Scott Morrison has taken over the NSW Liberal Party foxjmtzywr 72 hours so three sitting MPs can be re-endorsed following months of infighting.
Just months out from a national election, the federal executive of the Liberal Party met at 9am on Friday and unanimously voted to intervene in the factional war that’s brought preselections to a standstill in NSW.
It was decided that a committee would be appointed made up of the Prime Minister, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Christine McDiven, who was the first female president of the Federal Liberal Party.
They will now move to re-endorse incumbents Alex Hawke, Sussan Ley and Trent Zimmerman without preselection challenges.
The committee’s term commenced immediately on Friday morning and will finish on Tuesday.
“The intervention ground is based on the circumstance that decisions have not been made in relation to the endorsement of three incumbent Liberal members of parliament as Liberal candidates to recontest their seats,” a statement from the federal director said.
But there still remains six lower house seats without candidates in NSW that are deemed crucial to Mr Morrison being returned as Prime Minister.
In what’s been described as a “compromise” by one senior Liberal source, the federal executive on Friday voted for the NSW division to be given a deadline of March 25 to resolve that issue themselves.
This leaves the option open for plebiscites to still be held via zoom.
“It’s a big step towards restoring integrity and respect for the party’s constitution and respect for the membership and allowing them to have a say,” the senior source said.
But one local branch member voiced their fury at the development on Friday with regard to the sitting MPs.
“I’m 100 per cent furious that there’s no democracy left in the Liberal Party it’s a farce,” they said.
Mr Morrison’s move could still be subject to legal action by state executive member Matthew Camenzuli, who took a separate issue to the Supreme Court last month.
Sources have said that a major cause of the debacle with preselections was that Mr Hawke, who is the Prime Minister’s representative on the NSW nomination review committee, would not show up to meetings to vet candidates.
It is believed this was a tactic used to avoid preselections taking place in certain seats so Mr Morrison’s preferred candidates could be installed.
But a 90 per cent majority was needed within the state executive for this to occur – and it was never reached.
“Alex Hawke created this mess and now Scott Morrison is doing the clean up,” a source said.
Mr Hawke has never commented publicly on this.
“The reality is there just isn’t time and the hold up with the nomination review committees is disgraceful, it shouldn’t have happened, but we have to move forward,” a source said.
The seats still without candidates are Eden Monaro, Dobell, Warringah, Parramatta, Hughes and Bennelong.
