SA Libs in uproar as rebel candidate nominates against Jing Lee

A rebel MP faces expulsion over his challenge to controversial member Lee amid concerns over her support for Beijing.

SA Liberal MP Jing Lee and her husband businessman Eddie Lieu. Picture: Kelly Carpenter

The candidacy of controversial SA Liberal MP Jing Lee for the state’s Upper House has sparked an all-out factional war within the Marshall government with a rebel Liberal MP now facing expulsion after successfully nominating against Ms Lee amid concerns over her support for Beijing.

A snap party room meeting was called by SA Liberals last night and voted unanimously to move to expel victorious presidential candidate John Dawkins from the party, even though several MPs were cheering him on for running against Ms Lee.

The vote was tied on two occasions at 11 each and in a stunning upset was resolved by drawing the winning name at random out of a ballot box – with Mr Dawkins’ name plucked out first, making him president.

Ms Lee was the party’s official candidate and the preferred candidate of Premier Steven Marshall, with SA Treasurer Rob Lucas warning Mr Dawkins before the ballot that he would be punished if he ran against Ms Lee.

Asked if Mr Dawkins’s candidacy meant he now faced expulsion from the party, Mr Lucas said: “Yes it does”.

“It’s not a good look,” Mr Lucas said. “I’ve known John as a colleague for a couple of decades almost and I’m very disappointed that John has chosen to go down this particular path.” he said.

Jing Lee, centre, poses with the SA Xinjiang Association on the government benches in SA Parliament after giving them a tour of the building in September 2016. Source: Facebook

While Labor used its bloc of eight Upper House votes to support Mr Dawkins, whose nomination was seconded by an independent, it is not clear how he obtained the crucial 11th vote to force the tie, which may have come from another Liberal in what was a secret ballot.

The standoff marks an escalation of hostilities within the SA Liberals, with the party beset by tension following the forced resignation of three conservative rural MPs and one moderate last month in a travel allowance scandal, and the flare-up last week when three federal MPs demanded the SA Liberal branch order an independent investigation into Ms Lee’s China links.

The Australian revealed last month that Ms Lee has spoken at SA Chinese Consul General functions in support of SA signing on to China’s One Belt, One Road initiative – a position she has since recanted – and had on several occasions joined consular staff at events organised by the SA Xinjiang Association.

That association has been described by security experts as part of Beijing’s international propaganda arm, the United Front Work Department, and has enraged SA’s Uighur community by appropriating traditional song and dress and claiming there are no human rights abuses in China’s troubled Xinjiang province.

Mr Dawkins offered no criticism of Ms Lee when he nominated and said he was instead standing on his record of more than 20 years in the SA Upper House.

“It is essential that South Australia’s Legislative Council be presided over by an experienced Upper House member who has a recognised and respected understanding of the processes and procedures of our Chamber and the Parliament,” he said.