Libs prepare for battle over democratic reform within NSW party

Liberal rancour over entrenched factional war lords controlling preselections threatens to draw in Malcolm Turnbull.

Rancour in the Liberal Party over entrenched factional war lords controlling preselections for federal and state MPs threatens to draw Malcolm Turnbull into a ­battle over power and ethics in his home state of NSW.

Pressure to reform the party by introducing membership plebiscites in preselections has been driven by former prime minister Tony Abbott, seeking to break the power of lobbyists and factional bosses to elevate their own candid­ates.

The fight is set to play out on the floor of the NSW state council tomorrow when up to 750 delegates gather at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney to vote on proposals for constitutional party reform. The Prime Minister is expected to address the question of plebiscites. His office said yesterday that he was on the record in the past as supporting plebiscites.

Tempers flared in the party ­recently when a plebiscite motion drawn up by Mr Abbott’s Warring­ah branch was placed last out of the 11 motions to be debated ­tomorrow by council delegates in 45 minutes.

At the top of the agenda, the state machine listed two motions left over from last year: an option for membership fees on credit and debit cards; and the introduction of a “Sheep Health Statement” for sheep transactions in NSW.

A motion to ban commercial lobbyists from preselections and party positions — put forward by the Marrickville branch — was placed third-last, virtually ensuring this too would not be debated in the time available.

Mr Abbott and former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell have this week publicised their call for plebiscites in newspaper opinion columns. Former prime minister John Howard led a panel of ­inquiry two years ago which ­resolved that plebiscites should be introduced. But after factional ­opposition, his recommendations were left to moulder in the dust.

At last year’s council, a plebis­cite proposal was watered down into a trial run in a handful of seats before the next federal and state elections.

A Left faction leader and ­recently elected MP, Trent Zimmerman, argued in a newspaper column yesterday that plebiscites were a path to branch-stacking. Mr Zimmerman is close to the pre-eminent factional war lord in Mr Turnbull’s moderate base, lobbyist Michael Photios.

Mr Zimmerman is often categ­orised as joined at the hip to Mr Photios. His public comments have been interpreted in the party as Mr Photios sending a strategic warning shot across the state council.

Mr Howard’s report two years ago canvassed specific safeguards against branch-stacking, including two years’ membership before joining preselection panels.

Mr Photios and his business partner Nick Campbell are respec­t­ively factional bosses of the moderate and Soft Right factions — locking up factional control of much of the state party. They jointly own lobbyist firms Premier StateConsulting in NSW and ­CapitalHill Advisory in Canberra.

Both men, and several other lobbyists, resigned as delegates to the state council in recent weeks after pressure over their role in preselections.

Party reformers were yesterday considering an urgency motion at the start of the state council meeting to bring forward debate over the introduction of plebiscites.

Mr Abbott said yesterday it would be “hugely embarrassing” for the NSW Liberal Party if ­“procedural trickery” prevented the plebiscite motion from being dealt with. “And it would be no less ­embarrassing if this motion was voted down.”

He said he believed that if plebiscites were good enough for the Liberal Party in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, then there was no reason they should not be good enough for NSW.

Given that Mr Turnbull’s ­declaration at last year’s council that there were no factions in the Liberal Party was greeted with hooting and ridicule, any statements he makes regarding party democracy will be closely scrutinised ­tomor­row.

Reformers critical of the ­current preselection system have gathered under the banner of democratising the party and ­rebuilding a flagging membership.

Mr Abbott has long been in the vanguard of criticising factional operatives whose livelihoods as lobbyists depends on influencing government policy for wealthy corporate clients.

Introducing legislation to amend the lobbyist code of conduct to ban lobbyists from party positions in 2013, he declared, “you can either be a powerbroker or a lobbyist but you can’t be both”.

Mr Turnbull told reformers a week ago that he backed democracy in the party. But he has not ­expressed a clear position on plebiscites since entering parliament.

Reformers are anticipating that even if a broad plebiscite motion is carried tomorrow, the devil will be in the detail, and that factional operatives could weigh it down with caveats and delays in the ­aftermath.

Some of those banking on plebiscites acknowledge that the power of the factional leaders has gone ­beyond tipping point, locking up the numbers across the NSW branch. If a motion for plebiscites were passed, they already envisage a second battle with war lords over control of the process.

In the end, they say, any reform may be lip service, preserving the status quo.