NSW Treasurer Matt Kean triggers Liberal Party revolt by members

Matt Kean faces claims he tried to undermine a likely Liberal Party candidate and accused members of being ‘­misogynist men’.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean is facing a revolt by party moderates over claims he has sought to undermine a likely Liberal Party candidate and that he accused grassroots members of being a “bunch of old, out of touch, ­misogynist men”.

With fears of a teal assault on the affluent seat of Pittwater, it is understood efforts by senior Liberals to find a female candidate have been met by fierce local ­resistance.

Mr Kean, a moderate powerbroker, was censured after a ­motion on Monday night passed by about 50 Pittwater branch members, in response to public comments in which the minister called for party leaders to have the final say on preselections ahead of the March election.

In an email sent to Mr Kean on December 1, Pittwater branch president Stu Cameron said he had noted with “dismay” the Treasurer’s public comments and that he was deeply concerned by the insinuation Mr Kean would seek to overturn the party’s constitution and “take matters into his own hands”.

“I reject your assertion that Liberal Party members of the Pittwater conference are out of touch with community standards and that, somehow, we have a bias against women in politics,” Mr Cameron wrote.

“Publicly implying that the Pittwater conference is comprised of a bunch of old, out of touch, misogynist men is a lie.”

The assertion that he would subvert the party’s democratic processes was an “outrageous abuse” of the Liberal members to “whom you owe your political career”, Mr Cameron said.

“The party membership will not let this happen and I suggest in the strongest possible terms that you publicly withdraw these comments,” he said.

Mr Kean was contacted for comment.

In response to Metropolitan Roads Minister Natalie Ward’s rejection by members of the ­Davidson branch, who instead chose former Liberal staffer Matt Cross, Mr Kean said the result was “bitterly disappointing” and that branch membership was “not reflecting the community”.

It is understood Liberal figureheads in the Pittwater area were asked to find a female candidate to contest the local preselection. Families and Communities Minister Natasha Maclaren-Jones nominated ­before pulling out due to a lack of local support.

EY consultant Claire Longley was also keen to run but was forced to withdraw after it ­became apparent she had not been a financial Liberal Party member for long enough to qualify. Efforts to overcome the ­administrative error failed.

In another email sent to Mr Kean and others on Friday morning, the secretary of the North Narrabeen branch decried recently commissioned polling of the Pittwater electorate, ­saying it was an effort “to undermine our candidate”, Rory Amon.

“The push polling has been reported to me by numerous party members and disingenuously and disgracefully aims to undermine Rory’s candidacy,” former Pittwater president Wendy Starkie wrote.

“Your interference, and the interference of the state president in the Pittwater conference must end.”

Ms Starkie quoted comments made by the current Pittwater president, Mr Cameron, who reportedly at the meeting on Monday said about Mr Kean: “At present, the loudest voice speaking against the Liberal Party, its value and its membership is not the ALP, not the teals and not the Greens. It is yours.”