Dominic Perrottet dealt humiliating blow over move to replace 3 men with women

A move by Dominic Perrottet to promote women in the Liberal Party has spectacularly backfired, with a source close to the Premier conceding ‘it’s a mess’.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has been dealt a humiliating blow over his move to dump three senior Liberal men in favour of women, with the plan unravelling as fast as it was hatched.

A bloodbath within the Right, Left and Centre Right factions of the Liberal Party over the proposed upper house ticket, along with a smear ­campaign against one of the women, resulted in the deal being pulled before it was put to a ballot.

In a bid to bolster female representation, the Premier and key factional powerbrokers had orchestrated an eleventh-hour deal whereby preselections would be bypassed, with two hand-picked women — schoolteacher Susan Carter and Deniliquin local Jean Haynes — to bump out two sitting men.

A third woman — MLC Natasha Maclaren-Jones, who had not been up for re-election — was to quit her exiting spot and be put on the new ticket, bumping out a third male.

The plan was devised on Wednesday afternoon in the office of Seniors Minister Mark Coure — who represents the Premier on the NSW Liberal Party state executive — with right-winger Damien ­Tudehope and Ms Maclaren-Jones among those present. Treasurer Matt Kean, who is the moderate powerbroker, also participated via a conference call.

Dominic Perrottet’s plan to promote women unravelled within hours.

Not only was the move ­designed to address the lack of women being preselected in lower house seats, but also the fact the upper house ticket would otherwise comprise solely men. The initial ticket had ­included dumped Holsworthy MP Melanie Gibbons, only for her to be struck out at the last minute, in a move that upset sections of the Left.

At the same time, some in the Right were upset at Mr ­Tudehope choosing Ms Haynes without consultation, prompting them to suggest an alternate candidate in senior public servant Rachel Merton.

In the hours leading up to the Friday morning ballot that was to have ratified the deal, members of the NSW state executive also began receiving what one source described was “defamatory material” about Ms Haynes, including incorrect statements about her ­Covid-19 vaccination status. A source familiar with the smear campaign said Ms Haynes was ­vaccinated.

Members of the Centre Right also began walking away from the deal in protest at Ms Merton being swapped in, given she works for Ms ­Maclaren-Jones, who they claimed had been a member of their faction before defecting to the Right. Ms Maclaren-Jones could not be contacted.

“They were protesting at both Natasha and her staffer being on the ticket,” a source said.

A senior Liberal said the ticket had been “put on ice”.

“There was a last-minute switcheroo and so now it’s on hold,” the source said.

Another source said the Right was now firmly split between the “Opus Dei” Right that been involved in the deal and the left-out “Jesuit” Right, with “spears and knives being thrown at Tudehope”.

A source close to Mr Perrottet said: “It’s a mess.”

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