Senate fight may unseat whip

Saturday’s preselection battle could also turn into a referendum on Mr Smith over his support for marriage equality

Liberal Member of Parliament Warren Entsch and Senator Dean Smith.

The fight to replace Mathias Cormann in the Senate could turn into a coup against incumbent West Australian Liberal senator Dean Smith, with preselectors still angry about his support for gay marriage potentially swinging their support behind a rival candidate.

The preselection battle on Saturday could also turn into a referendum on Senator Smith as the party’s influential religious right considers whether to instead vote for former Barnett government minister Albert Jacob for the ­second spot on the Senate ticket, behind Michaelia Cash.

But the religious right alone will not be enough to unseat Senator Smith, whose relatively high profile in WA and role as chief government whip in the Senate should work in his favour. There is also the outside prospect of a push for Canberra to intervene in the process if it looks like he may be squeezed out.

Ousting Senator Smith would further­ trim what are already depleted ranks of senior Liberal Party figures in WA. The retirement of Mr Cormann this year and Julie Bishop last year deprived it of its two most recognisable figures federally, while at a state level the party is at real risk of losing even more seats at the March election.

While the most likely result is Senator Smith securing the second spot on the ticket, the race has nevertheless exposed lingering tensions within the party.

Many of the more conservative elements of the party feel his vocal support for marriage equality in 2017 contradicted the pledges he made when he secured preselection. Senator Smith also clashed with the party over its decision­ not to field a candidate in the 2018 Perth by-election.

The increasingly tense preselection battle came as the senator missed this week’s trip to the Pilbara by the federal inquiry into Rio Tinto’s destruction of the Juuk­an Gorge rock shelters. He instead spent the week working to shore up his position and is understood to have been reminding preselectors of his role in winning a higher share of GST revenues for WA.

While Mr Jacob enjoys the backing of the Christian right faction most upset by Senator Smith’s marriage equality advocacy, he is understood to have told preselectors he is only interested in the third spot on the ticket. Mr Jacob was the environment minister under the previous state government and has since been elected mayor of Joondalup in Perth’s north.

If Senator Smith secures the second position, Mr Jacob will battle it out with Bunbury bar owner Ben Small and the Liberal Party’s policy committee chairman Sherry Sufi for the remaining third spot. The fourth and fifth positions on the ticket are considered unwinnable.

Mr Small is considered a moderate who has attracted support from the Young Liberals. Dr Sufi, who stepped down as candidate in the federal seat of Fremantle in 2016 over comments about marriage equality and Indigenous constitutional recognition, enjoys strong support in the party’s more conservative corners.

Mr Cormann’s retirement from the Senate last week triggered the preselection. Australia has nominated him as its candid­ate for OECD secretary-general.