Latest news with #NSWLiberals
Sky News AU
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
NSW Liberals lobby party to implement US-style primary system to choose candidates as re-build continues
High ranking NSW Liberals are calling on Sussan Ley to consider imposing a US-style primary system to pre-select candidates in significant structural overhaul of the party's long-standing practices. The NSW Liberals were all but decimated at the recent federal election which has led to internal debate about how to bolster the party's appeal and revitalise aging local branches. Gender quotas have become a point of contention within the party, with proponents and critics engaging in a bitter public dispute including in a leaked group chat titled 'quotas v merit' where senior Libs debated the policies validity. However, top NSW Liberals have touted a separate route, urging the party to revamp its pre-selection process through the use of US-style open primary elections. Shadow attorney general and federal member for Berowra Julian Leeser has said opening up pre-selection to non-members and the wider public would expand the Liberal Party's scope and bring in a new wave of members. 'The best way to ensure that our members reflect the communities that they represent is to have the largest number of members of the general community choose them,' Mr Leeser told the Telegraph. Mr Leeser, who is one of the last Liberal members occupying an outer-metropolitan seat nationwide said the plan would increase 'diversity' and 'overcome the challenge of a declining membership an supporter base.' Liberal Party pre-selection, which currently involves local party members and state delegates voting to choose a candidate, would be scrapped, with all eligible voters in the relevant electorate given the chance to have their say under the proposed model. Mr Leeser, who narrowly fended of a challenge from local publisher turned Teal candidate Tina Brown said holding US-primary style elections would bring ideological vigour to local branches and allow the community to actively immerse themselves in the inner workings of the Party. He insisted it would 'demonstrate to the general public that we are a broad, open welcoming party that is seeking the best talent available.' Mr Leeser has been a long-time advocate of parachuting the concept of US primary elections down under, with the move also receiving the support of numerous party elders including former NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. The method was previously considered a fringe idea in Liberal ranks. Shadow defence minister and former Liberal leadership contender Angus Taylor backed Mr Leeser's proposal and said open primaries could aid in rebuilding the party's 'grassroots movement.' 'One pathway to do that would be by bringing in primaries,' Mr Taylor told The Daily Telegraph. 'The objective here has to be to rebuild the grassroots political movement that stands for our values, and to do that we're going to have to involve and engage people in ways we haven't before.' Mr Taylor's staunch NSW Right factional ally Anthony Roberts also endorsed primary elections and said it would prevent powerbrokers from hand selecting their candidate of choice in a given electorate. 'The days of captain's picks have got to be over, they are proven not to work,' Mr Roberts said. Mr Leeser said the party should work to commence a trial to gauge the efficacy of primary elections, and that the method should be piloted in a Teal, regional and western Sydney seat.
The Age
17-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Octogenarian Victorians ousted from NSW Libs, but not before trying to block appointment of a woman
Federal Liberal Leader Sussan Ley and her NSW counterpart Mark Speakman have secured a major win in determining who will run the beleaguered state party, appointing a new committee headed by former premier Nick Greiner and ending the term of two octogenarian men from Victoria. Ley and Speakman's plan for the NSW Liberals was endorsed at a federal executive meeting 20 votes to one on Tuesday, a decision which will see the division remain in administration until March but with committee members handpicked by the two leaders. Ley chose former state MP Peta Seaton as her representative on the committee while Speakman nominated barrister and leading moderate Liberal Jane Buncle as his. The party's vice president, Berenice Walker, Peter O'Hanlon and James Owen will be on the committee, as well as Mark Baillie, who will serve as treasurer. Greiner and Seaton, who was the third member of the original intervention committee which included former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale and ex-Victorian senator Richard Alston, conducted the review of the party's 2023 state election loss. Loading The continuation of Stockdale and Alston on a committee running the NSW division was seen as untenable because both men were Victorian. Stockdale sealed the pair's fate when he made ill-thought-out comments to a meeting of the NSW Liberal Women's Council, in which he joked that women were now 'sufficiently assertive' that reverse quotas for men could be needed. Several Liberal sources with knowledge of Tuesday's meeting said Stockdale argued that Walker, who is president of the women's council, should not be on the new committee. At the same time, some Right-wing members were pushing for former prime minister Tony Abbott to be on the committee, but that was overwhelmingly opposed. The women's council was vocal in its criticism of the administration of the party under Stockdale and Alston, passing a motion of its executive on May 25 expressing 'our firm and formal opposition to any extension of the federal intervention'.
