Why the Liberals dumped a young Asian woman in favour of Q&A star Teena McQueen

The federal president of the Liberal Party, Nick Greiner, had barely finished speaking about the value of diversity before the party voted Karina Okotel off its island.

Okotel, the daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants, was a champion of the party’s conservative wing and seen as a future federal politician.

Karina Okotel and Teena McQueen cast their ballots for the vice-presidency of the Liberal Party.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

But some of her former factional allies deserted her on Friday night when conservatives and moderates joined forces at the party's federal council to prefer Teena McQueen, the outspoken vice-president who made headlines with her appearance on the ABC’s Q&A program earlier this year.

With four women competing for three positions as vice-president, Okotel and McQueen faced off in the final round of voting. McQueen, from the NSW Central Coast but now based in Sydney, won by 82 to 27 votes.

McQueen has been one of Tony Abbott’s strongest supporters and the subject of horror from the party's moderate wing because she does not hold back with her conservative views.

In a speech that drew laughter and applause from her audience, McQueen told the federal council of the groans from the Q&A audience when she praised United States President Donald Trump and mentioned she had once met him at a beauty contest.

Nick Greiner speaks to Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra on Friday.Credit: AAP

"I received 1500 emails of support from around the nation," McQueen told them of the Q&A appearance. She told of stories about her at the ABC, in The Sydney Morning Herald, and by journalist Niki Savva at The Australian.

"If Niki Savva, the ABC and The Sydney Morning Herald are all against me, who the bloody hell else would you want as a federal vice-president of the Liberal Party?" she asked.

"Our values are under attack and they attack so fiercely because they don't have one good argument among them. If we set out to be liked, we are at risk of compromising the truths that make us great."

The speech did not win McQueen her victory because the numbers had been decided beforehand, but there was no doubt she had the audience on her side.

The outcome was also a victory for Caroline Inge, a Melbourne Liberal who is close to Josh Frydenberg and well known in his electorate of Kooyong. Inge nominated at the last minute, in a surprise moved that forced the vote between the four candidates, and she was elected ahead of both Okotel and McQueen.

(A Western Australian, Fay Duda, won the first round.)

The fact that McQueen stays on as a vice-president may cause controversy for the Liberals down the track, and perhaps even frustrate Prime Minister Scott Morrison if she appears on Q&A again and argues for something he may want to reject. Some in the NSW division regard her television appearances, even if they are only on Sky News at night, as a liability.

The defeat for Okotel, meanwhile, is a sign of the continued factional games underway in the Victorian division.

Okotel's fate was sealed when she fell out with Michael Kroger, Marcus Bastiaan and Michael Sukkar, the trio that still wields significant influence in the division.

Okotel blamed Kroger for the party's defeat at last year's state election. Kroger, Bastiaan and Sukkar suspected her of forming rival alliances to work against them, even though they had backed her for years and helped her become a vice-president at the last federal council.

In one key marker, Okotel did not support Sarah Henderson in the preselection to place the former Victorian MP in the Senate. So this was payback.

Okotel's critics accuse her of becoming too conservative on social issues, while her allies reject claims she supports gay conversion therapy. Her friends point out she is a human rights lawyer and not a proponent of torture.

All this proves how toxic the Liberal Party can become, much like Labor, when factions fight over a position of power.

There is a cost to Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien, too, because he chose to support Okotel weeks ago and honoured the pledge even after Inge emerged as a late candidate.

O'Brien is trying to settle the differences within the state division but has to deal with old rivalries that are based more on personality than ideology. His critics are using the Okotel vote against him, even though the identity of a Liberal party office-holder does not matter much in the scheme of things.

Kroger, Bastiaan and Sukkar have just made their presence felt again. If you cross them, you pay.

McQueen, meanwhile, should expect another call from Q&A.