscal Conservative, and no mention of his Deputy Gillard merging her Socialist Forum faction with the Marxist Fabian Society not long before her appointment.
The “mean girls” affair has spotlighted real Union Labor and exposed their gender based smearing campaigns directed towards Liberal-Coalition Prime Ministers ever since the Gillard Union Labor allegations that Tony Abbott is a misogynist, a spin doctor from UK Labor smearing tactic first used against a UK Opposition Leader by UK Labour. He wrote that speech PM Gillard made in Parliament promoted as her own.
As the investigative journalists probe and interview it has become clear that Union Labor have problems far greater than the Coalition has, and I mean real problems not political spin.
Who is Anthony Albanese, what has he achieved so far and what are Union Labor’s policies for and after the 2022 Federal Election?