NSW Liberals in chaos as party fails to nominate council candidates

The NSW Liberals’ local government campaign is in disarray after the party missed the deadline to nominate candidates in a dozen council areas, including Lane Cove, Northern Beaches, Camden and Wollongong.

Liberal members were on Wednesday afternoon scrambling to assess the extent of the blunder, touted by senior insiders as the worst in the division’s history, with some candidates calling the NSW Electoral Commission to see if they had been nominated.

Liberal candidates will be missing from ballots in a host of seats in next month’s council elections.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

A circular sent out by Liberal HQ said it was “likely” several local government areas had not been successfully lodged by the noon deadline for the September 14 elections: Northern Beaches, Lane Cove, Shoalhaven, Wollongong, Campbelltown, Camden and Blue Mountains.

The party was waiting on “final confirmation” from the electoral commission that there were “partial nominations” for Georges River, North Sydney, Penrith, Canterbury Bankstown and Maitland.

Clarity would not be likely until a full list of nominations was published ahead of the ballot draw on Thursday at 2pm, with an Electoral Commission spokeswoman saying: “We are still processing nominations, so can’t confirm who has or hasn’t been nominated at this time.”

Woollahra Liberal mayor Richard Shields.Credit: Woollahra Council

Liberal MP for Kellyville Ray Williams said there was widespread anger in the party.

“As a staunch Liberal, I think this is an absolute betrayal of every good Liberal member, of which there are 11,000 across NSW, as well as those people who should be representing our local [government] areas as councillors,” Williams said. “It has simply let everyone down. ”

Incensed party members called for state director Richard Shields to resign immediately, saying the blunder was inconceivable given the Liberal Party existed solely to run in elections. They said Shields had failed to bring in additional resources to deal with the nomination process.

One told the Herald: “If Richard Shields isn’t gone by the end of the week I will be moving a motion of no confidence in his position.”

Another senior Liberal source said Shields could not survive the administrative disaster.

“This is the most catastrophic stuff-up by a state director in living memory. It is hard to think his position is tenable, as we are about to enter two crucial byelections,” the Liberal source said.

NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has demanded an explanation.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

NSW Liberal Party leader Mark Speakman withheld judgment on Shields’ future pending his explanation for the unprecedented mishap, saying the “basic administrative tasks” were left to the state director.

“Submitting local council nominations is a matter for the state director and his secretariat, and not a matter for the NSW or federal parliamentary party,” he said. “The state director will need to explain what has occurred and why.”

In a statement, Shields blamed limited resources as he confirmed the party had failed to nominate candidates “in all of the local government areas”.

“The status of nominated Liberal candidates will be communicated upon confirmation from the NSW Electoral Commission. On behalf of the secretariat, I would like to apologise to Liberal-endorsed councillors that were not nominated and to the party membership more broadly,” he said.

With a federal election just months away, Liberal insiders said the nomination failure demonstrated a remarkable vulnerability in the party’s logistical operation. Another source noted the flow-on effect could be felt in state elections, with Liberal councillors using local government as a stage to boost their profile ahead of trying to move into Macquarie Street.

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