Preselection fight: Dominic Perrottet, Ray Williams to battle for Castle Hill seat again
IT IS the showdown of two Liberal Party ministers that seems very familiar. Castle Hill state Liberal MP Ray Williams is set to be challenged for preselection of his seat by Hawkesbury state Liberal MP Dominic Perrottet.
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IT IS the showdown of two Liberal Party ministers that seems very familiar.
Castle Hill state Liberal MP Ray Williams is set to be challenged for preselection of his seat by Hawkesbury state Liberal MP Dominic Perrottet.
However, this is a story straight from the history books.
The two MPs battled it out over the seats in 2013, following a boundary redraw, with Mr Williams — then the Member for Hawkesbury — challenging Mr Perrottet for his Castle Hill seat.
Mr Williams challenged the former Castle Hill MP for his seat in 2013, after eighty-five per cent of the existing Hawkesbury electorate became part of Castle Hill in the 2015 state election.
Today, Mr Williams told the Times he received a call from Mr Perrottet this morning, advising him that he would challenge for the seat.
“Whilst deeply saddened by this decision and the poor reasons he has offered to me for doing this, this issue must be resolved quickly for the good of the Government,” Mr Williams said.
“My community is everything to me and I will be contesting the seat of Castle Hill at the next election and will continue to work hard on behalf of my local community.
“Under no circumstance will I run away from the good people of Castle Hill who have shown such loyalty to myself and my family over the past decade and a half, giving me one of the strongest margins in NSW.”
Mr Perrottet said is decision was “in the best interests of the people of NSW”.
“Looking to the future I have been concerned that I would be unable to give the people of Hawkesbury the level of representation they deserve and best discharge my service to all of NSW as Treasurer,” he said.
“I want to thank the residents of Hawkesbury who have warmly welcomed me into the community, and I am proud of the many things we have achieved together.
“I intend to continue serving in my role as deputy leader of the NSW Liberal Party and as Treasurer of the state. My resolve to help the Government continue to deliver a strong economy, jobs and opportunity for all people will not lessen.”
Mr Williams suggested both ministers resign from cabinet until the issue was resolved.
“Dominic declined to resign as deputy leader or from cabinet so from today our Government will have two of its senior ministers fighting for months, for no obvious reason,” Mr Williams said.
“I have also advised Dominic that if he fails to step down from the position of Deputy Liberal Leader for the good of the Government I will have no other alternative but to move a motion to spill this position in the party room next Tuesday morning.”
Mr Williams said he had the support of collegues to move a motion for a spill.
“I want to express to the people of Castle Hill my regret at this turn of events and my determination to continue to serve them as their local member in the years ahead,” he said.
The battle for the seat resulted in NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian coming out in full support of Dominic Perrottet, warning Ray Williams he would lose his cabinet position if he continued attempts for a spill motion.
“This afternoon I have spoken to both the Treasurer and Minister Williams and reminded them that the people of NSW expect their Government to be solely focused on delivering for the community,” the Premier said.