Party faux pas leaves Libs in strife, and Rinehart not amused

The Victorian Liberal Party entered its doomed federal election campaign facing a possible Fair Work payout, having stood down the executive director of its fundraising arm the day after the state president made a faux pas about billionaire and star guest Gina Rinehart at a $10,000-a head dinner.

The ongoing dispute, which heads to mediation next week, was one of several distractions for the branch in a battleground state previously seen as Peter Dutton’s potential path to victory.

Phil Davis was elected Victorian Liberal Party president in 2023.Credit: Simon Schluter

The episode prompted Rinehart, whom party president Phil Davis mistakenly introduced as a sponsor of Netball Australia, to again distance herself from the Liberal Party’s beleaguered state branch. Hancock Prospecting, in fact, withdrew its $15 million four-year sponsorship with Netball Australia in 2022 amid a flurry of front-page headlines after Diamonds players said they did not want to wear uniforms featuring the mining company’s logo.

Nadine Jones, the executive director of Enterprise Victoria – the state party’s fundraising arm – was stood down from the organisation on March 27, the day after the formal function and the day before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the election.

Enterprise Victoria executive director Nadine Jones at a separate function.Credit: LinkedIn

She will next week enter mediation with the party, alleging wrongful dismissal in a case expected to be pursued through the Fair Work Commission.

Jones declined to comment while the matter proceeded to mediation.

The Age has confirmed details of the workplace dispute with eight party sources unable to speak publicly.

The sources said there was broad sympathy across the party for Jones, who has led Enterprise Victoria for two years, and frustration at how Davis and state director Stuart Smith have handled the matter, feeling she had been unfairly targeted.

Smith stood Jones down the morning after the dinner. Part of his stated reasons, according to three sources, was that she had offered free and discounted tickets to the event that Davis later rescinded and that she shared confidential information – the Enterprise Victoria charter and names of its board members – with a member of the Liberal Party administrative committee.

Enterprise Victoria reports to that committee. Four sources suggested that was not a legitimate reason to terminate Jones and the same number of sources thought the incident highlighted the need for a cultural reset in the party’s Victorian division.

Gina Rinehart in 2023.Credit: Trevor Collens

Davis and Smith did not respond to calls from The Age on Tuesday, but a Liberal Party spokesperson said: “We don’t publicly comment on private events, and employment matters are treated confidentially.”

As a former director of the Country Liberal Party in the Northern Territory, Jones had a long-standing relationship with former NT chief minister Adam Giles, the chief executive of Rinehart’s Hancock Agriculture. In a coup for the Victorian branch, she locked in Rinehart as the primary guest of the March 26 dinner at Zagame’s House, a luxury hotel in Carlton’s Lygon Street.

Some guests were offered discounts on the $10,000 ticket price. Enterprise Victoria then-chair Charles Gillies and deputy chair Rilka Warbanoff were originally given complimentary tickets.

But party president Davis rebranded the Enterprise Victoria function as a Victorian Liberal Party event, and rescinded discounts and complimentary tickets.

Four sources said that Adam Giles, who also attended the event, corrected the record for guests after the Netball Australia faux pas. Giles declined to comment when contacted by The Age.

In Rinehart’s own speech, Australia’s richest person called out Gillies and Warbanoff so she could thank them for a fantastic event. She was met with silence. Ultimately, three sources said Davis clarified to the audience that the pair was not in the room.

Rinehart was not believed to be embarrassed but had expected to be introduced by Enterprise Victoria, given she had been invited by Jones.

The Age, in a request for comment to Hancock Prospecting, put the suggestion that Rinehart was irked at Davis or the Victorian Liberal Party and had pulled support for the state branch as a result. Hancock Prospecting declined to comment.

Jones remains on leave while the parties head to mediation next Tuesday for alleged wrongful dismissal. Fair Work action has not been formally filed, but the dispute is expected to progress to arbitration if a settlement cannot be reached.

Victorian Liberal Party state director Stuart Smith.Credit: Simon Schluter

The dispute had been a source of hushed rumour during the campaign but is being more openly discussed following the Liberal Party’s disastrous election night wipe-out.

One senior donor said losing Jones at the start of the election campaign had “severely crippled” the fundraising arm of the party. “These boys couldn’t run a cake stall,” they said.

While lawyers have been engaged, the party’s administrative committee has not been formally briefed on the dispute.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin has for months privately canvassed a complete clear-out of the administrative committee to end infighting and become electorally competitive in Victoria.

In discussions that pre-dated the March 26 dinner, Battin has sought possible contenders to challenge Davis and others.

Battin’s office declined to comment.

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