New SA Liberal recruits booted out of the party until they can prove they are not ‘detrimental’

The SA Liberal Party has booted out a bunch of new members after a conservative senator launched a recruitment drive through Christian church communities.

The SA Liberal Party executive is conducting an “audit” of new members to weed out people it does not want after a recruitment drive by the party’s conservative wing.

Liberal state director Sascha Meldrum has sent a letter to new applicants to the party telling them that their application have been denied.

The letter is understood to have been sent to more than 100 people.

SA Liberal president Legh Davis said an “audit” was being conducted. Picture: Matt Loxton

Senator Alex Antic. Photo: Morgan Sette

It advises the applicants that they can only reapply to the party if they fill out a statutory declaration that says they:

– Support the objectives of the Liberal Party;

– Agree to be bound by the party’s constitution;

– Are supporters of the Liberal Party;

– Will support all candidates endorsed by the party to contest state and federal elections;

– Are joining the party of their own choice and are paying their own membership fees;

– Are not aligned with any “alternative political entities” that may be “detrimental to the interests” of the Liberal Party; and

– Are not guilty of and will not engage in “any act or conduct that may be deemed detrimental to the interests” of the party.

It is understood about 400 other members have been asked to prove why they should be allowed to remain in the Liberal Party.

It followed a membership recruitment drive, spearheaded by Liberal senator Alex Antic, through largely Pentecostal church communities.

The drive, dubbed “Believe in Blue” within the Liberal Party, was designed to bolster the conservative wing of the party’s South Australian branch.

Moderate-backed SA Liberal president Leigh Davis said an “audit process of new members” was taking place after “a number of incidents, including new members saying that they don’t support endorsed Liberal candidates”.

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