Malcolm Turnbull warned of preselections ‘civil war’

Malcolm Turnbull’s authority over the Liberal Party is being ­undermined by factional powerbrokers.

Hughes MP Craig Kelly is expected to face a preselection challenge from Kent Johns, a former mayor for both Labor and the Liberal Party. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

Malcolm Turnbull’s authority over the Liberal Party is being ­undermined by factional powerbrokers, who are defying the Prime Minister’s call for stability and pushing ahead with plans to remove sitting members.

As the Liberal Party opened nominations for 22 government-held seats in NSW yesterday, MPs warned that attempts to oust ­incumbent members risked an ­internal “civil war”, stoking factional divisions within the party still raw from the change of leadership from Tony Abbott to Mr Turnbull.

The former prime minister’s role as a lightning rod for conservative discontent could also re-emerge, with party sources saying they are “certain” Mr Abbott will recontest the Sydney seat of ­Warringah unopposed.

Amid fears the looming pre­selection challenges could ­en­tangle Mr Turnbull in a bitter factional brawl in his home state, The Australian can reveal that the member for the southern Sydney seat of Hughes, Craig Kelly, under threat from a moderate-backed candidate, has unsuccessfully sought a reassurance directly from the Prime Minister that he retains the leader’s support.

Mr Kelly is expected to face a preselection challenge from Kent Johns, a former mayor for both Labor and the Liberal Party. Mr Johns has not confirmed he will nominate. The move from Mr Turnbull to distance himself from the challenge in Hughes comes after he last week contacted the Liberal member for Hume, Angus Taylor, and conservative senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells to ­assure them of his support.

Last night, Scott Morrison told The Australian he would back Mr Kelly, whose electorate borders the Treasurer’s, and Senator Fierravanti-Wells in any contest, but said their fate would be determined by the party’s internal processes. “I am very pleased to support Craig,” Mr Morrison said. “He has been a very strong advocate both on policy and for his local community. He has been a good on-the-ground member of parliament and I very much enjoy working with him locally as well as on broader issues of policy.

“Connie has made a significant contribution in her responsibilities for ethnic communities and multicultural affairs and particularly her engagement around the challenging issues with the Islamic community in Sydney in particular. (But) ultimately these are matters that are decided by local selectors and that is the process in place.”

As revealed in The Weekend Australian on Saturday, Mr Turnbull has requested that Liberal Party federal director Tony Nutt inform factional power­brokers that he will be supporting incumbent MPs in any challenge, warning them against launching coups ahead of the federal election, expected in September.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton also exhorted colleagues not to dump right-aligned MPs with whom he is factionally aligned, saying the party must remain “a broad church” that includes both liberal and conservative views.

“The Liberal Party has thrived for a long period of time because we’ve been accepting of a diversity of views and I believe very strongly, and will fight very strongly, to make sure that that diversity of views is heard for a long period of time to come,” Mr Dutton told Sky News.

“So if people have a thought in their mind that somehow they’re going to knock out conservative candidates in NSW or anywhere else, then I think I’ve made my position very clear. I think that would be the view of other colleagues within the parliamentary party in Canberra and obviously the Prime Minister has been very clear that it’s his view as well.”

Up to half a dozen sitting MPs face moves to unseat them in the coming preselections, none of which appears to have been ­arrested by Mr Turnbull’s call for calm. The move against Mr Kelly, who has increased his margin since being elected in 2010, has infuriated conservatives, who say his candidacy will stoke fears that the Liberal Party has become “Labor-lite” under Mr Turnbull.

“The instability that it will cause is significant — it will be a test of Malcolm Turnbull’s authority and in my view it will cause civil war,” said one supporter of Mr Kelly.

“You would hope that these so-called factional warlords would actually listen to the Prime Minister. Does he have authority over the party, or is the party governed by these backroom factional ­warlords?”

Mr Kelly would not comment on a challenge from Mr Johns yesterday, but confirmed he would be standing for the seat and seeking endorsement from preselectors. “I will be very happy to stand on my record,” he said.

Mr Kelly said he had “overwhelming support” from his electorate for his support of Mr Abbott in September’s leadership ballot but was a “team player” who was locked in behind Mr Turnbull.

Under the proposed new electorate boundaries, Mr Kelly’s seat gains the western part of Mr Morrison’s seat of Cook, transferring more than 30,000 electors into Hughes and notionally stretching its margin to 12 per cent.

While many in the party say the challenges will inflame factional tensions in NSW, others have rejected such suggestions, saying preselection challenges were “business as usual” for federal MPs.

Senior moderate Paul Fletcher, Mr Turnbull’s representative on the NSW executive, said preselection challenges were needed against sitting MPs to ensure “good, competitive discipline”.

“The key point is Liberal members of parliament are there because we’ve been preselected by members of the party,” said the Major Projects Minister and Member for Bradfield on Sydney’s north shore. “This is not a job for life.”

His comments echoed those of South Australian moderate minister Simon Birmingham, who said his “very good colleagues” were still subject to the Liberal Party’s democratic processes.

Senator Fierravanti-Wells said there was “lots of posturing” by factional players, but urged them to heed the Prime Minister’s call for stability. She said the change in leadership to Mr Turnbull should not “translate into a purge of the conservatives around Australia.”

Amid mixed views within the party about whether preselection challenges against sitting members should go ahead, the fates of senior MPs Philip Ruddock and Bronwyn Bishop also remain under a cloud. Former state Liberal leaders Barry O’Farrell and Jeff Kennett yesterday threw their weight behind Mr Ruddock, saying he should be allowed to continue serving as a federal MP.

“I think it’s a matter of looking at each individual member based on what they’ve contributed, what their knowledge is, and what they can potentially contribute,” Mr Kennett told ABC. “Philip Ruddock, who I think is the father of the house, still has an enormous amount of knowledge.”

Mr O’Farrell urged Mr Ruddock to seek a further two terms, thereby overtaking former prime minister Billy Hughes as the longest serving federal MP.

Support for Mrs Bishop in Mackellar was less forthcoming, with Liberals suggesting the $5000 helicopter ride she chartered from Melbourne to Geelong was a career-ending scandal.

“You’ll probably have to carry her out in a box,” former Liberal leader John Hewson said. “She doesn’t see that she’s been totally discredited.”

Mrs Bishop, 73, may face a challenge from former Liberal Party young president Jason Fal­inski, but there is also potential for the centre-right to back in state MP Natasha Maclaren-Jones, wife of Mrs Bishop’s former chief of staff Damien Jones. A spokesman for Mrs Bishop confirmed she had nominated for preselection. Nominations for all Liberal-held seats close on February 19.

Additional reporting: Jared Owens