Focus on winning, not factional fights: John Howard’s stark message to NSW Liberals

Australia’s second longest serving prime minister has endorsed Liberal Party treasurer Mark Baillie for the coveted NSW president role in an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph.

Former prime minister John Howard has weighed in on the bruising internal politics of the NSW Liberal Party, saying the state division suffers from “too much factionalism” as it seeks a new president.

Mr Howard said he had endorsed former banker and current state party treasurer Mark Baillie for the role, describing him as a “successful fundraiser” who was “not factionally aligned.”

“The problem with the division is the factions keep bumping into each other,” Mr Howard said.

“Moderates, wets, dries, centre-rights, it’s all just bewildering, and we need someone who will cut through it.”

Mr Howard said too much emphasis on factions was damaging the Liberal brand and its membership prospects.

Former Prime Minister John Howard in his office, Sydney. Picture: Jane Dempster

“We need an outbreak of membership building,” he said.

“Too often when people want to join, they are more interested in what faction they are joining than actually joining the party, and that’s bad, and that’s got to stop.”

“What Mark Baillie offers is that he is not in a faction, not interested in going into parliament … there is nothing wrong with being active in the organisation and going into parliament, I did it, but I’ve always thought that if you wanted to be president you shouldn’t have parliamentary ambitions.”

Mr Baillie is competing for the role against former NSW arts and energy minister Don Harwin, who is aligned with the party’s moderate faction and has won endorsements from state opposition leader Mark Speakman and former treasurer Matt Kean.

Former arts minister Don Harwin, seen here in Pearl Beach in 2020, is running for president of the NSW Liberals. Picture: AAP

Mr Howard said that while Mr Harwin had been a senior minister in NSW, “everyone knows that Harwin is of the moderates, and I’m not sure that would be a good thing.”

Mr Howard’s comments rebuke comes as the party prepares to consider several motions from the party’s right wing faction at its state council meeting this Saturday.

These are understood to include a motion to expel former Morrison government minister Alex Hawke from the party over claims he delayed preselections in the lead-up to the 2022 election.

The former prime minister also said that moving away from internal factions would help “reinforce the strengths of the parliamentary system, part of which is to have an organisation that runs well.”

Mr Howard said Australians should appreciate the strengths of the parliamentary system, which he contrasted to the American system.

“The door is jammed,” Mr Howard said of the current situation in the US, noting that in Australia Donald Trump would not have been able to run for president again nor would an obviously weak President Joe Biden be allowed to continue in the role.

“The party room would have met, he would have been rolled,” Mr Howard said about Mr Biden.

Voting for the party presidency opens Saturday, with the winner expected to be declared on March 8.