No Stone unturned in Libs’ accounts; Home is where the vote is for Wilson

Former NSW Liberal Party state director Chris Stone. Picture: Lee Hamilton

It’s been a year since faceless man Chris Stone announced his retirement as NSW Liberal Party director, a development that led to a woefully drawn-out, even torturous, recruitment process that landed on Richard Shields as Stone’s replacement.

Still, the spectre of Stone remains in the rat holes of Liberal HQ. Out of a job he occupied for eight years, in January he went off and launched Stone Advisory, a launch so soft that this business lacks a website and has absolutely no presence on Stone’s LinkedIn page. The only place it seemingly does exist is on the NSW Liberal Party’s financial books.

We know because documents prepared for the March 22 meeting of the party’s State Executive have been helpfully leaked to Margin Call spelling all this out, papers that include a full list of political debtors and creditors alongside the usual financials.

Richard Shields. Picture: John Appleyard

Stone Advisory, the documents state, is awaiting payment of $5500 from Bunori Pty Ltd, a privately owned entity that the Liberals use as a management services company; Bunori employs the staff, engages the lease agreements, pays out the operational costs, etc.

But why keep Stone on the books post retirement? Isn’t the point of retirement to … retire? A Liberal spokesman wouldn’t respond to questions, and one of those would be whether these payments to Stone for his mysterious services will be recurring or not. There’s also a potential conflict here – after all, Stone is listed as a director of Bunori, so he’s kind of contracting himself. Great gig, until someone ­notices …

Meanwhile, Bunori still owes $44,746.35 to recruiter Korn Ferry, and we presume that’s a payment for the ill-fated search last year to find a replacement for Stone (records reflect the amount’s been on the books for more than three months).

Locating a successor was initially tasked to former NSW Nationals MP Adrian Piccoli, these days a senior client partner at Korn Ferry. He sounded out candidates but was told to stand down in July once the former federal MP Jason Falinski was voted in as party president, thereby kicking off a fresh round of CV collections (Falinski has since been replaced by former NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin).

Generally speaking the finances of the state division are looking reasonable. Cash holdings as of February 29 were at $5.7m, although the fundraising could be improved – they’ve raised a YTD figure of $91,000, which is down on the budgeted figure of $117,500.

Membership fees are also coming in about $19,000 below the budgeted number of $887,000; that’s the money rolling in from the party’s 9761 paid-up members, and we note the Libs are eager to bump up that number and are waving through quite a few applicants who’d previously been barred from holding membership (this includes someone approved last month who’d campaigned for independent Dai Le in Fowler during the 2022 election – against the Libs’ endorsed candidate Courtney Nguyen).

In any case, no need to worry. The shortfall out of the membership takings has been offset by an increase in nomination fees, which have pulled in an extra $45,750 over budget so far this year.

Homing in

Meanwhile, former Liberal MP Tim Wilson won preselection late last month for the Victorian seat of Goldstein, which should pit him for a second time against teal independent Zoe Daniel, of recent dummy-spit at Tullamarine airport fame.

One snag in his campaign: very soon he’ll no longer be able to bill himself as a local homeowner.

Wilson and husband Ryan Bolger quietly sold their Sandringham bolthole in January, in a deal thought to be worth north of $1m (although the transaction is yet to settle).

Tim Wilson is the candidate for the seat of Goldstein.

Independent MP Zoe Daniel.

That was their second attempt to offload the townhouse. The property made headlines in 2022 when it was targeted by vandals during the election campaign and the couple attempted to sell thereafter, unsuccessfully. But rather than move back in, they rented it for $740 per week and moved to another property nearby.

Approached on Tuesday, Wilson said he and Bolger would probably keep renting in Brighton, for now, with decisions to be made should he defeat Daniel next year.

A victory would almost certainly mean staying in place; a loss frees them up to move elsewhere. Wilson has property in South Yarra and also in Barongarook, a rural village south of Colac. He could always run for preselection there?

School’s out

What to make of Tony Farley’s decision not to continue as executive director of Sydney Catholic Schools? Farley says he’s backing out of the role after five years, and this would make him the first ED in the Catholic system – as far as Margin Call understands – not to be offered a second term.

The departing message to colleagues was nothing but milk and honey, of course. “I have loved every minute of my five years as executive director and the discernment process to finish has not been easy,” he wrote. And from here? No job to speak of and instead a focus on “my family and enjoying a well-earned rest”.

All fine, but we’re hearing the choice was very much out of Farley’s hands. We’d also be fools not to note the ED’s decision to hold a Christmas cocktail party at Sydney’s Fullerton Hotel last year, costing in the neighbourhood of $30,000.

Quite a lavish spend for a low-fee school, and certainly a straw-camel act internally.