‘Untenable’: Speakman says top Lib must resign over election farce

Liberal leader Mark Speakman has demanded the party’s top official resign following the NSW division’s council election blunder.

Liberal leader Mark Speakman has demanded the party’s top official resign after describing the failure to lodge scores of local government election nominations as “probably the worst act of mismanagement” in the organisation’s history.

In an email sent to Liberal MPs on Thursday morning, Mr Speakman revealed how NSW Liberal Party state director Richard Shields had refused his request to face the parliamentary team today to provide a briefing on what had occurred.

Mr Speakman said Mr Shield’s position was now “untenable”. “The failure to lodge many local government election nominations is a debacle,” Mr Speakman said.

“It is probably the worst act of mismanagement I can think of in the organisation’s history.

“Yesterday I asked the State Director to provide a briefing today to MPs at Parliament. He declined to do so. I have told the State Director that his position is no longer tenable and he should now resign.”

Mark Speakman’s letter to State Liberal MP colleagues

In a separate email sent to Liberal members, the party’s regional vice-president Geoff Pearson and urban vice-president Peter O’Hanlon demanded both Mr Shields and party president Don Harwin resign.

“The simple fact is that either through gross incompetence, simple neglect, or something else all together, many Liberals endorsed as candidates in the upcoming council elections have had their democratic rights stripped away from them, and will now not be able to stand,” the joint statement said.

“The full extent of the damage is not yet fully known. A mere apology is not enough.

“The State President and the State Director must both accept full responsibility for such a massive failure”.

The chaos also ripped open an old rift with the junior Coalition partner.

Rogue Nationals MP Wes Fang on Thursday declared Mr Speakman a “maladroit,” suggesting his position is now “untenable”.

The comments on X were in response to Mr Speakman’s call on Richard Shields to quit.

“Spoken like a true maladroit, who knows intimately what untenable positions look like,” Mr Fang posted.

Earlier, Federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton was also dragged in to the fracas after being asked to clean up the NSW division’s mess.

When asked on 2GB radio about the NSW Liberal Party’s failure to lodge election nominations, Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton responded by saying, “that’s a matter for the party machine.”

Federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Liberal elder Anthony Roberts on Wednesday declared that Mr Harwin must take responsibility for the catastrophic failure which has robbed voters of the ability to vote for Liberal candidates, claiming “the buck has to stop somewhere”.

The Daily Telegraph understands that the Liberal secretariat failed to properly lodge nominations in as many as 12 local government areas before the midday deadline on Wednesday.

The failure to nominate candidates means that voters in councils across Sydney will not have any Liberals to vote for at local government elections next month.

Areas including Northern Beaches, Lane Cove, Shoalhaven, Wollongong, Campbelltown, Camden and Blue Mountains may not have Liberal candidates in the upcoming council elections.

Sitting Liberal councillors seeking re-election will also be turfed out of a job with no way to run for office.

Mr Roberts was among furious Liberals demanding “intervention” from the federal party to clean up the state division.

“The Liberal Party headquarters works night and day to get this stuff through, but they were given an impossible task and an impossible deadline. Who delivered the impossible task and impossible deadline? The party leadership, who were warned time and time again,” Mr Roberts said.

“Don Harwin has to look very closely at who is actually really responsible for this and not try to defer the failure. It should be a case of the buck stopping with the president.”

Councils that will likely have no Liberal candidates are: Northern Beaches, Lane Cove, Shoalhaven, Wollongong, Campbelltown, Camden and Blue Mountains.

Liberals have called for Woollahra Mayor Richard Shields to be sacked as NSW Liberal state director over the failure.

A further five may only have “partial nominations”: Georges River, Penrith, North Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown and Maitland.

Mr Roberts would not blame state director Richard Shields for the bungle – but many other Liberals did.

Liberal Leader Mark Speakman demanded Mr Shields “explain” how the error ­occurred.

One senior source demanded Mr Shields be sacked.

“Clearly the state director cannot stay, when such a basic stuff-up occurs,” the source said. “What we have seen is whole councils handed over to the Greens, the Labor Party, and our political enemies, through the biggest bungle in our party’s history.”

Most Liberal sources blamed the problem on a staffing shortage, which the party’s head office had been told weeks ago to fix.

NSW Liberal Party president Don Harwin has also been blamed. Picture: NCA NewsWire

One senior source said that failing to run council candidates next month will spill over into the federal poll, harming Mr Dutton.

“We have shot ourselves in the foot in key areas we can win back,” they said.

A number of sitting Liberal councillors who will now be turfed from office due to the mistake have unloaded on their own party for the debacle.

Liberal councillor Karina Page, who only joined Northern Beaches Council last year, blamed her party for a “slap in the face for democracy”.

Mr Shields blamed the spectacular failure on a lack of “secretariat resources”.

“On behalf of the Secretariat, I would like to apologise to Liberal-endorsed councillors that were not nominated and to the Party membership more broadly,” he said in a statement.

Mr Shields did not return calls on Wednesday.

Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]