He stopped women joining the Australian Club. Now he’s rewriting the NSW Liberals’ rules

The Liberal elder who said women were “now sufficiently assertive” has tasked retired Federal Court judge Peter Graham, KC, a key instigator in blocking female membership to the male-only Australian Club, with rewriting the rules governing the NSW party.

Former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale, who is one of the administrators running the troubled NSW division of the party, has appointed Graham and one-time party deputy president Rhondda Vanzella to redraft the NSW Liberal constitution.

Alan Stockdale raised eyebrows at the NSW Liberal Women’s Council meeting with his comments about “assertive” women.Credit: AAPIMAGE

Stockdale was widely criticised this week after he told the NSW Liberal Women’s Council on Tuesday night that women were “now sufficiently assertive that we should be giving some thought to whether we need to protect men’s involvement”.

Graham, meanwhile, was a driving force behind the campaign against allowing women to join the Australian Club, telling members in a 10-page missive in 2021 that the club was “a place where you could get away from bossy women”.

He also insisted women who might be considered for membership, “were the club to be a mixed-sex club”, would not be assessed for membership on “the basis of their positions in business, politics or the law, medicine, dentistry, architecture etc or the arts or in agriculture.

“Rather whether they were ladies, congenial, well-liked and honourable and whether they would respect confidences,” Graham wrote on May 31, 2021.

Former leader Peter Dutton last year appointed Stockdale, former Victorian senator Richard Alston and one-time NSW MP Peta Seaton as administrators to run the NSW division after its spectacular failure to nominate 144 candidates for the local government elections.

Since the administrators set up the constitution committee of Graham and Vanzella, its operations have been a closely guarded secret, according to several party members who are not authorised to speak publicly about the intervention.

The administrators now want an extension to their term, which is due to expire on June 30, but there is significant pushback from much of the division, who see the federal intervention as an attempted right-wing takeover.

The administrators briefed the women’s council as part of their pitch to have their term extended, but the meeting was overshadowed by Stockdale’s remarks.

Stockdale later apologised and said he made the comment in jest, but his description of women was widely condemned, including by Liberal leader Sussan Ley, Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, and deputy Liberal leader Ted O’Brien.

Ley, whose leadership rival, Angus Taylor, is one of the key backers of the administration, slammed Stockdale’s comments.

“There is nothing wrong with being an assertive woman, in fact, I encourage assertive women to join the Liberal Party,” Ley said.

“The Liberal Party must reflect, respect and represent modern Australia, and that means recognising the strength, merit and leadership of the women in our ranks.”

McKenzie said: “I hope women are assertive as they represent their communities, they fight for the future of their countries.” O’Brien joined his colleagues in denouncing Stockdale’s comments: “We need more women engaging with our party, running for our party.”

Stockdale was contacted for comment.

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