by NAZIYA ALVI RAHMAN – FORMER NSW Premier Nick Greiner will be tasked with getting to the bottom of the NSW Liberal Party’s systemic issues that contributed to its failure to nominate candidates for council elections, as well as alleged failures during the federal election.
The decision was finalised during a federal Liberal Party meeting in Canberra, where senior Party figures gathered to form a new committee to oversee the state division.
- The NSW division is steering further away from conservative and traditional values.
- The Party is internally divided.
- Submissions to the review will be accepted until August 1, 2025.
This extends an ongoing federal intervention by nine months, and replaces the previous panel led by former Victorian figures Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston with Greiner.
They were appointed by former Liberal Leader Peter Dutton last year to take charge of the NSW division after it failed to nominate 144 candidates for local council elections – leaving several former Liberal positions up for grabs for other candidates.
CHANGES
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley announced the changes outside Party headquarters.
“Nick Greiner will chair a panel going forward and will be supported by Peta Seaton, who was part of the previous panel comprising Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston,” she told reporters.
“The good work that has been done by the previous panel will be transferred to the new panel.”
The continuation of Stockdale and Alston was deemed unsustainable, largely due to concerns over external representation.
Both men are from Victoria, which stirred discontent within the NSW branch.
Stockdale’s remarks at a meeting of the NSW Liberal Women’s Council – where he joked about needing “reverse quotas” for men –undermined his position among Leftist Liberals.
Party insiders have blamed the NSW division’s troubles on a concerted recruitment campaign over the past 20 years to fill the Party’s rank and file with moderates or progressive members.
This has contributed to the NSW division steering further away from conservative and traditional values, which has contributed to a broader split internally.
Alongside the restructure, the Federal Party has also announced a post-mortem into its performance at the 2025 federal election.
The review will be headed by former Liberal politicians Pru Goward and Nick Minchin and is expected to examine a range of issues including campaign execution, internal party operations, and the impact of independent candidates.
According to the Party, “further relevant matters may be considered as the review progresses, where they are judged to have a material bearing on the Party’s electoral prospects”.
Submissions to the review will be accepted until August 1, with the findings likely to shape the Party’s strategy ahead of the next election cycle.PC