Sydney Morning Herald
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Octogenarian Victorians ousted from NSW Libs, but not before trying to block appointment of a woman
Federal Liberal Leader Sussan Ley and her NSW counterpart Mark Speakman have secured a major win in determining who will run the beleaguered state party, appointing a new committee headed by former premier Nick Greiner and ending the term of two octogenarian men from Victoria. Ley and Speakman's plan for the NSW Liberals was endorsed at a federal executive meeting 20 votes to one on Tuesday, a decision which will see the division remain in administration until March but with committee members handpicked by the two leaders. Ley chose former state MP Peta Seaton as her representative on the committee while Speakman nominated barrister and leading moderate Liberal Jane Buncle as his. The party's vice president, Berenice Walker, Peter O'Hanlon and James Owen will be on the committee, as well as Mark Baillie, who will serve as treasurer. Greiner and Seaton, who was the third member of the original intervention committee which included former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale and ex-Victorian senator Richard Alston, conducted the review of the party's 2023 state election loss. Loading The continuation of Stockdale and Alston on a committee running the NSW division was seen as untenable because both men were Victorian. Stockdale sealed the pair's fate when he made ill-thought-out comments to a meeting of the NSW Liberal Women's Council, in which he joked that women were now 'sufficiently assertive' that reverse quotas for men could be needed. Several Liberal sources with knowledge of Tuesday's meeting said Stockdale argued that Walker, who is president of the women's council, should not be on the new committee. At the same time, some Right-wing members were pushing for former prime minister Tony Abbott to be on the committee, but that was overwhelmingly opposed. The women's council was vocal in its criticism of the administration of the party under Stockdale and Alston, passing a motion of its executive on May 25 expressing 'our firm and formal opposition to any extension of the federal intervention'.
The Age
04-06-2025
- General
- The Age
How to annoy Liberal women. Tell them they are ‘sufficiently assertive'
With the Liberal Party's founding father looming over their shoulder – quite literally – two octogenarian men from Victoria thought it wise to lecture women on the future of the NSW party. Women are now 'sufficiently assertive' in the Liberal Party, ex-Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale bemoaned, that it is probably time to start giving blokes a leg up. Stockdale and former Victorian senator Richard Alston, combined age 164, positioned themselves under a portrait of Robert Menzies as they fronted the NSW Liberal Women's Council on Tuesday night to argue why they should continue to run the troubled division. The sole female and NSW representative on the federal takeover committee, appointed by former leader Peter Dutton, is Peta Seaton, who was seemingly the third wheel as Stockdale held court, reminding the NSW Liberals exactly why they still have a women's problem. 'Women are sufficiently assertive now,' Stockdale told the virtual meeting of at least 50 women, 'that we should be giving some thought to whether we need to protect men's involvement'. Great idea. Reverse quotas for men. If it were not so ludicrous and offensive, it would be comical. A brief look back to why Stockdale and Co are running NSW. Dutton imposed a federal takeover on the NSW Liberals after the embarrassing debacle of the party failing to nominate 144 candidates for last year's local government elections. The trio (which was initially going to be all men until wiser heads prevailed) was sent in to clean up the mess and help NSW secure an election win for the Liberals. They have failed to do either. Now the administrators are arguing for an extension of their term, which was due to expire on June 30. After his comment, which followed discussion over whether he would commit to quotas to get more Liberal women preselected, Stockdale chuckled, according to several women who were on the call. But if it was meant as a joke, Stockdale did not read the room. These women were already angry. Now they are positively apoplectic. Charlotte Mortlock, a former journalist and Liberal staffer who founded Hilma's Network, which supports women for Liberal preselection, last month launched a petition calling on the party to establish gender quotas. 'Women in the party and across the country more broadly have been demanding the Liberal Party improves its female representation for decades,' Mortlock wrote. 'We have failed to act.' As of Wednesday, the petition had 449 signatures.
Sydney Morning Herald
04-06-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
How to annoy Liberal women. Tell them they are ‘sufficiently assertive'
With the Liberal Party's founding father looming over their shoulder – quite literally – two octogenarian men from Victoria thought it wise to lecture women on the future of the NSW party. Women are now 'sufficiently assertive' in the Liberal Party, ex-Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale bemoaned, that it is probably time to start giving blokes a leg up. Stockdale and former Victorian senator Richard Alston, combined age 164, positioned themselves under a portrait of Robert Menzies as they fronted the NSW Liberal Women's Council on Tuesday night to argue why they should continue to run the troubled division. The sole female and NSW representative on the federal takeover committee, appointed by former leader Peter Dutton, is Peta Seaton, who was seemingly the third wheel as Stockdale held court, reminding the NSW Liberals exactly why they still have a women's problem. 'Women are sufficiently assertive now,' Stockdale told the virtual meeting of at least 50 women, 'that we should be giving some thought to whether we need to protect men's involvement'. Great idea. Reverse quotas for men. If it were not so ludicrous and offensive, it would be comical. A brief look back to why Stockdale and Co are running NSW. Dutton imposed a federal takeover on the NSW Liberals after the embarrassing debacle of the party failing to nominate 144 candidates for last year's local government elections. The trio (which was initially going to be all men until wiser heads prevailed) was sent in to clean up the mess and help NSW secure an election win for the Liberals. They have failed to do either. Now the administrators are arguing for an extension of their term, which was due to expire on June 30. After his comment, which followed discussion over whether he would commit to quotas to get more Liberal women preselected, Stockdale chuckled, according to several women who were on the call. But if it was meant as a joke, Stockdale did not read the room. These women were already angry. Now they are positively apoplectic. Charlotte Mortlock, a former journalist and Liberal staffer who founded Hilma's Network, which supports women for Liberal preselection, last month launched a petition calling on the party to establish gender quotas. 'Women in the party and across the country more broadly have been demanding the Liberal Party improves its female representation for decades,' Mortlock wrote. 'We have failed to act.' As of Wednesday, the petition had 449 signatures.
