Molan proves why Photios should go

The Liberals let Michael Photios, a lobbyist, interfere with their NSW preselections, promoting duds and demoting talent such as Jim Molan. The Senate count suggests that Photios is indeed a man of poor judgement who should be drummed out of the party processes. Dennis Shanahan:

Voters are using the new Senate system in unprecedented numbers to protest against factional selections within the major parties, to defying voting directives and to embarrass sitting Senators... In NSW, a popular conservative Liberal, former general Jim Molan, was pushed to the unwinnable 7th position on the Coalition Senate ticket below four ministers, a National and a first-time Liberal candidate. In a factional deal endorsed by the state Liberal executive, Liberal ministers Marise Payne, Arthur Sinodinos and Connie Fierravanti-Wells and Nationals Fiona Nash and John Williams, then Liberal Hollie Hughes, were all put above Mr Molan on the ticket. But votes counted so far show the effect of a campaign to defy the Liberal Party how-to-vote card has delivered Mr Molan 6173 first-preference votes, three times the vote of Senator Sinodinos and 10 times the votes of Senator Fierravanti-Wells and Ms Hughes. Mr Molan still is unlikely to be elected and last night told The Australian he was attempting to “democratise the Liberal Party from within”. He said: “This does show those who want to vote individually will do so.”b