SA Liberal Party’s ‘culture war’ policies over climate change and sex education top agenda at council meeting

A leaked copy of the Liberals’ state council agenda has hard line ‘culture war’ policies topping the ticket.

Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia. Picture: Brenton Edwards

SA Liberal hardliners are pushing for new “culture war” policies targeting climate change and school sex education despite the approach being rejected at the federal election, according to a leaked document.

Moderate members claim the party is “doomed’ if the policies listed in a leaked copy of the state council agenda are approved at a meeting in Angaston on Saturday.

One party member, who wanted to remain anonymous, delivered a scathing assessment of eight policies for debate including “the removal of damaging third party providers who teach sexualised content in our schools”.

Other motions included calling for the state’s “disastrous” voice to parliament to be repealed as it “made no progress for Indigenous Australians and seeks to divide us by race”, with its cost instead channelled into frontline services.

Another rejects net zero carbon emissions targets and calls on the federal Liberal Party to rescind the policy.

SA Liberal Party state director Alexander Hyde says the party encourages debate. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

“It tells you everything you need to know about the state of the party” the member said, and if Leader Vincent Tarzia does not stand firm “we are doomed”.

“Instead of being focused on things like cost of living, housing, health we are making the same mistakes as the federal division just made by focusing on culture wars,” the member said.

“The “personal freedoms” motion is harking back to the Covid days and vaccines, (and) back to basics education and protection of children has nothing to do with improving education or child protection but is focusing on the culture wars.”

Among the policies for debate is a motion to congratulate the state Liberal parliamentary party for its campaign calling on the Malinauskas government to “declare drought in South Australia”.

The agenda also listed tax reform including the removal of payroll tax, stamp duty and other taxes, to be debated, along with pushing for food labelling laws that ensured consumers could easily differentiate between non-dairy, non-meat, non-egg, non-seafood and the real product.

State Director Alex Hyde confirmed the motions would be debated at the state council meeting overseen by president and federal senator Leah Blyth.

“Our members are entitled to debate the policy ideas that are important to them, and in fact, the division encourages them to bring forward ideas for consideration,” Mr Hyde said.

“The Liberal Party is the only major party which empowers and respects its grassroots membership in this way.

“If policy ideas are endorsed by our State Council, they may then be considered by state and federal parliamentary Liberal parties, however those parliamentary parties are not bound by them.”

Another agenda item being discussed was the wide-reaching review of Liberal campaigning over the past 10 years being conducted in South Australia by former state director Geoff Greene.

Mr Greene resigned as SA state director in 2016 to co-ordinate the re-election of former federal Liberal Leader Peter Dutton in Brisbane.

Originally published as SA Liberal Party’s ‘culture war’ policies over climate change and sex education top agenda at council meeting