Secret documents reveal internal party squabbling slowed down a Liberal Party push to be organised ahead of the local government elections.
His efforts to pass a suite of amendments to reform the party’s constitution, streamlining the vetting and endorsement of candidates, were facing dogged resistance. The former Mackellar MP fired off an email to Liberal Party delegates on Valentine’s Day, furious with a recalcitrant element of the hard rightDion Georgopoulos
Previously unseen documents and correspondence show the behind-the-scenes effort to streamline processes to vet and preselect candidates, and how a lack of trust between the party’s two wings knee-capped the push.One pillar of the reforms was designed to expedite “urgently needed changes to streamline cumbersome processes” which “were desperately needed” for local government preselections, and remedy administrative burdens in setting selection timelines, Falinski wrote.
“This means it cannot be considered by State Council at the AGM, and will now be removed from the Agenda. I’m sure that you share my view, that this is a deeply disappointing outcome.”One of these timetables, put forward by a conservative state executive member in September, proposed ensuring candidates in 19 local government areas were vetted and endorsed by April 7 this year, four months before the August deadline. It was knocked back by headquarters.
“These have been selected as the ones to start with for strategic reasons, as well due to the size of the conference and ensuring that the staff have the ability to manage the selection processes document from the 2021 local government elections regarding winnable positions,” Shields wrote.Instead, the party lost three months as the factions scrapped over a compromise over minor amendments to the reforms, eventually passing them in May.
Members of the hard right, who spoke anonymously citing rules forbidding party members from speaking publicly, said Falinski’s reforms were simply a Trojan horse to consolidate moderate’s power in the division.
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