The Sauce: Premier brings in Yaron Finkelstein to fix preselection crisis

With the March state election looming, tensions are running high among NSW Libs about key seats yet to preselect a candidate. Can ScoMo’s chief political strategist sort it out?

HE’S Premier Dominic Perrottet’s “Mr Fix-It” – but can ScoMo’s former chief political strategist Yaron Finkelstein solve the preselection crisis facing the NSW Liberals?

Party president Maria Kovacic moved to avert a revolt at the NSW state executive meeting on Friday night by demanding a preselection timetable be sorted for every seat with more than two candidates.

But a Liberal source claimed a rebel alliance of disgruntled members from both the left and right factions held their own teleconference afterwards to discuss the delays — and what action they may take.

The anger stems from the fact that several seats are unlikely to have candidates in the field before Christmas, meaning a short window for campaigning before the election.

This is despite the Premier declaring at the party’s state conference in August that there would be early preselections.

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun was spotted in NSW Parliament House on Thursday.

Some Liberals blame the delays on party factional players trying to manipulate the result prior to a preselection being sorted — or delaying a ballot to allow a “captain’s pick” candidate to be installed.

Among the problem seats are Holsworthy, where sitting MP Melanie Gibbons is at risk of losing the preselection against Tina Ayyad, the wife of Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun.

Mannoun was photographed in Parliament House on Thursday around the time he was to meet Finkelstein and the Premier, presumably to try to sort the situation.

The headache for Perrottet is that Gibbons has been on a promise for a ministry since agreeing to pull out of the federal seat of Hughes.

But Liberal sources familiar with the branches in the seat claim Ayyad is likely to have the numbers should the preselection go ahead this week. Whether all state executive members will endorse Ayyad is another question.

The Libs have failed to lure Erin Molan to nominate for preselection. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Meanwhile, an ugly battle is under way in Parramatta, where Tanya Raffoul, who is Transport Minister David Elliott’s chief-of-staff, is vying for preselection against several right-wing candidates.

While the right appear to have the numbers, there are whispers the Liberal Party fake email branch-stacking scandal may take out some of those members.

The battle comes after the party failed to land a “star” candidate in former footballer Tim Mannah or TV personality Erin Molan.

In Sydney’s northwest, self-styled business consultant Rajiv Chaudhri has not only nominated for Castle Hill, but also the seat of Kellyville, where NSW MP Ray Williams is hoping to be preselected.

The one-time fiance of Jana Pittman has sent his rivals into a spin after putting out a video about his life, which his rivals claim could be was a breach of party rules.

In Castle Hill, Chaudhri is up against Noel McCoy, who is believed to be the frontrunner.

If the party was hoping to bolster its female candidates, it did little to help lawyer Clare Longley overcome a membership lapse which eliminated her as a possible candidate for Pittwater.

It seems Longley, who is the daughter of former Pittwater MP Jim Longley, had lodged her application minutes before the closing deadline, leaving party officials no room to review the matter.

With Upper House MP Natasha Maclaren-Jones also pulling out, northern beaches councillor Rory Amun has become the last man standing.

UNDER FIRE

Shouting was heard from an elevator in Parliament House on Thursday and The Sauce can reveal it came from Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun, who found himself sharing the elevator with Shooters MLC Robert Borsak.

Seven years ago, Borsak aired serious allegations in state parliament about Mannoun.

The claims — which related to Mannoun abusing his office to obtain development approvals — were later investigated by ICAC and the mayor was cleared of any wrongdoing.

But Mannoun has clearly not forgiven Borsak, who had to cop the tirade until the elevator doors finally opened.

DELETED POST

Independent Cumberland councillor Steve Christou quit Labor two years ago, after lamenting that it no longer represented the values that enticed him to join.

From his latest tweet slagging off an election pledge by Victorian Premier Dan Andrews to provide free sanitary products at up to 700 public sites, it is clear he still holds the same view.

Steve Christou’s tweet about tampons received a …

… swift retort from comedian Kirsty Webeck.

But The Sauce reckons he may have gone a bit too far when he tweeted: “Free tampons. What’s next free penis extensions?”

As expected, Christou became the target of a predominantly female Twitter firing squad, with Melbourne-based comedian Kirsty Webeck replying: “No, Steve. Unfortunately it looks like you’re still going to have to fund your own.”

Christou, whose Twitter bio states that he has a “tendency to speak what I think”, has since deleted the post.

BAD TASTE  

A newly elected member of the NSW Liberal Party state executive has come under fire for posting “bad taste” jokes on his Facebook page.

While it is clear Kyle Kutasi is trying to be funny, the posts — which did the rounds last week — have caused concern among some of his colleagues.

One joke references murdered African-American man George Floyd, while another is an altered photograph of Prince Philip as “blackface” with the Queen above a caption referencing Meghan.

Another declares “the teals” are “just Greens who shave their legs”.

When contacted, Kutasi said many of the posts were pulled from shows such as The Simpsons, and had been uploaded prior his election to the executive in August.

The posts had also only been shared with family and close friends on a private Facebook page, he said.

To the “friend” who had spread them far and wide, Kutasi let rip. 

“One of you arsewipes has been screenshotting my FB posts and gave them to a journo,” he posted.

“Pity for you — I want them published … Far and wide.”

WEDDING REUNION

The Farmers Home Hotel in Wagga Wagga was the place to be on Friday night for members of the former Morrison government.

Along with ex-PM Scott Morrison, chief Nationals Whip Mark Coulton and former Nationals leader Michael McCormack were also spotted having a beer in the popular local watering hole.

The crew were in town for the wedding of McCormack’s daughter Georgina to Dan Bell which took place on Saturday.

* The Sauce is shorter this week as Centre-Right faction contributor David Elliott was busy with his valedictory speech.

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