Majority want CLP merged into Liberals or Nationals: NT News survey

As NT senator Sam McMahon appears in parliament for the first time since leaving the CLP, a poll of NT News readers has delivered a punishing verdict on the party’s future.

NORTHERN Territory Senator Sam McMahon has appeared in parliament for the first time since her dramatic departure from the Country Liberal Party (CLP).

The Senator, who was not preselected for a second term at the CLP’s candidate in the upper house, claimed she was motivated to leave the party after feeling unsafe at central council meetings.

Senator McMahon has indicated she will continue to support government legislation and would sit with the Nationals. She said it was “highly unlikely” she would seek re-election, either with another party or as an independent.

Former CLP Senator Sam McMahon in her Darwin office. Picture: File.

Senator McMahon’s decision to quit the CLP has thrown her former party’s registration status into question, with Labor now urging the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to audit their membership.

Under federal laws, a party can only be registered with the AEC if it has either more than 1500 members or a sitting parliamentarian in Canberra.

Sources have been mixed on whether the CLP have enough members to qualify.

High profile party members have even openly questioned whether the CLP should become a branch of the Liberals or the Nationals.

And NT News readers seem to support the idea.

A poll of 239 readers on the NT News website found the majority support the CLP folding into either the Liberals (44 per cent) or the Nationals (19 per cent).

In comparison, just 37 per cent believe the CLP should remain its own separate party to best represent the Territory.

CLP president Jamie De Brenni has consistently said he is “very confident” the party will run in the 2022 poll.

“We will go into the next federal election with CLP candidates and we will be compliant,” he said.

On Sunday, Labor called for an audit by the AEC.

Labor’s powerplay that could finish off CLP for good

TERRITORY Labor has declared all-out war on the Country Liberal Party’s existence, urging an audit of their registration by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

In a statement to the Sunday Territorian, Territory Labor president Erina Early said the demise of the CLP “isn’t a loss for Territorians” and urged the AEC to audit them.

It comes after this paper revealed on Saturday that even high-profile CLP members were mulling over whether a NT branch of the Liberal Party should take over.

Under new laws introduced last year, a political party can only be registered if it has either a sitting parliamentarian in Canberra, or more than 1500 members.

But CLP insiders have said they doubt the party has even 600 members at present.

The CLP also lost its only representative in Canberra after Senator Sam McMahon quit the party a week ago.

Ms Early said it would be “unconscionable for the AEC to turn a blind eye to the legal issues facing the CLP”.

“If they don’t meet the requirements of the Act, they must be deregistered,” she said.

“(The CLP) are just a mouthpiece for their mates in Canberra.”

CLP president Jamie De Brenni has consistently said he is “very confident” the party will run in the 2022 poll.

“We will go into the next federal election with CLP candidates and we will be compliant,” he said.

Speaking before Labor’s statement, AEC Commissioner Tom Rogers said the organisation could audit the status of political parties when it suspected they would fail to meet criteria for registration.

But Mr Rogers, who went to lengths to avoid singling out any particular political party, also said rival organisations could “write to us” with their concerns.

“One thing we don’t lack is intelligence from other parties about what other parties are doing,” Mr Rogers said.

An audit of the CLP would have to commence within weeks to be completed before the start of the federal election, when it would be suspended.

If the audit wasn’t complete before the election was called, the CLP would retain its party status.

One former high-ranking member of the party organisation, who wanted to remain anonymous, said they suspected the CLP’s membership list included people who had died.

“The membership list is woefully managed,” they said.

They added they couldn’t see “any way around (the CLP) being deregistered”.

“They’ve never had 1500 members, the most would be 600.

“We were losing 70 members a year while in government,” they said, referring to the CLP’s stint in office between 2012 and 2016.

The former insider said the CLP wouldn’t be able to use an ‘association’ with the Nationals to get over the 1500-member threshold.

“(The CLP constitution) clearly states in three separate points that they’re an independent party and they’re not to change that.”

CRASHING THE PARTY: Secretive Facebook group questions CLP future

A SECRETIVE Facebook group of high-profile Country Liberal Party figures is openly questioning the future of the organisation in the aftermath of Senator Sam McMahon’s departure.

Screenshots obtained by the NT News show members of the CLP Grassroots Lounge posting mocked up logos for the ‘Liberal Party Northern Territory’ and openly debating the demise of their own party.

WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN? VOTE BELOW

It comes amid lingering speculation the party risks being deregistered for the federal election after Senator McMahon’s decision to quit the party.

In a post to the Facebook page, former Trower branch secretary Thijs Bors posts an image of the Liberal and National Party’s logos, asking the question: “Is it time?”

One member then responded: “Absolutely.”

Prominent CLP figure Linda Fazldeen then piped up to add: “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day …”. Ms Fazldeen told the NT News she was quoting Michael Buble.

Former CLP vice president Rhianna Harker commented: “Liberals Northern Territory! Please!!”. Mr Bors replied with a mocked-up logo showing the Liberal Party logo with ‘Northern Territory’ written below.

Ms Harker wrote she was: “enjoying the irony of the above comment about being an independent party while management is desperately trying to prove that they aren’t an independent party and come under the Nats affiliation so they don’t lose federal registration now that the Senator (McMahon) has resigned”.

New rules introduced last year stipulated a party can only be officially registered at the federal level if it has a sitting parliamentarian, or it has more than 1500 members. Sources have said the CLP has fewer than 1500 members.

After Senator McMahon’s sensational resignation on Friday last week, one party insider told the NT News in confidence they were certain the CLP could use the National’s memberships to exceed the 1500-member benchmark.

When approached for comment, Mr Bors said he “absolutely” stood by his comments.

“Can a small party in the Northern Territory stand against a unified Green front, a uniformed Labor front?”

Ms Harker likewise stood by her call for an NT branch of the Liberals, saying it was time for the Territory’s conservative movement to “grow up”.

“The CLP of old worked many years ago, but we’re a bigger population now … and much more transient. Very few people identify with the CLP.”

Ms Fazldeen said “it’s never hurt the party to expand its views” and that it never hurt for members to question the party.

CLP president Jamie De Brenni said the posts were “their right, all I know is my concentration is the CLP is going into the next election.”

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