Liberals cancel NSW preselections, poised to parachute in candidates

The Liberal federal executive will again temporarily dissolve the party’s NSW division to install candidates in all outstanding seats.

The Liberal federal executive has canned preselections in three vital NSW seats just days before they were set to go ahead, temporarily dissolving the party’s NSW division to parachute in a clutch of candidates.

The Australian revealed on Sunday that the party’s federal executive had unanimously agreed to intervene for a second time in the NSW division, which has been plagued by factional infighting, appointing a temporary committee until Saturday April 2 to select candidates.

“Today the federal executive of the Liberal Party resolved unanimously to intervene and appoint a committee to take over the management of the NSW division, in accordance with clause 12.3 of the federal constitution of the Liberal Party,” a Liberal Party statement said.

The dissolution of the NSW division comes with the spectre of a legal challenge hovering over the party, with state executive member Matt Camenzuli naming Scott Morrison as first defendant in a case set to go before the state’s Supreme Court.

On Saturday, longstanding NSW senator Concetta Fierra­vanti-Wells’ parliamentary career was brought to an end after she lost her winnable Senate ticket in a preselection ballot.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne and senator Jim Molan won the Coalition’s first and third Senate spots. Nationals’ Ross Cadel has the second spot.

Senator Fierravanti-Wells lost after votes from the moderate faction and a bloc of support controlled by Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney moved to support Senator Molan once Senator Payne’s position was secured.

Out: Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. Picture: Kym Smith

Safe: Senator Marise Payne. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

The decision was made to reappoint the Prime Minister, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and former federal Liberal president Christine McDiven as a temporary committee to take over management of the NSW division.

Three preselection votes had been scheduled for this week but have now been scrapped.

In Parramatta, in Sydney’s west, the Liberal Party will now install a candidate, despite a plebiscite having been set for Monday.

In a deal previously stitched together by factional powerbrokers and put before the NSW state executive, local businesswoman Maria Kovacic was touted as the preferred candidate.

NSW Transport Minister David Elliott, a factional ally of Mr Morrison who has previously considered making the jump to federal politics, has reportedly told colleagues he was seriously considering contesting Parramatta.

The marginal electorate has been vacated by retiring Labor MP Julie Owens. Accenture Australia managing director Andrew Charlton is likely to become the ALP’s candidate for the seat, despite living in the city’s eastern suburbs.

Preselections in Hughes were also expected to proceed later this week. Instead, the party is set to impose a candidate, with either PwC consultant Alex Dore or veteran families advocate Gwen Cherne likely to challenge United Australia Party leader Craig Kelly.

Senator Molan’s former chief of staff Jerry Nockles is likely to challenge Labor backbencher Kristy McBain in Eden-Monaro, which she holds on a wafer-thin 0.9 per cent margin.

A source on the federal executive confirmed the committee’s reappointment meant that pre­selections would not proceed.

Disability campaigner David Brady appears certain to contest independent Zali Steggall’s seat in Warringah, coming in at the expense of conservative Lincoln Parker. The committee will also select candidates for a raft of Labor-held unwinnable seats: Fowler, Grayn­dler, Greenway, McMahon and Newcastle. The decision comes three weeks after the committee was initially appointed to endorse Mr Morrison’s MPs, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, Environment Minister Sussan Ley and North Sydney’s Trent Zimmerman.

Mr Camenzuli’s legal representatives asserted members of the committee were “not effective to select or endorse” the three ­incumbents. “As at the time of the purported endorsement resolutions, there was no power available to any person or committee … to select or endorse any person as Liberal candidate for election,” the legal correspondence said.