Federal election 2016: plea for Fierravanti-Wells on ticket

Scott Morrison has joined in trying to convince party factions not to relegate Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. ‘If Malcolm wants Connie then he needs to talk to the centre-right.’

Scott Morrison has joined Malcolm Turnbull in trying to convince Liberal Party factions not to relegate Concetta Fierravanti-Wells into the sixth position on the NSW Senate ticket.

Amid concern internal tensions in his home state could disrupt the Prime Minister’s election campaign, the Treasurer is lobbying for Senator Fierravanti-Wells, the Minister for International ­Development, to be placed at No 4 on the NSW ticket, ahead of the centre-right’s Hollie Hughes. This would reflect Senator Fierravanti-Wells’s seniority behind cabinet ministers Marise Payne, Arthur Sinodinos and the Nationals’ Fiona Nash.

Mr Turnbull already has ­advised moderate members of the state executive that he supports this outcome, but has been told by his faction it cannot guarantee Senator Fierravanti-Wells’s position because it has no power to ­direct the “bruised” centre-right faction, which is still reeling from a decision to install moderate-aligned Jason Falinski in place of Bronwyn Bishop in Mackellar.

The Liberal Party has done an unexpected deal with the ­Nationals to give it the third and fifth position on the double-dissolution Senate ticket, meaning Senator Fierravanti-Wells and Ms Hughes are jockeying for the fourth spot.

The Nationals’ John “Wacka” Williams, a close ally of Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, has the fifth position, and there is concern the sixth place might not be winnable.

Under double-dissolution rules, all 12 Senate positions in each state are up for grabs on July 2, rather than the half-Senate vote in most general elections.

Some moderates in the party are also understood to be considering supporting Ms Hughes as a “peace offering” to the centre- right faction, arguing they have ­already intervened once to help Senator Fierravanti-Wells, along with MPs in other seats that Mr Turnbull wanted to protect.

“If Malcolm wants Connie then he needs to talk to the centre-right, because it is not up to us,” one ­senior moderate said.

Another senior source said the centre-right “holds all the cards” and is in no mood to negotiate after being railroaded in the Mackellar vote. “Logistically, it is very difficult because the centre-right will not co-operate.”

It is understood the Treasurer is attempting to shore up support for Senator Fierravanti-Wells within his faction and will prevail upon powerbroker Alex Hawke to ­ensure she is placed higher than Ms Hughes.

He has spoken to Senator ­Fierravanti-Wells to assure her she has his full support, and is understood to have described the possibility that Ms Hughes would outrank her as “ridiculous”.

Senior Liberal conservatives say if Senator Fierravanti-Wells is demoted in defiance of Mr Turnbull and Mr Morrison’s wishes she could launch a legal challenge or an internal dispute against the ­decision that would spark “factional warfare in the middle of an election campaign”.

“Are they really going to go to war for Hollie Hughes?” one asked.

The state executive wants the issue resolved as soon as possible, and is considering a faxed ballot or a face-to-face meeting later this week to vote on the ticket order.

The moderate faction controls about half the numbers on the state executive, with nine votes compared to the centre right’s eight. There is also one hard-right vote and one independent.