The New South Wales Liberals’ failure to nominate in some local council elections has spilled over into accusations of factional warfare, with moderates warning a review should not be used as a pretext to dump the president, Don Harwin, or usher in federal intervention.
Brian Loughnane, the former federal Liberal director and reviewer of the 2022 election defeat, has been called in to examine the nomination failure, for which state director Richard Shields was sacked.
Despite the Liberal party’s decision not to take legal action against the NSW Electoral Commission, fallout over the debacle is leaking into the federal domain, with the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, keen to ensure the organisation is fit to fight the next election.
The review’s terms of reference include the NSW division’s state of preparedness for the poll, which is due by May 2025. Loughnane will report back on 2 September, one day before a meeting of the federal executive, to decide if there are grounds under the party’s federal constitution to intervene.
On Monday, former prime minister Tony Abbott described the branch as a “factional plaything for too long”, reportedly telling the Australian Financial Review that it “must be cleaned up lest it start to interfere with our federal campaign to save Australia from a really bad government”.
On Wednesday broadcaster Ray Hadley accused two state conservatives – shadow attorney general Alister Henskens and Lane Cove MP Anthony Roberts – of a “cowardly” push against Harwin and the NSW Liberal leader, Mark Speakman.
Hadley claimed to have received text messages from the pair and urged them to “get the balls to actually come on this program and say what you’re saying to me privately”.
“Stop sending me text messages. Cowardly. Letting me be your mouthpiece.
“Get on the air now and tell the left of your party you’ve had a gutful of them.
“You know who you are from the right: Anthony Roberts, Alistair Henskens. Come on. Get on here and challenge them. Have a bit of courage for the sake of NSW politics.”
Roberts told Guardian Australia that he made his position clear publicly last week: “That both the state president and state director had to go, and we need federal intervention.”
“I’ve said that openly and on the record on a number of occasions since. My position hasn’t changed … It’s rather clear, there’s not a lot of grey there,” he said.
Henskens said in a statement: “Like all Liberals I have been dismayed by the events of seven days ago where 140 endorsed Liberal candidates for local government elections were not lodged by head office as was intended.”
“Clearly change is needed and I will make that clear in my submission to the review by Brian Loughnane.”
Henskens noted reports that “Hadley has clarified that I did not call for a change in the leadership of the NSW parliamentary Liberal party”.
“Mark Speakman has my support as leader.”
Speakman, the leader of the opposition, said he had “accepted Mr Henskens’ denial of the original allegations”.
Several senior Liberals told Guardian Australia that conservatives are “definitely” keen to use the scrutiny on the NSW division to weaken the hold of moderates.
One senior Liberal said it was “absurd” that blame was being directed at Harwin for the failure to nominate, which was the responsibility of the state director.
“God knows what state we’d be in if Don Harwin weren’t president,” they said. “When it came to finding the candidates, training them, raising money – he did a great job.
“Then when it came to the easy thing to do – to nominate, to put the forms in – that was the thing that got stuffed up.
“The idea that Don Harwin or anyone else on the executive is responsible for this disaster … is beyond belief.
“Abbott coming in is just more factionalism. The most factional people in New South Wales are always complaining about factionalism.”
Some fear that the choice of Loughnane, who was federal director while Abbott was leader and is married to Abbott’s former chief of staff, Peta Credlin, indicates a push towards federal intervention.
A more benign interpretation is that the review is likely to confirm Shields was responsible and leave other officials in place.
A Liberal party spokesperson said that “Brian Loughnane AO is an eminent Australian and a person of the highest integrity”.
