An outspoken campaigner for transgender people to be banned from female sport has submitted a nomination to the NSW Liberal Party to run against independent Zali Steggall in the federal seat of Warringah.
Lawyer Katherine Deves put forward her nomination on Thursday evening just hours after the NSW state executive passed a motion to reopen nominations in the seat, which has been plagued by factional infighting that’s part of a broader internal party row.
In her submission, the co-founder of Save Women’s Sport lobby group makes a case to be granted an exemption, as she does not meet the requirement of having a continuous six-month financial Liberal membership.
She submitted an application to become a member in September but didn’t receive confirmation she’d been accepted into the Balgowlah/Fairlight branch until December.
“I am a Warringah local resident with strong intracommunity connection and support for my candidacy,” she wrote.
She also points out that the only two other people to have signalled their intention to nominate are men.
“The Liberal Party has set a target for the proportion of candidates who shall be female to be 50 per cent,” she said.
“The party cannot realistically expect to achieve this constitutional target if it does not make allowance for the reasons why women may not be able to maintain continuous membership and involvement.”
Ms Deves – who informally supported Ms Steggall’s campaign to oust Tony Abbott in 2019 – explains that her membership was interrupted due to the demands of being a mum to three young children.
“Child rearing is an important focus and should not be the basis upon which they are rendered ineligible for candidacy,” she said.
Ms Deves has campaigned for strict definitions of biological gender to separate male and female sporting competitors, saying trans women have an unfair advantage.
“Males and females are distinct biological categories, we are different and that begins in the womb not long after conception … humans cannot change sex, males have a distinct performance advantage due to their biological sex,” she told radio station 2GB earlier this year.
The NSW division has been sent an urgent electronic ballot – with a deadline of 5pm on Friday – on whether to grant Ms Deves a waiver to nominate.
If successful, she will be up against Queenscliff resident and Defence analyst Lincoln Parker, who was the only remaining person who officially nominated.
The state executive rejected a motion to endorse Mr Parker as a candidate this week without a plebiscite.
It is also understood that disability campaigner David Brady intends to nominate, with the state executive also failing to pass a motion to endorse him in recent weeks.
NCA NewsWire has obtained a copy of a furious letter sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison by the former president of the Warringah Federal Electorate Conference on Thursday night warning it seemed that the NSW division was in “free fall”.
“The factional machinations that go to the highest levels in our party are creating the real possibility of a Labor government at a time of great international upheaval and uncertainty,” Condamine branch president Walter Villatora wrote.
“This goes to national security and the national interest.”
In the letter, Mr Villatora voices his support for Mr Parker to be chosen as the person to take on Ms Steggall for the Liberal Party.
He also raises concern the Left faction will vote in Mr Brady, who is not from the area.
“Self-interest has prevailed, from the Left faction in particular, to reopen the nominations that closed in January for the purpose of imposing an out of area, Left faction candidate, who is ineligible,” the letter said.
“Are we trying to disenfranchise our members and supporters? The current situation is causing enormous disunity within the party only weeks out from a critically important federal election. “It is in fact pitting the grassroots membership against the political class within the party.
“Is controlling a branch of the Liberal Party more important than the national interest?”
Nominations for Warringah close at 5pm Fridxjmtzyway.
