Exposing dark arts of WA Liberal Party power set

An extraordinary cache of messages sent between the WA Liberal Party’s key powerbrokers has revealed in ­intimate detail how they controlled and influenced its inner workings.

Former finance minister Mathias Cormann. Picture: Gary Ramage

An extraordinary cache of messages sent between the West Australian Liberal Party’s key powerbrokers has revealed in ­intimate detail how they controlled and influenced the inner workings of the organisation.

Thousands of WhatsApp messages sent over several years ­between senior state MPs Nick Goiran and Peter Collier, as well as former federal finance minister Mathias Cormann, current WA Liberal Party president Faye Duda and other state Liberal Party figures, have been obtained by The Weekend Australian.

The 714-page dossier of mes­sages shows clearly and at times crudely how important decisions and appointments were driven by Goiran, Collier and Cormann in particular, with the loyalty and obedience of candidates appearing to be the main, if not only, ­factor in determining who was appointed to key internal party positions.

The message group, which ­refers to itself as The Clan, ­includes messages from Mr ­Goiran in which he refers to his team in various Liberal branches as the Southern Soldiers and the Southern Spartans. In others, Mr Goiran sends messages with the time and venue of state executive meetings, with instructions for how to vote on specific items.

The surfacing of the messages comes at a crucial time within the West Australian Liberal Party, with a review into the party’s disastrous March election result – at which it won just two of 59 lower house seats – just days away from being finalised.

The messages, which have also emerged before a ­potential vote on the future of Ms Duda as president, also appear to contradict the descriptions given by Mr Goiran and Mr Collier over the extent of their influence within the party.

The messages show that both Mr Goiran and Mr Collier take the lead in organising the group, with Mr Collier calling meetings of The Clan at his home to “discuss our ticket for standing committees/chairs”.

“And you’d better have a good excuse not to attend. Only a note from your mum is acceptable,” he wrote.

WA MP Nick Goiran. Picture: Ian Munro

In one message, Mr Goiran congratulated the group on “an excellent spring clean” as its preferred candidates secured important positions within the party.

The messages also show how in 2018 Ms Duda pushed the group to appoint Perth businessman Izzi Messina for chairman of the party’s finance committee, describing him as “critical in plans to reenergise our fundraising”.

Earlier this year, it emerged at a Liberal state council meeting that the fundraising committee had not contributed any funding to the party for at least the past two financial years.

The party has since considered chasing failed candidates to repay funds spent during the campaign, as well as the prospect of a levy to reset its finances.

When assessing potential candidates for party positions, the key consideration among the message groups is whether they are “solid” – which appears to be whether they can be considered to vote on matters in line with the group’s directions.

 

In one exchange, Mihael McCoy – who when running for the southern Perth seat of Jandakot earlier this year came under fire for his links to extreme church beliefs – put forward a candidate for any role that may be available. “If any other C‘ee positions ­require filling, Richard Pannell from Brand is available and keen. Ultra solid! Let me know if there is a need,” he wrote.

In another message, from ­October 2017, Mr Cormann celebrated the group’s success and urged it to push home its advantage over party rivals.

“The good news is that the across the board push that we have seen over the past two years – driven by a coalition of the ­disgruntled, lemon suckers and pork chops seems to have subsided for the time being,” Mr Cormann wrote.

“This will not last. This is a great opportunity to consolidate in anticipation of future contests.”

In another series of messages from 2017, ahead of divisional votes, Mr Cormann put out a call for “reliable information re how many people will follow our ­advice”. “Can you please message me to let me know for your respective divisions how many people we can count on?” Mr Cormann wrote.

WA Liberal Party president Fay Duda. Picture: Ross Swanborough

Mr Goiran replied that he could count on 29 “hard votes” from his South Metropolitan district, including four out of six votes in Brand, five of eight in Burt, seven of eight in Fremantle, six of seven in Swan, and seven of eight in Tangney.

In a text message to The Weekend Australian on Friday, Mr Cormann wrote: “I served the WA Liberal Party to the best of my ability over a period of 25 years. Of course that involved working with many others as part of the democratic processes of the WA Liberal Party party organisation.”

Mr Goiran’s influence on the behind-the-scenes workings of the party has long been a source of division among WA Liberals. The likes of Mike Nahan, John McGrath and Dean Nalder – all of whom retired at the last election – have spoken out over what they say is the influence of powerbrokers over the party.

Mr Goiran in particular has been blamed for a rise in the number of candidates with overt ­religious beliefs, which some in the Liberal Party say has cost it some mainstream support.

Mr Goiran was one of at least five Liberal candidates at the last election with previous links to the Australian Christians, having loaned $8000 to its predecessor the Christian Democratic Party in 2005. His mother Madeleine and father Gerard have also been perennial candidates for the Australian Christians.

He has described the criticism of “so-called ‘powerbrokers’ and Christians” as “trite commentary”, instead blaming the party’s poor result on “too many passengers and destabilisers” within the parliamentary party and its organisational wing.

Earlier this year, Mr Collier told The Australian he was only an active member of the party.

“I do not manipulate, I do not control,” he said at the time. “I like to mentor and assist, and I see that as my role, but I’m not a puppet master.”

In one series of messages, the group jokes about how quickly it was able to speed through the ­annual general meetings of various branches in as little as four minutes, and at times concurrently.

In contrast, Ms Duda has written to Liberal members in the wake of the election defeat calling for a “special effort … to revitalise branches, their role and activities – encouraging participation in discussion and policymaking”.

The group also used the Whats­App chat to provide updates from crucial party votes to members outside those meetings.

In at least once meeting of state council, Ms Duda struggled to maintain her cool as Mr Goiran and Mr Cormann sent jokes about the “pork chops” and “lemon-suckers” elsewhere in the party. “Come on guys Lol – I’m trying to be poker face up here! Ps happy birthday Nick.”

At one point, Mr Cormann ­celebrates the advantage that the WhatsApp group gives it over its rivals. “This is a vote we would have lost in life pre-WhatsApp … #justsayin,” he wrote.

“This platform without any doubt gives us operational superiority in this room.”

A rival faction calling itself the ABC – Anyone But Collier – has been agitating for sweeping change to the party structure in the wake of the March annihilation. There have been signs Mr Collier’s power may be ­dim­inishing, with ABC candidates on Monday night defeating three Collier-backed candidates for the key positions at the annual meeting of the party’s Curtin division.

Copies of the review into the election defeat are expected to be distributed to party state councillors at a meeting of the state council at the end of the month.

Mr Collier told The Weekend Australian he would not comment on private messages.

A WA Liberal Party spokesperson said chat groups were a common form of communication in the community and political parties were no different. The spokesperson said the party had not yet been able to establish if the messages were real or edited.