Presidential showdown for embattled WA Liberals

If successful, Tom White would be the fourth Liberal president in WA in a four-year period that has delivered four of the party’s worst election results in the state.

Tom White, who will challenge for the presidency of the WA Liberal Party. Picture: Paul Garvey

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The Liberal candidate who failed to defeat teal MP Kate Chaney in the key seat of Curtin, Tom White, will challenge Caroline Di Russo for presidency of the WA Liberal Party.

Mr White’s plan to put his name forward for the role emerged from the party’s state council meeting at the weekend in a move that is understood to have blindsided Ms Di Russo.

If he is successful, Mr White would be the fourth party president in Western Australia in a four-year period that has delivered four of the party’s worst election results in the state on record.

The party had been planning on gaining seats in WA at the recent federal election but instead went backwards, losing the seat of Moore in an outcome that saw it disappear from metropolitan Perth. It failed to win back the former blue ribbon seats of Curtin and Tangney and narrowly lost the new seat of Bullwinkel.

That followed another dis­appointing state election result in which the Liberals won only seven of 59 lower-house seats, with the party winning back the status of official opposition party from the Nationals by a solitary seat.

Ms Di Russo has served three one-year terms since she filled a casual vacancy left by the sudden departure of Richard Wilson, who had taken on the presidency after Fay Duda resigned in the wake of the 2021 state election annihilation and The Clan Whats­App scandal.

While Ms Di Russo delivered an overhaul of some of preselection processes, some in the party have argued the reforms have not gone far enough.

Ms Di Russo is eligible to stand for what would be a final term under the party’s constitution, and she said in a statement that she intended to do so. “Nobody is entitled to any position, however, I am pleased to confirm I will be nominating to serve the last year available to me under the Liberal Party’s constitution,” she said.

Caroline Di Russo is a Perth-based lawyer and regular contributor to Sky News.

“Across the state, I have enjoyed the overwhelming support of party members to implement an agenda of change that has steadily refreshed the party in a considered fashion.

“I intend to further consolidate that work in the year ahead, leaving the next president a strong and financially sustainable organisation and an engaged membership that is working to support our new leaders in Basil Zempilas and Sussan Ley as they prepare for the next elections.”

Mr White spent more than a year campaigning full-time for Curtin and had spoken about having no ‘plan B’ in the event he was unsuccessful.

Ms Chaney won with an increased margin, although Mr White suffered a smaller drop in primary than that experienced by the party across the state.

When contacted by The Australian, Mr White said: “While I can’t comment on internal party matters, I share the sense that many Liberals have: the party is at a crossroads, and bold thinking is needed to move us forward.”

Lawyer Tim Houweling, the chair of the party’s appeals and disciplinary committee, is also understood to have been urged to run for the presidency if Ms Di Russo decided to step aside.

A fight for the presidency that ended in Ms Di Russo’s defeat would only add to perceptions that the party is not doing enough to support the progress of women through the party.

Asked about the presidency battle, WA Premier Roger Cook said it was “clear that the Liberals are now in disarray”.

“They’ve run the worst election campaign since the Second World War and got the defeat that they deserve. And now they’re starting to attack each other,” he said.

“My priority is to make sure we focus on jobs, on health, on housing. And we will let the Liberals undertake their own infighting.”

The contest for the presidency came as the Liberals agreed to the terms of reference for a review of the most recent state election campaign.

Former Tasmanian premier Will Hodgman, former WA Liberal leader Liza Harvey – who was replaced just months out from the 2021 election defeat – and ­Sydney-based marketing director James Dore will carry out the review.