Miranda Live: Liberal party ‘a closed shop’ John Howard warns
THE NSW Liberal party is in desperate need of a shake up and risks falling into the hands of “cliques and factions” unless it implements key reforms this weekend, former Prime Minister John Howard has told Miranda Live.
THE NSW Liberal party is in desperate need of a shake up and risks falling into the hands of “cliques and factions” unless it implements key reforms this weekend, former Prime Minister John Howard has warned.
The Liberal Party Annual General Meeting will this week vote on giving rank and file Liberal members the ability to vote on candidates.
The shake up was championed by another former PM — Tony Abbott — and have the public backing of former NSW Premier Mike Baird, who has also warned of the dangers of branch stacking.
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But, the meeting is shaping up as a battle between Mr Abbott and those who wish to keep the existing system.
Mr Howard told Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine on her online radio show Miranda Live, the Liberal party desperately needed reform or risked becoming a “closed shop”.
“There is a bit of a feeling that the Liberal party in NSW is a bit of a closed shop when it comes to choosing candidates and I think it’s very important, that when a lot of effort by ordinary members to express view, that that their views are respected,” Mr Howard, who would not be drawn on the unfolding Barnaby Joyce drama, told Devine.
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“There’s a lot of disillusionment with both of the major parties — people feel that the parties are run by cliques.
“There’s a fundamental challenge facing all political parties on the right and left and that’s they’re not as representative of the people who would vote for them as they used to be.
“And the smaller they are, the more they fall into the hands of cliques and factions.”
Originally raised last year, the vote to give every member a say was delayed until February because of the Bennelong by-election.
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