Monica Tudehope selected as Liberal candidate for Epping
Dominic Perrottet has praised his Liberal candidate successor Monica Tudehope as a ‘probable premier’ for NSW as electoral authorities rejected the party’s urgent local elections plea, possibly triggering court action.
Monica Tudehope, daughter of NSW shadow treasurer Damien Tudehope and ex-staffer for former Coalition premier Dominic Perrottet, has been named as the Liberal candidate for the October 19 state by-election for Mr Perrottet’s seat of Epping.
Party preselectors voted overwhelmingly for Ms Tudehope, who secured 89 of the 115 votes, to contest the 46th Premier’s seat.
“I am humbled by the opportunity I’ve been given to represent the Liberal Party, continue Dominic Perrottet’s hard work and to fight for our local community,” Ms Tudehope said.
“Throughout my career, I have worked to help make lives easier for hardworking families, whether establishing the Active Kids vouchers to encourage participation in sports, or removing the burden of stamp duty with First Home Buyers Choice and helping small businesses through lower payroll tax.”
It comes after the NSW Liberal Party president Don Harwin wrote to the state Electoral Commission to request a week’s extension for the party to submit nominations for next month’s council elections after it missed a deadline to submit paperwork for about 140 candidates.
The Liberals missed the noon deadline on Wednesday to nominate the candidates in a massive administrative blunder.
The NSW Electoral Commission confirmed on Saturday it received the letter but Acting Commissioner Matthew Phillips rejected the appeal after considering the grounds for the request.
“He has determined not to extend the nomination period,” an EC spokesperson said on Saturday.
The state Liberal Party is reportedly considering a court appeal against the refusal.
Chris Minns, I believe, is a man of principle. As Premier he should do the right thing and support Liberals being allowed to stand as candidates for the Council elections. Don’t be afraid of competition. Our democracy is only as good as the competition of ideas on offer. #nswpol
— James Griffin MP (@James_HGriffin) August 17, 2024
Liberal frontbencher James Griffin called on Labor Premier Chris Minns to intervene to allow the nominations to proceed.
“Chris Minns, I believe, is a man of principle,” Mr Griffin, the Coalition spokesman on energy, climate change and the environment, said.
“As Premier he should do the right thing and support Liberals being allowed to stand as candidates for the council elections.’’
But a spokesperson for the Premier later said the decision was entirely one for the Electoral Commission.
“Timing of the local government election and processes including nominations have been known for a long time,” the spokesperson said.
“Hundreds of candidates nominated on time.”
Independent state MP for Wakehurst Michael Regan told The Sunday Telegraph: “It would set a dangerous precedent for the Electoral Commission to start making exceptions to any rule — particularly rules that are widely publicised months in advance and that all other groups have stringently obeyed.”
Ms Tudehope said that the state Labor government had turned its backs on families and have slashed cost of living programs such as Active Kids, Creative Kids and Back to School Vouchers.
“I will be a strong voice for locals, standing up against Labor’s cuts to schools, hospitals and cost of living support, and fighting for better cost of living support for families.”
Mr Perrottet said he saw a “probable premier” in his former deputy chief of staff.
“The Liberals have just drafted a future treasurer, probable premier,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.
“Monica will bring a wealth of experience and intellect to the Liberal Party team.”
The 41-year-old resigned from parliament this month and will take up a senior position with BHP in Washington.
Ms Tudehope grew up in West Pennant Hills in northwest Sydney and is touted as a candidate who “understands the challenges families and households face”.
Mr Perrottet retained Epping, in the city’s northwest, by a preferred margin of about 5 per cent at the 2023 state elections.
For the September 14 local elections, it’s understood no Liberal candidates will run at this stage in the Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Lane Cove, Northern Beaches, Shoalhaven and Wollongong local council elections, while only partial nominations were submitted for Canterbury-Bankstown, Georges River, Maitland, North Sydney and Penrith.
Party state director Richard Shields was sacked on Thursday night in the fallout.
Two senior party officials are seeking to put a motion to the party for Mr Harwin to stand aside pending an inquiry by an “external” investigator into the council nominations fiasco, The Sunday Telegraph is reporting.
The party has declared it will review the debacle, but many members believe such an inquiry needs to occur independently, with some suggesting it should be overseen at a federal level.
In an email sent to members on Saturday, party vice-presidents Geoff Pearson and Peter O’Hanlon said it was only commonsense for Mr Harwin to stand aside while such an inquiry took place.
One senior Liberal figure said a lack of presence at the council elections would affect the party’s federal chances next year, especially in the marginal federal seats that the Liberals must either win or retain to win back government, NewsWire reported.
The insider cited Georges River Council, which sits in the Banks seat and is held by Liberal MP David Coleman on a 3.2 per cent margin.
The party will also be looking at winning back the Liberal-turned-Teal seat of Mackellar, which takes in the Northern Beaches Council, as well as retaining Lindsay, which includes Penrith City Council.
Gilmore, which includes the Shoalhaven City Council, is another key electorate. Labor’s Fiona Phillips turned the seat red in the 2022 federal election; however, it sits on an ultra-slim 0.2 per cent margin and will be contested by former NSW transport minister Andrew Constance next year.
Another senior Liberal source pointed to the state seat of Parramatta, which the party lost to Labor candidate and City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Donna Davis in last year’s state election, NewsWire reported.
They believe this gave the election manager discretion and, if necessary, will argue in the Supreme Court that the commission erred in failing to use that discretion. Ballots for the September 14 election were drawn on Thursday, but papers are yet to be printed, so “there’s a level of urgency in getting all of this sorted”, a Liberal source said. Another source predicted “this will end up in the Supreme Court for sure”.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the party was considering an appeal to the NSW Supreme Court. Its Liberal sources said there were concerns about how the electoral notices and nomination forms were issued, and a Local Government Act regulation allowed the nomination deadline to be another date “as the election manager [commission] determines in a particular case”, which the sources claimed provided discretion.
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