WA Liberals divided as party elders seek copy of member register

WA Party elders, led by a former state MP, are attempting to use a little-known law to spread their message to the membership.

Former WA Liberal Party MP and state president Norman Moore.

A fresh front has broken out in the civil war within the West Australian Liberal Party, with party elders led by former MP Norman Moore attempting to use a little-known law to spread their message to the membership.

Mr Moore, a former state president of the Liberal Party who also spent 36 years in the West Australian parliament, has made what is believed to be an unprecedented application for a copy of the party’s register of members.

The request has been made under WA’s Associations Incorporations Act, which requires the party to hand over the information or face a penalty.

Membership details have always been closely guarded, and the application has sparked concerns within some corners of the party that the mechanism may be open to abuse.

WA Liberal leader Dr David Honey. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tony McDonough

Mr Moore is one of the most prominent figures in the recently formed Liberal Reform Coalition, which wants a sweeping overhaul of the party structure to reduce the perceived influence of dominant powerbrokers.

His letter requesting access notes that the application is also being made on behalf of prominent party figures Danielle Blain, Bill Hassell, Mike Nahan, Peter Shack and David Parker.

Ms Blain is a particularly influential figure in the WA arm of the Liberals, having for years been the party’s most prolific fundraiser. She, along with Perth lawyer Mark Trowell QC, was a co-author of last year’s damning review into the party’s disastrous 2021 state election campaign.

That review made a series of extraordinary findings and warned that the party’s existence was at stake if a host of major ­reforms were not instituted.

The reform process was quietly parked while the party focused on the recent federal election, but the dismal result in WA – where the party was reduced to just five seats after winning 11 in the 2019 election – has brought the reform push back to the fore.

Party president Richard Wilson has proposed a series of changes that will be considered at the party’s state conference later this month, including the introduction of a plebiscite model, but the LRC believes they are a ­watered down set of reforms that do not go far enough.

In his application, Mr Moore said he would limit his use of the register to contacting the party membership base directly with the LRC’s case for reform.

“The purpose … is to allow me to know the names and addresses of the party membership to enable me to pursue my objective of making contact with those members to urge upon them the need for urgent reform of the party as recommended in the post 2021 election review report,” Mr Moore wrote.

“In particular I will be seeking to influence members of the party to adopt reforms recommended to a future state conference.”