‘They burn you’: Liberal Democrat sends entire party spectacular resignation letter

A Liberal Democrat staffer who claims she was underpaid by the libertarian political party has resigned in spectacular fashion with an excoriating letter to the organisation’s entire mailing list on the eve of a federal election campaign.

In an email addressed to Liberal Democrat members and supporters, Kirsty O’Sullivan accused the party of nepotism, “burning people”, “misusing donations” and sidelining women. The email was sent from the party’s official email address and bore its logo and authorisation.

Kirsty O’Sullivan sent a blistering farewell to the Liberal Democrat Party’s entire mailing list.Credit: LinkedIn

“I will be cancelling my own membership with the party. I have zero faith in the abilities of the national executive, and I feel they have zero regard or respect for their members,” Ms O’Sullivan wrote.

“Taking the Liberals to the High Court over a name most members hate is just one example. Now they have to scramble for the money. When we fundraised for the marketing of the freedom manifesto videos, we raised a whole lot of money. Where has it gone?”

In her telling, Ms O’Sullivan was embroiled in a dispute over working hours and pay. She said the party had not accepted her “proposal” on Wednesday morning, prompting her to resign.

“To cut a long story short, this party has a problem with nepotism, with using and burning people, and with misusing your donations. There is no functional structure within the party, and no way to resolve issues before it becomes a blow out,” she wrote in the email.

“There is also a big problem with women. Women that speak out get marked as a troublemaker. This can even be candidates.”

Ms O’Sullivan said she hoped the party’s national executive was “wiped out and replaced with people who can actually run things properly”.

The Liberal Democratic Party has two members of the Victorian upper house and will contest the upcoming federal election, with former Queensland premier Campbell Newman its lead Senate candidate in that state and ex-Liberal identity John Ruddick the top of the Senate ticket in NSW.

The party is best known in recent years for its former senator from NSW David Leyonhjelm, who beat up on the party himself when he quit federal politics to run - unsuccessfully - for the NSW upper house in 2019.

Ms O’Sullivan’s LinkedIn page describes her as the party’s administration and communications officer, based in Melbourne. She also hosted the Liberal Democrats’ podcast Liberty Chat.

The party is best known in recent years for its former senator for NSW David Leyonhjelm. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

She had previously worked for the party before leaving after raising what she described in her email as allegations of “corruption and bullying”. She went on to work for the Institute of Public Affairs for a year but returned to the LDP in mid-2021.

“Countless hours of devotion to this party over the years, and this is what they do to people,” Ms O’Sullivan wrote in her farewell email.

“They burn people. Never a thank you. I cannot support it any longer. I would suggest that donors find out exactly where there [sic] money goes before you consider donating again.”

In an email to members and donors on Wednesday afternoon, the party’s national president John Humphreys dismissed Ms O’Sullivan’s claims as “baseless accusations”.

“All funds raised for the national campaign are being spent on the national campaign, with no campaign money going to LDP [administration] or the national executive or the High Court challenge,” he wrote.

“Your donations are treated at all times with the utmost integrity and accountability. Suggestions of bullying, nepotism, and sexism are also unfounded. In particular, we have been delighted to announce an excellent lineup of women as candidates across the country, all of whom were selected on merit.”

In recent times the Liberal Democrats have led a charge against vaccine mandates, and recruited paramedic John Larter - who unsuccessfully challenged NSW’s vaccine mandate in the Supreme Court - as its second Senate candidate in that state.

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