‘The fury is palpable’: Liberal anger at federal move to confirm NSW election candidates

The Liberal Party’s federal executive has approved a formal intervention in the party’s NSW division to confirm candidates in crucial electorates to prepare for the election without letting branch members vote on who will stand.

The move, decided on Friday morning, clears the way for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to play a key role in appointing candidates quickly when some Liberals fear it is already too late to win ground against Labor and independents.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The federal executive, which includes Mr Morrison as well as party president John Olsen and former federal cabinet minister Nick Minchin, chose a temporary move that was modified after an intense debate about the extraordinary decision to intervene.

The group voted to appoint a committee of three members to oversee the NSW division with the goal of confirming Immigration Minister Alex Hawke in his seat of Mitchell, Environment Minister Sussan Ley in her seat of Farrer and backbencher Trent Zimmerman in the seat of North Sydney.

The committee will comprise Mr Morrison, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and former party president Chris McDiven and it will oversee the division until Tuesday, setting a deadline for the decisions on the three seats.

In a sign of the tensions within the peak Liberal council, the original proposal was to appoint Ms McDiven to oversee the decisions alone but this raised fears about the power vested in one individual and led to a compromise with the committee of three.

The outcome infuriated some members of the party who wanted open contests in the three seats and, in particular, the chance to support a challenger against Mr Hawke in his blue-ribbon electorate in north-west Sydney.

While Mr Hawke is one of Mr Morrison’s closest political friends and allies, he has antagonised members of the moderate and conservative wings of the NSW division by building up the power of his “soft right” bloc and refusing to attend meetings that could have chosen candidates in marginal electorates last year.

“Alex Hawke has caused an immense amount of hate and animus toward him and the PM,” said one Liberal who wanted an open ballot of party members in Mitchell in the hope that Mr Hawke would be replaced.

“He will not be forgiven for this. The fury is palpable. The people of Mitchell will be denied the opportunity to have their say.”

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