The Liberal party’s infighting over preselecting federal candidates is heading back to the supreme court after a member of the NSW state executive began fresh legal action on Tuesday, challenging the federal party’s intervention to save two ministers and a sitting MP.
A member of the NSW state executive, Matthew Camenzuli, has filed in the NSW supreme court a challenge to the endorsement of the sitting MPs, which was achieved last week by a brief takeover of the troubled NSW branch by a special committee appointed by the federal party.
The new legal action was confirmed by executives in the Liberal party and sets the scene for a further ugly public stoush just weeks before the federal election, due in May.
A three-person committee, acting on behalf of the prime minister, Scott Morrison, took over the NSW branch for 72 hours last week and endorsed the immigration minister and member for Mitchell, Alex Hawke, the environment minister and MP for Farrer, Sussan Ley, and the MP for North Sydney, Trent Zimmerman, who is a key figure in the moderate faction.
All three had been facing challenges for preselection. In the case of Ley, she was likely to lose her seat to a conservative right-winger, Christian Ellis, if a branch vote was held. The other two MPs faced an uncertain outcome.
Morrison has made it clear he wants his ministers and Zimmerman to run again.
The brief takeover was deemed necessary by the federal executive after months of delays within the NSW branch, which has been unable to schedule rank and file preselections in up to nine winnable seats because of a bitter factional war.
Under changes to the NSW Liberal party constitution introduced in 2018 and championed by former prime minister Tony Abbott, the NSW party was supposed to allow branch members a much bigger say in candidate selection via branch plebiscites, which gave ordinary members a vote.
Instead, factional warlords in the party have attempted to delay the process – there was a nine month delay in vetting possible candidates – and they have instead been attempting a carve-up of winnable seats.
But this too has stalled. The rules require a 90% vote to overrule the constitution and install candidates administratively.
With just weeks until the federal election in May, the Liberal party is without candidates in Warringah, Hughes, Eden-Monaro and Parramatta. The NSW division appeared to be edging toward holding plebiscites to choose candidates in these seats, but time is running out and some fear the federal executive is again planning to intervene.
Camenzuli, a strong supporter of plebiscites, appears to have decided to take the matter to the courts.
NSW senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells sent a bulletin to members on Tuesday afternoon announcing Camenzuli had commenced proceedings in the court to “uphold your rights and challenge the validity of the committee’s decision to impose candidates in New South Wales”.
“There is now a serious question as to the legality of the processes that the federal executive has ‘imposed’ on our division,” who is backing the move, she wrote.
“What is the precedent that is being set when a ‘captain’s pick’ can be foisted on our division by the federal executive?
“I believe that the ‘manufactured’ delay in selecting candidates was deliberately designed to avoid plebiscites and trample on the rights of members!” she wrote.
“What is the point of our NSW Liberal Party Constitution if it can be trodden on and overridden in such a callous manner? I appreciate some may argue ‘what’s done is done’ and ‘best get on with it’ but this is not a precedent we can tolerate and let stand!”
Fierravanti-Wells is also facing an uncertain future as there are multiple candidates including senator Jim Molan competing for the third winnable spot on the Coalition’s Senate ticket.
Comment has been sought from the federal Liberal party.
