Outgoing NSW Liberal boss Chris Stone says some members ‘lost sight’ of party’s best interests

Some Liberal Party members have been more worried about fighting each other than Labor, the party’s former state director says.

Some Liberal Party members have been more worried about fighting each other than Labor, the party’s former state director says.

Former NSW Liberal state director Chris Stone, who left his post last week, issued the blistering assessment in an interview to mark the end of his eight year term.

“The highest priority for all of us is focusing on what is in the best interests of the organisation, and I think perhaps, at times, people have lost sight of that,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“Our main enemy is the Labor Party, and we need to ensure that we’re focused on the main game.”

Liberal infighting was partly to blame for the 2022 federal election loss, and the Coalition’s defeat in NSW in March, according to Liberal Party reviews of the campaigns.

Chris Stone resigned as NSW Liberal Party State Director last week.

Mr Stone would not “apportion blame” or name the people he thought had “lost sight” of the best interests of the party.

The review into the March state election found that the Coalition government suffered by an “it’s time” factor.

Asked what went wrong for the Coalition, after the party lost government in all mainland jurisdictions, Mr Stone said: “the longer you’re in government, the harder it is to retain government”.

“At the election in March, the biggest drag on our vote was the sense that ‘you’ve been in office for 12 years, and it’s time for change’,” he said.

“Holding government in circumstances where there is a mood for change is really hard.”

He said the Liberal Party needs to review its “policy platform” to ensure it “reflects the concerns of hardworking Australians”.

Liberal infighting was partly to blame for former Premier Dominic Perrottet’s election loss, but the defeat was largely blamed on an “it’s time” factor, according to an internal review. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“Everything should be on the table to be reviewed,” he said.

The comments come as the Liberal Party begins to consider constitutional change to modernise and overhaul its troubled state executive.

Mr Stone said any changes will be a matter for NSW Liberal President Jason Falinski.

However, he backed “community primaries” for preselecting candidates as something “worth looking at” as a way to get more people engaged in the party.

NSW Liberal President Jason Falinksi is looking at constitutional reforms of the party. Picture: 2GB

“Community primaries” have been proposed by some Liberals as a way to get people from outside the organisation involved in the preselection process to deliver candidates that have more appeal to the broader electorate.

Chris Stone finally left his role as state director last week, after agreeing to stay on while his successor Richard Shields got his feet under the desk.

Mr Stone served as NSW Liberal director for eight years, through “three federal elections, two state elections, and many, many by-elections”.

He said all the political party leaders he dealt with during that time were “terrific”.

“I love them all equally,” he said.