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Victorian octogenarians dumped from committee running NSW Liberal party but federal intervention continues Victorian octogenarians dumped from committee running NSW Liberal party but federal intervention continues
(about 1 hour later)
Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston axed from panel after recent controversies and replaced with six new members from NSW including chair Nick GreinerAlan Stockdale and Richard Alston axed from panel after recent controversies and replaced with six new members from NSW including chair Nick Greiner
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The former New South Wales premier Nick Greiner will chair a new committee in charge of the state Liberal division after a federal takeover was extended for nine months. The former New South Wales premier Nick Greiner will chair a new committee in charge of the state Liberal branch as part of a nine-month extension to the federal intervention of the division.
The Liberal party’s federal executive voted on Tuesday to install the new body, which will replace a three-person panel announced in September 2024 following a council elections bungle. The Liberal party federal executive voted at a meeting on Tuesday to install the new body, which replaces the three-person panel appointed after the council elections bungle.
Two former committee members – Victorian Liberal octogenerians Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston – have been dumped but the third former member, ex-NSW state MP Peta Seaton, will serve on Griener’s new seven-person panel. Two former panel members – Victorian Liberal elders Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston – have been dumped while the third member, former NSW state MP Peta Seaton, will serve on Greiner’s new seven-person committee.
The other members are Jane Buncle, Mark Baillie, Peter O’Hanlon, James Owen and Berenice Walker. Three Liberal sources told Guardian Australia that right-wing power brokers made an 11th-hour bid to install Tony Abbott on the new committee but the push was rebuffed.
The federal executive on Tuesday also signed off on who would lead two separate reviews following the May election – one standard post-election review and another deeper dive into the future of the party. Abbott was contacted for comment.
The Liberal party’s peak administrative body announced the intervention into the NSW branch last year after the local government election nominations fiasco, installing an administrative committee to run the division for 10 months. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
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The final outcome is a win for the new Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, who strongly advocated for the proposal during the meeting at the party’s Canberra headquarters.
The federal executive also agreed to appoint Liberal elders Nick Minchin and Pru Goward to review the disastrous federal election campaign, which saw the Coalition reduced to 43 seats in the lower house.
“This is a critical review given the enormity of the task ahead,” Goward said.
“It needs to be a ‘warts and all’ look at what led to the result in May and I look forward to engaging with party members as we undertake the review.”
The pair have been specifically asked to probe the Liberal Party’s “historically low” primary vote at the 3 May poll, its appeal to “different voter segments” and the long-term threat posed by independents.
The review will also examine the performance of Liberal party campaign HQ, the various state divisions as well as consultants used during the election.
A second, wider review into the party’s future – expected to be conducted by shadow minister James McGrath – was discussed at Tuesday’s meeting and will be commissioned in the coming months.
The party’s peak administrative body launched an intervention into the NSW branch in September after the local government election nominations fiasco, installing an administrative committee to run the division for 10 months.
Stockdale, Alston and Seaton were charged with reviewing the party’s constitution, overhauling the administrative machinery and helping to conduct the federal election campaign.Stockdale, Alston and Seaton were charged with reviewing the party’s constitution, overhauling the administrative machinery and helping to conduct the federal election campaign.
The committee’s term was due to expire on 30 June, creating an early test for the new federal Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, as the competing factions in her home state wrangled over the division’s future. The committee’s term was due to expire on 30 June, creating an early test for Ley as the competing factions in her home state wrangled over the future of the division.
The federal executive had the option of extending the three-person committee’s term or ending the intervention and handing control back to the NSW executive. The federal executive had the option to extend the committee’s term or end the intervention, handing control back to the NSW division.
But a third option emerged in recent weeks, in which a federal-backed committee would remain, but the current members would be replaced with NSW figures. A third option emerged in recent weeks, in which a federal-backed committee would remain but the current members would be replaced with NSW figures.
The internal push to replace the committee members gathered momentum after the 80-year-old Stockdale said Liberal women were “sufficiently assertive” and perhaps male candidates needed a leg up.
The committee will be in place until 30 March, extending the federal intervention until then.
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The internal push to replace the committee members gathered momentum after 80-year-old Stockdale said Liberal women were “sufficiently assertive” and perhaps male candidates needed a leg up. Three Liberal sources confirmed the federal executive voted 20-1 in favour of installing the new committee with the 78-year-old Greiner in charge.
The new seven-member committee will be in place until the end of March 2026. Charlie Taylor – the brother of Angus Taylor, who unsuccessfully challenged Ley for the federal leadership – was the lone opposing vote, the sources confirmed.
The Liberals went backwards in NSW at the 3 May federal election, losing Bradfield, Banks and Hughes and failing to win any of its target seats. However, sources said some right faction-aligned members expressed discontent about the makeup of the new committee but begrudgingly supported Ley as the new leader.
It contributed to the worst result in the Liberal party’s 80-year history, with the Coalition reduced to just 43 lower house seats in the next parliament. Barrister Jane Buncle, federal division treasurer Mark Baillie, NSW Liberal women’s council president Berendice Walker and party vice-presidents James Owen and Peter O’Hanlon were appointed alongside Greiner and Seaton.
One senior Liberal source said none of the committee appointees were “factional operators”.
“They are people who will work well together in the interests of the NSW party,” the source said.
The new committee was a “necessary step forward” for the state branch, according to another senior NSW Liberal source, who said Alston and Stockdale “didn’t represent modern Australia and didn’t represent NSW”.
Speaking after the meeting, Ley thanked Stockdale and Alston for their work.
“I want to thank them, for the work that they did in getting the reforming of rules and constitution, within my home state of New South Wales, to this point,” she said.
The NSW Liberal leader, Mark Speakman, welcomed the return of control of the division to local figures.
“Obviously, people who understand New South Wales politics will have a home ground advantage, and it’s important to have a breadth of representation on that committee that reflects knowledge of the things that matter in New South Wales,” he said.
“At the end of the day, what matters is not the personalities in the Liberal party or factions or anything like that, it’s us having a campaign team that can take the fight to Chris Minns and Labor at the next election. There’s a huge amount at stake- standard of living is falling.” he said.