Mayo Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie issues demands for any future Liberal switch

Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie has laid down her ground rules for any deal to switch to the Liberals.

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Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie says she will not consider any offer to join the Liberal Party that undermines her “100 per cent” commitment to her Adelaide Hills electorate or her beliefs.

Rejecting suggestions she had previously insisted on a ministry, the Centre Alliance MP issued her starting points for any future talks.

The Advertiser on Tuesday revealed a bid to convince Ms Sharkie and Centre Alliance colleague Stirling Griff to join the Liberals had been launched at the party’s highest levels.

A formal Liberal offer to the Centre Alliance pair is expected after parliament returns on August 24.

Senior Liberals are declaring a ministry will not be offered merely to entice Ms Sharkie to switch parties, with some saying this was a key stumbling block during a failed bid to recruit her in 2018.

Ms Sharkie rejected the Liberal assertion that she had wanted a ministry or to avoid a preselection contest in 2018 and the party’s refusal to offer either had torpedoed those talks.

“That is not my recollection of any discussion had with me in 2018. All the recent media on this is just speculation,” she said.

“I am 100% committed to my electorate and my beliefs and, like Stirling (Senator Griff), neither of us would consider any offer that felt short on these fronts.”

This indicates Ms Sharkie and Senator Griff’s demands would include funding for projects in South Australia and Mayo, which extends from the Adelaide Hills to Kangaroo Island, and the ability to cross the floor on issues of importance.

Both have consistently spoken out about immigration detention centres. In February last year they contributed to a historic government defeat by joining Labor and other crossbench members to pass a medical evacuations bill, aimed at ensuring people in offshore detention had access to appropriate medical care.

The Liberal pitch to Ms Sharkie – previously a staffer to former Liberal state leader Isobel Redmond – is focused on her ability to achieve more for her electorate in a governing party, rather than in Centre Alliance or as an independent. This includes the ability to rise through the ranks and secure a ministerial portfolio.

It follows the resignation of Senator Rex Patrick from the party, as revealed by The Advertiser on Monday.

Until Ms Sharkie won in 2016, Mayo had been held by former Liberal federal leader Alexander Downer (1984-2008) and former federal minister Jamie Briggs (2008-2016).

Mayo Liberal branch members spurned the move to return Ms Sharkie to the party ahead of a by-election in mid-2018, forced by her resignation over citizenship issues.

Both Ms Sharkie and Senator Griff were swept to power in 2016 during a peak of electoral success for the Nick Xenophon Team, which was spearheaded by the former senator who in 2018 made a failed bid to secure the state seat of Hartley.

Ms Sharkie ousted Mr Briggs, for whom she also worked as a staffer, and twice trounced Mr Downer’s daughter, Georgina Downer – at the 2018 by-election and at the 2019 general election.